Cornhusk Dolls

Cornhusk dolls allow the crafter endless possibilities. They can be anything from cute and simple to elegant and refined.

You will need:
Dried cornhusks
Thread/string
An acorn or other small round object
Wreath wire (optional)

Cornhusk dolls have their origins in Native American culture. The dolls were made as toys for children as well for more serious ceremonies. In later years, the pioneers also borrowed the tradition from the Native Americans and made dolls for their children out of cornhusks.

This project is the basic cornhusk doll. Once this is mastered, a crafter can get very creative dying or painting husks, or using scraps of cloth as clothing. To make witches for Halloween wreaths, just add a pointed hat and a twig broom. For a fairy or an angel, cut two husks into the shape of wings and hot glue to the doll’s back.

Cornhusks have to be dried before they are made into dolls otherwise they will lose their shape and fall apart. To dry the cornhusks, leave them out in the sun for a day then store them in a dry place until use.

To begin making a doll, soak the dried cornhusks in water for about 10 minutes. This will make them pliable enough to use. First take an acorn or other similar object. This will be the head. Lay two wide husks down, forming a cross. Place the acorn in the center of the husk cross. Fold the sides of the husks around the acorn. Tie off the ends below the acorn.



Next take two cornhusks to use as the arms. If you want the arms to be moveable, conceal a piece of wreath wire inside the husks. Lay the husks on top of one another, and tie them off the middle.



Using two cornhusks, lay them on the left arm, sandwiching it. Tie these two husks to the arms about a centimeter from the end of the “hand.” Fold the two husks backward over the tie, concealing it. This will form a sleeve. Tie the ends in the center. Repeat with the right side.

Slide the arms up between the long ends trailing off the neck. Tie off at the waist.



Take two cornhusks and lay them diagonally across each arm. Tie off everything below the arms. This will form the bodice and the waist.



Next take eight cornhusks. Lay four on the backside of the doll, and four on the front side. Point them up toward the head. Tie off at the waist, then carefully fold them down, concealing the tie. This will form the skirt. For a male doll, separate the “skirt” into two legs and tie them at the ankles.



To make hair, glue a bit of corn silk to the doll’s head. For a female, this can be tied off in pigtails with bits of yarn. Traditionally cornhusk dolls have no faces. This is due to an old legend about a cornhusk doll who had such a beautiful face that she grew vain. She ignored her duties and responsibilities, choosing only to stare at her own reflection. The Great Spirit saw this and punished her by removing her face. This is why cornhusk dolls are made without faces.

Making Your Own Grapejuice

As the grapes are getting ripe, I thought this would be a good time put on a recipe for homemade grape juice. Granted it's not really a "craft project," but it's still a do-it-yourself sort of thing. And it sure tastes good!

Making your own grape juice at home produces one of the tastiest beverages around. As an added bonus, if you grow your own grapes, you know exactly what’s going into them.

Ingredients

• Grapes
• Potatoes masher
• Colander
• Cheesecloth
• Two large pans

Method

1. Choose your grapes. My personal favorites for juice are concords, but any sweet grapes will do. Sort the grapes, weeding out the bad ones and placing the good ones in the colander. When the grapes are sorted, wash them well.
2. Dump the grapes into one of the pans and completely crush them with the potato masher. Placing the colander over the second pan, dump the mashed grapes into the colander letting the juice strain into the pan beneath. Use the potato masher to increase the amount of juice that is squished from the grapes.
3. Set the colander full of grapes aside, but don’t discard them yet. Rinse the first pan clean, then cover it with two layers of cheesecloth. Use a rubber band to secure them to the pan. Pour the pan of juice through the cheesecloth. This will catch any large particles that may have worked their way through the holes in the colander. (At this point, I usually can’t resist sampling the juice, as it is at its sweetest point.)
4. Set the cloth covered juice pan aside. Dump the remaining mashed grapes from the colander into the empty pan and cook them on a stovetop at low temperature. Allow the grape mash to simmer and bubble for ten minutes, periodically crushing it with the potato masher. After ten minutes, more juice should have seeped from the grapes. Dump the entire pan of hot grapes onto the cheesecloth and allow the juice to drain through it, mixing with the juice below. The resulting product is a much tastier and healthier juice than is found in most stores today.

This week I decided that it is definitely never too early to start making a Halloween costume. At this rate, I'll be lucky if my family's costumes are done by Halloween, let alone anyone else's. Weaving is a slow business to begin with, but it seems to get even slower when I'm never there to push the shuttle through the strings. And as for the civil war gown, sewing with a pattern is certainly a new experience. There are a lot of pieces that I'm not sure are entirely necessary, but I'm committed to sewing my first pattern exactly as it is. Next time, I'll rework to my liking.

Well, onto this week's craft project. The gourds are getting nice and ripe, in fact we've harvested a few already. A lot of people who purchase them ask what to do with them after the season is over. There are two answers. They can either be fed to a local band of ravenous cows who will happily devour every squash, pumpkin, and gourd they can get their teeth onto, or the gourds can be dried. This week's project involves making birdhouses from dried gourds.

Gourd Birdhouses

A dried gourd can make a cozy house for some lucky bird and it can make an attractive decoration for a yard as well.

You will need:

• Dried gourds
• A dremel, drill, or jackknife
• Paint
• Acrylic sealer
• Eyehooks

The best type of gourd to use as a birdhouse is actually called a birdhouse gourd. They dry easily, have a sturdy shell, and are roomy enough for a bird to enjoy. That said, one need not limit themselves only to birdhouse gourds. A gourd birdhouse is as much decorative as it is functional and there are many gourds that lend themselves well to this project. Goosenecks, apple gourds, caveman’s club, and others all work well as birdhouses. You should select one that meets your fancy.

First, you will need a gourd. If you have one dried from last year, it makes the task easier. Gourds are best dried by letting them get hit with the frost for several cool nights, just be sure not to let them get too wet. They can also be dried indoors, but require a very dry area. Birdhouses can also be made from fresh gourds, but will sometimes become distorted as they dry.

To begin, scrape off the gourd’s flaking outer skin. Using the dremel, drill, or jackknife, cut a hole about an inch and a half in diameter in the lower half of the gourd. Pull out the “guts” through this hole. In a dried gourd, guts have usually hardened and may have to be broken into small pieces to come out through the hole. Be careful not to break the hole when pulling out the guts.

When the inside of the gourd is empty, paint the outside with any design you choose. Using the hole as the center of a flower is always fun. After the paint has dried, spray it with a clear acrylic sealer to make it weatherproof.

Turn the gourd upside-down and drill 3 holes in the bottom. This will allow for drainage should any rain come in the hole. Carefully screw an eyehook into the top of the gourd somewhere near the stem. This is usually where’s the gourd’s shell is thickest and allows for the strongest hold.

Loop a piece of string through the eyehook, hang the gourd from a tree branch and wait for the birds to move in come spring. It’s good to have the houses out several months before spring. Birds don’t actually claim a house until spring, but they’re searching for good nesting sights well before.

Well, this week I learned that it is possible to weave without a loom. I just tied two board above and below a windowsill and voila! an instant weaving loom. I'm using it to weave my brother's Halloween costume. Never too early to start. I usually make costumes for rental in October, so my own family's costumes have to be done earlier. I also decided to make this week, my first week sewing with a pattern. I usually make own patterns to sew from scratch, but this week I was in Jo-Anne fabrics (my favorite store in the world) and they were having a pattern sale. I'm a sucker for any type of period garb, so when I saw a pattern for a full-hooped civil war era gown, I couldn't resist. If nothing else, I just want to experiment and see what it's like to work with a premade pattern. It should be fun.
Now onto this week's craft project. We have loads of wild catnip growing in the cow pasture. My cats love rolling in it, so I thought I'd make a few sachets they could play with in the house. If nothing else, it'll give them something to do when they get cabin fever this winter. They're quick and easy to make and will bring new life to almost any cat.

Catnip Sachets

Even older cats appear young and spry when there is catnip in the air! You can create catnip toys completely at home – growing the plant, drying it out, and handmaking playthings for your kitty.

Catnip is easily air-dried. Just harvest a few leaves and spread them out in a dry place for about a week. When the leaves feel crispy to the touch, they are ready to be used.

What You’ll Need

• Dried catnip
• Fabric scraps
• Thin ribbon
• Cotton/stuffing
• Needle and thread colored to match ribbon

Instructions

Cut a circle of fabric 5 inches in diameter. It doesn’t have to be a perfect circle, just something in a general circular shape. Lay a few dried catnip leaves in the center of the circle, then place a cotton ball on the leaves. (These can also be made without the cotton, but will require a lot more catnip to fill up the sachet. Also, the sachets tend to lose some of their bounce without the cotton, and the cats love the bounce so I always add cotton.)
Pull the sides of the fabric up around the catnip leaves and the cotton, forming a little sack. Tie the sack together with a 7-inch piece of ribbon. Leave the ends of the ribbon long, as cats love to play with these.
With the needle and thread, run two stitches all the way through the ribbon and sachet to secure it all. Tie off the thread ends at the back of the sachet.
Throw the toy into a room with a cat and watch it go wild!

Flower Preservation: Pressed Flowers

A heavy book is all that is necessary to create beautifully pressed flowers.

Pressing flowers is a fun pastime that requires relatively little effort on the preserver’s part. Not only is the process very enjoyable, but the flowers can be used in a variety of projects such as note cards and stationary. Most any type of flower or leaf can be pressed, but flowers with thick centers such as sunflowers or Echinacea do not turn out as well. On the other hand, flowers like pansies are so easy it’s incredible.

Flower presses are readily available, but not necessary to successfully press flowers. A telephone book, encyclopedia or other heavy book will work just as well. I have a large Audubon book that I press all my flowers in and as it’s bigger than most flower presses, I can press many flowers at one time.

It is best to pick flowers on a dry day to avoid extra moisture accumulation. To begin, lay a sheet of paper in the open encyclopedia (or whatever large book you might be using), to protect the book’s pages. Arrange the flowers on the paper, placing them carefully to avoid overlapping edges. The emphasis here is to imagine what it will like when it is pressed. Petals that end up folded during pressing will remain folded forever. Place another sheet of paper over the flowers and carefully close the book.

One heavy book is usually enough to successfully press flowers, particularly if the flowers are being pressed near the back of the book, so most of the book’s weight is pressing on them. However, it never hurts to place a few additional books on top to ensure enough weight. Flowers are usually fully pressed within a week, though a few may take longer. If you are unsure, it is always better to leave the flowers a little longer. It won’t harm to blossoms no matter how long they sit in the press.

Well, it's Labor Day weekend, the official end of summer, though I have a feeling it won't actually feel like the end of summer for quite some time. A cooler summer usually means a very nice fall. The Ring of Fire is this weekend too, so we'll all be heading up to my grandmother's to watch it. We live right next door to her, but her house is higher up on the hill, so there's a clear view of the lake from her house. This year, however, the corn across the road is extra tall due to all the rain. Not sure how much of the ring we'll be able to see this year.
Labor Day is usually the last big summer picnic for people, so this week's project is something to do with all those extra shells if you happen to have clams this holiday. Clamshells make great tea lights. The shells are thick and sturdy and they usually sit well all by themselves. If they're made with beeswax, they'll usually burn 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the shells.

Clamshell Tea Lights

These little candles will burn brightly for 10-20 minutes. They’re a great way to use clamshells left over from summer cookouts.

You will need:

• Empty clamshells halves
• Beeswax or another type of wax
• Double boiler or two pans
• Wicking
• Newspaper

To begin, cover your work area with newspapers, as this is a messy crafts. Soak the clamshells in warm water, then vigorously scrub them out to remove any clam residue. When the shells have dried, place them on a flat surface to see how well they set. Most of them will lean forward a bit, but try to use the flattest shells as they will hold more wax.

I always use beeswax for these candles as it is the longest burning and it is easy to wick once it begins to cool. However, other waxes can be substituted for beeswax.
Melt beeswax in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, this can be easily done by placing a pan of water beneath the pan with the wax. Melting wax this way is a safety method, as it keeps the heat from directly hitting the wax. Beeswax is highly flammable so do not leave it unattended even for a minute. If it begins to smoke, remove the pan from the heat immediately.

It is best to melt the wax on a low temperature. It may take a bit longer, but it also reduces the risk of wax fires. Do not cover the wax when melting it, but keep a lid handy in case the wax does catch fire. The lid can be used to quickly smother the flames.

Once the wax has completely melted, remove it from the burner and let it cool for 1.5 minutes. If you wish to add color, now is the time to do so. You can also add scent after the color, but it is usually not necessary with beeswax as it bears a natural honey scent.

Measure a length of wicking 1 inch for each shell candle you have. i.e. 12 candles is a 12 inch wick. Dip the wick into the wax, completely covering it, then set aside and let it cool.

Fill each clamshell to the brim with beeswax, taking care not to overflow it. While the beeswax is cooling, cut the wax covered wicking into 1 inch sections.

When beeswax cools, the bottom and the sides are the first to harden. Watch the shells carefully and when the wax at the edges has hardened about 2 millimeters from the edge, place a piece of one-inch wick into the liquid center. Let go and the wick should stand on its own. Repeat with the remaining shell candles.

After 4 hours, the candles should be cooled completely. At that point, they can be lit or saved for another special occasion.