How to Make a Voodoo Doll - New Orleans Style

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Summary: Making Voodoo dolls can be a lot of fun. It is an activity that elicits laughter and is food for potentially therapeutic conversation among family and friends. Invariably, the stereotypical reasons as to why people make Voodoo dolls comes up, and you have an opportunity to discuss how you want to win the lottery, who you are in love with, and who deserves a good hexing. What a great forum for a self-help group! This how-to tutorial will explain how to make your very own Voodoo doll based on the traditional New Orleans folk art style. Keep in mind that there are as many ways of making Voodoo dolls as are people making them! Nonetheless, here are a few basic guidelines to get you started.

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Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
  1. Step 1
    Materials for Making a Voodoo Doll
    Materials for Making a Voodoo Doll

    Gather your materials. Make a cross shape with your two sticks and tie them together with your string. I prefer hemp cord or waxed thread as opposed to regular string as they tend to be stronger.

  2. Step 2
    Voodoo Doll Made with Spanish Moss
    Voodoo Doll Made with Spanish Moss

    Take the Spanish moss and wrap it around the sticks, starting at the middle for reinforcement, and going up around the head, down to one arm, back across to the other arm, back to the middle, and down to the bottom. If possible, use moss that is connected together in a big enough piece to cover the sticks without breaking it apart. The idea is to wrap the doll in one continuous motion. If you break the moss apart and have to use more than one continuous piece, that is okay. However, you may have to wrap string around the moss to keep it from falling off.

  3. Step 3
    Basic Voodoo Doll
    Basic Voodoo Doll

    Take your fabric strips and wrap around the moss. Make sure to leave some of the moss showing, such as on the head (for hair), at the ends of the arms, and at the bottom. Secure with tacky glue. You may want to reinforce with a couple of stitches with your needle and thread. Now you can add contrasting fabric, yarn, or other embellishments.

  4. Step 4
    Voodoo Doll Face
    Voodoo Doll Face

    Make a face. Take your beads and attach them with the needle and thread for eyes, or glue 2 black eyed peas to the face for eyes. Add a button or bead for the mouth. Stick some feathers into the top of the head, making sure to dab a little glue on the ends first to secure them in place.

  5. Step 5
    New Orleans-Style Voodoo Doll
    New Orleans-Style Voodoo Doll

    Add your 7 pins and you have created an all-purpose Voodoo doll!

    Symbolism of the Seven Pins: yellow - success, white - positive, red - power, purple - spirituality, green - money, blue - love, black - repelling negative energy.

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eHow Article: How to Make a Voodoo Doll - New Orleans Style

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