make: diy wooden bead dolls

I suppose you could use wooden beads to make necklaces. We’ve done that, and they’re lovely things to wear. They’re much prettier than the plastic pony beads that are more common kids accessories. But today I thought I’d think outside of the box, are you with me?

In fact, I’m thinking outside of a very specific box. Artterro’s gorgeous Collage Jewelry Kit box, to be precise. The kit makes some gorgeous jewelry for kids and parents (and great gifts too). But like I said, I had a hankering to do something a little different, and the results were good enough that I had to share with all of you. What would you make with a bunch of wooden beads? Dolls? Jewelry? Animals? Something I haven’t even thought of yet?

What you’ll need:

• Wooden Beads from Arterro’s Collage Jewelry Kit, or the craft store. I used a large wooden disk, cylinder, and 4 tear drops.
• Black Cording from Arterro’s Collage Jewelry Kit, or the craft store.
• Felt scraps.
• Yarn scraps.
• Pink colored pencil.
• Sharpie and Pencil.

What you’ll do:

1. Sketch the eyes and mouth on the wooden disk with a pencil, then fill in with a Sharpie.
2. Add pink cheeks with a pink colored pencil if you’d like.
3. String a length of black cord about 18″ long through the disk’s hole. This first cord is the neck.
4. Take a second piece of cord about 8″ long and tie a knot around the first “neck” cord. this cord will be the arms.
5. Add 2 tear drop beads to the end of the arms, use double knots at the bottoms to secure them in place.
6. String the cylinder bead onto the doubled neck cord to create the body.
7. Pull the cylinder up as tightly to the head as you can, then knot the “neck” cord at the bottom of the bead.
8. String 2 tear drop beads onto the ends of the neck cord, and double knot at the bottoms to create the legs.
9. For the hair, loop yarn around a piece of cardboard 5 times (5 loops to each side). Then tie off into pigtails to fit the wooden head. Split the middle of the hair to cover the front and back of the wooden disk. Use craft glue to stick it in place.
10. Add felt and Sharpie marker details to your heart’s desire.
11. Now it’s time to play!

A big thanks goes to Artterro for providing the craft kit and the freedom to explore its first-rate materials. Thanks Artterro!