"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."
Robert Louis Stevenson




Saturday, April 16, 2011

Hollyhock Dolls, Abutilon Dolls, Flower Dolls

When I was a little girl living in New York, a neighbor girl that often babysat my sister and I would make Hollyhock dolls for us.  I remember these dolls as if it were yesterday.
(click on any of the pictures to make them larger)

First gather your flowers; today I used  pale yellow Hollyhocks and dark salmon Abutilon flowers. You will need one flower and one unopened flower bud, a long wood skewer and a small flower or the stamen from the Abutilon for a hat for each doll. Also a glass head straight pin to adhere the flower hat.
Begin with the face, this is the unopened flower bud. Fold under two or three green petals, this will give her a face (forgive me my blurred photo below). On the Abutilon flower you will need to cut the green petals as they are too long to fold under. (see larger picture below). Also, you will need to cut the stem end off of the flower and the bud. Notice in photo below it is off and in the above photo they are still on the flowers.
I use a long wood skewer for tucking under the petals on the bud, this will look like she has bangs. You can also loosen the other petals in the back to make it look like she has hair.
 Now remove the stamen from the inside of the flower using sharp scissors, cut close to the inside top of the flower.  Then poke the pointed end of a long wood skewer up through the flower so that about an inch or two is showing.  This is where you will add your flower bud face.
Gently push the bud onto the pointed end of the skewer pushing until it just reaches the top of her head but does not go through the end.
She should look like this, notice the face; this picture shows a clearer image of the bangs. A little of the wood skewer becomes her neck.
You can also add another flower to her head if you like. I used a Heartsease (viola) flower and a yellow glass head pin to attach it to the head. 
Here is a doll I made from an Abutilon flower.
The only difference in the directions is to angle the wood skewer when poking through the Abutilon flower. These flowers are much more delicate and they tend to break if you are not very careful.  I also used the stamen from this flower for the dolls hat.

Dancing in the Fairy Garden!



15 comments:

  1. WOW! Carla, this is so wonderful - I've never seen anything like it...they are so lovely and magical. I'm going to have to get some flowers...beautiful, beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh. I love the holly hock doll. My friend made one for me a long time ago and I could never figure out how she did it. while my holly hocks are weeks and weeks and weeks away from blooming, I now know how to make the little flower dolls and can make them when my little grand daughters come. Thank you. Yours are beautiful. cheers. ann

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sweet childhood memories...how I live for the day when there is a little granddaughter to make these with.
    Thank you for sharing such gentle images.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow Carla, your creativity never ceases to amaze me. I only have double hollyhocks if they come up but I am going to have to get some seeds from my brother just in case I ever have a grandaughter to make these for. Thanks for the directions!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wanna doll....I wanna doll.....I would name her holly and we would be best friends!

    Carla, I'll bet you were the most adorable little girl in the world and I know I would have loved playing with you in your imaginary world. Can't wait till we get a chance to meet and play now!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Carla, Thank you for hosting the Garden Party. You are such a wonder, you maintain a beautiful Garden along with being so creative. I just love these flower girls.

    Thanks again,
    Tammy

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carla,
    These are so beautiful and so sweet. I will have to make some for my granddaughter. I dont have Hollyhocks but I will look at the nursery's for them. You have so many talents!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am so glad that you were able to leave comments. This is just like having the family over! You guys are all so sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  9. These are beautiful, Carla. I've never seen anything like them. I'll bet all kinds of Fairies live in you garden!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Carla I hope you approve only one of my comments. I clicked to many timesssssss!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kasey will love making these dolls. So clever and beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yes Pamela I saw that and deleted the duplicates.

    Jerseygirlie, I just know she will love them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Greenie, when you come for a visit we will play in the dirt and make mud pies! My childhood never lasted as long as it should have, can you tell?

    Betty, you can use just about any flower that would have a bell shape to it and that has some sort of a closed bud. Even using two different plants would work.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi There!
    I am putting together a Summer Herb Camp series on my blog and I would love to include these sweet little dolls in my camp.
    I wanted to make sure that it is ok for me to include it in my post? I will of course link to your blog and give you credit. Also may I use a picture from your post?
    Thanks!!
    Angela @ mamarosemary.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Angela, yes go ahead and link to your blog and feel free to use the photos too. The camp sounds like fun!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking time to visit my blog, I love hearing from you, stay as long as you like, Carla