Making Corn Husk Dolls

Corn Husks inspired the creation of two dolls

We cooked fresh corn on the cob recently. After my husband removed the husks, he recalled the corn husk dolls that girls made during the 1950s. Most of these girls did not have the luxury of store-bought dolls or only received dolls for special occasions. I asked him to save the husks for me because I wanted to make two dolls. This doll-making process began on July 25, 2024, and was captured in the following pictures. (This post is photo intense.)

Materials

Most of the materials used to create two corn husk dolls are captured in the above photo: shredded paper from my shredder enclosed in a Ziploc bag, an empty water bottle cut in half (I used the bottom and top), ModPodge, rubber gloves, and husks from two fresh ears of corn.

I used shredded paper, ModPodge, and a small amount of water to form papier-mâché with a loose putty-like consistency. This was used for the heads and hands. 

I added the paper-mâché ingredients to the bottom of the water bottle and mixed the ingredients with a plastic straw.

Mixing the ingredients

When necessary, extra glue, water, or ModPodge were added to achieve a putty-like consistency. I also used a finger to mix.

This is the desired consistency—moist enough to form a ball for the head and to create the hands later.

The dolls' heads were formed by rolling the paper-mâché into a ball.

I tapered the size down before the above ball of paper-mâché was molded onto the neck of one corn husk. 

The ball of paper-mâché is placed on the neck area of one corn husk.

Both paper-mâché heads are on the necks and lie across a box to dry.

After drying, the heads darkened.

To keep the paper-mâché moist, I placed the top cut portion of the water bottle on top of the bottom. This created enough seal to keep the paper-mâché moist. 

Pipe cleaners are hot glued to the back of the torsos in this picture.

The pipe cleaner arms are shown from the back.

The initial plan was to cover the pipe cleaners with paper-mâché, but I decided it would be better to cover the pipe cleaners with corn husks, which is what was done after the glue-on pipe cleaners were removed from the dolls.

With a corn husk cut to match the length of the pipe cleaners and Aleene's Tacky glue spread inside the corn husk, each pipe cleaner was rolled into one side of the corn husk. 

At the top of the above photo, a pipe cleaner is already rolled into one side of the corn husk, and the other pipe cleaner is prepped for rolling into the opposite side. Aleene's Tacky glue secures the pipe cleaners inside the corn husk.

Both pipe cleaners are rolled into the corn husk before cutting the corn husk in the center to separate each. Next, each "arm" was cut in half.

A corn husk, cut in the shape of a shawl, is wrapped around one doll to check for fit and torso coverage.

The same shawl creation was done for the other doll.

The shawls are left wrapped around the dolls but are not secured in place. The pipe cleaner arms for both dolls (that look like rolled cigarettes before they were cut in half) are wrapped inside a corn husk.

After determining the arm placement, the arms were cut in half and glued inside the corn husk shawl. Paper-mâché hands were created and attached to each arm. The shawl and attached arms and hands were wrapped around a pill container to allow the paper-mâché hands to dry.

The same process was done for the other doll's arms and hands.

In this photo, the paper-mâché hands are dry.

Almost complete, the dolls' heads, necks, arms, and hands are painted. I used a different shade of brown for each doll.

This is a close-up of the shawls, attached arms, and hands.

Additional supplies

To create jewelry, make a doll stand, and for hair, I used the above items: 1/8" gold map pins, 9 gauge aluminum wire, my mother's hair*, and my hair. I used a couple of size 8 sequin pins (short stick pins) for one of the dolls, which is explained below.

One doll stand is fashioned using the 9 gauge aluminum wire.

Both doll stands are fashioned.

I changed the doll stand color from silver to gold with gold metallic acrylic paint.

I placed air dry clay at the top of each doll stand but later removed the clay before it dried.

To hold the stands in place underneath the skirts, I placed air dry clay underneath and in the center of each doll's skirt making sure none was exposed from the outside. Next, the top of each doll stand was inserted into the clay and allowed to dry. 

Using Aleene's Tacky Glue, hair was glued to each doll's head and any excess trimmed.

Most of the hair is glued to this doll's head.

Each doll's head was wrapped in saran wrap after gluing on the hair.

Voila! They are done!

A view from the back

Close-up

Final Touches:

Gold map pins create drop earrings for each doll. The same pins were used to hold the shawls in place. I used one gold pin for the dark-haired doll and two for the blonde. I placed an extra, cut-to-fit, piece of corn husk around the torso of the dark-haired doll because the shawl did not completely cover the torso in the back. I  did not want to create a wider shawl because doing so would require regluing the arms onto the new shawl, too much trouble. The added husk around the torso is held in place with two gold map pins in the back, but only one is visible in the photo from the back. I might have used a short stick pin or two in the corn husk that covers the torso before adding the decorative gold map pins. Because the ends of the skirts do not lie flat**, the skirts are held down with a clear rubber band near the hemline and a gold cord tied over the rubber band. I will glue the gold cord in place after the glue pen that I ordered arrives.

It took me almost a month to finish the dolls, but I only worked on them sporadically, doing one thing at a time for only a few minutes because "slow and steady" wins my races.

They are not perfect, but I like them, and my artist-husband was impressed during the initial phases of their creation. I haven't showed him the finished dolls.

*The one that has my mother's hair (hair that I saved each time I washed or combed her hair) is my favorite for obvious reasons. 

**If I make more corn husk dolls, I will form the shape of the skirt while the corn husk is moist because once it's dry, it maintains the dried shape. 

The best lessons are learned through trial and error.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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