How to Make Clothespin Doll Hair

Clothespin dolls are fun and easy to make. Just as you can dress them nearly any way you want, you can give them nearly any hairstyle imaginable. You may want to create a doll that resembles a famous character or a real person, so you'll base the hair on your model, in that case. You can mimic nearly any hairstyle in miniature on a clothespin doll with the right materials.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Acrylic paint
• Permanent markers
• Small paintbrush
• Embroidery floss
• Yarn
• Small craft pompoms
• Scissors
• White glue

1. Decide which hairstyle you want your doll to have. If you are copying a real person's hair, have a picture nearby. If you're creating your own design, draw it ahead of time to give yourself a reference image.

2. Use paint or markers for short hairstyles. You can effectively represent men's hairstyles and short women's looks from pixie cuts to bobs just by painting or drawing them onto the doll's head with paint or permanent markers. For short curls, draw small curlicues all over the doll's head. For straight hair, create a filled-in shape indicating the style.

3. Glue on hair for longer styles. You can make straight hair with embroidery floss (for thin hair) or yarn (for thicker hair). Make curly hair with craft pompoms. Arrange floss or yarn in rows all across the head so that it hangs down the desired length. Use glue for a full head of hair or to add to a painted style with braids, twists and knots. Use pompoms to make a full head of curls or just a curly ponytail or pigtails. Put the glue on the floss, yarn or pompom and then attach the item to the doll's head to avoid getting clumps of unnecessary glue on the doll's head. It is easier to create most styled pieces (like braids) before you attach them to the doll instead of after you glue them on.

4. Glue any hats, scarves or other head wear onto the doll. If your doll is wearing a hat or scarf, you may not need to make a full head of hair for it. A hat might only allow the long ends of the hair to show. A headscarf might only show painted bangs in front or a single yarn-braid peeking out of the back.

Tips & Warnings

• To avoid using too much glue, put a small pool of glue in a dish and dab the floss, yarn or pompoms into lightly as needed. Err on the side of caution with hair length. It is much easier to make hair shorter than to make it longer once you realize your mistake.
• This is a fun project for children, but make sure they are supervised at all times. Let the glue dry well before playing with the dolls.

References

• Craftzine: Clothespin Dolls
• My Shore: Girly Crafts
• Little Hokum Rag: Elsa Mora, Creative Wonder

Resources

• How to Make a Clothespin Doll