trying out local crafts

When we were getting ready to come down to Henderson Settlement in the fall, Christie said to me "I want a cornhusk doll for Christmas.....made by you." At first I laughed it off as something I couldn't possibly accomplish, but as Christmas got closer and closer, I figured that I might as well give it a shot!

I thought that I'd better consult some resources, so I checked three books on country craftsmanship out of the Henderson Settlement Library (The Cornhusk Book by Esta Z. Fehrenbach, Corn-Husk Crafts by Margery Facklam & Patricia Phibbs, and Traditional American Crafts by Betsey B. Creekmore). I believe that I also checked out a couple of websites, but I don't remember which ones they were.

I started with some dried cornhusks that Eric brought to me from the farm.
Then I soaked them in water for about half an hour.
I cut the nicest-looking leaves from the husks to make the doll. Following the instructions provided to me in one of the books, I was able to fashion a recognizable, although not quite symmetrical, head for the doll. (You can also see in the picture below the materials that I used.)
The books provided me with two ways to make the arms: weaving three pieces of husk into a braid and the more simple method of rolling a piece of husk into a thin cylinder shape. You can see that I decided to go for broke and make braided arms. (It really wasn't that hard.)
After I secured the arms, I then needed to fashion the bottom half of the doll. Since I wasn't sure I wanted to attempt legs on my first cornhusk creation, I chickened out and made a skirt by wrapping pieces of husk around the doll's waist and securing them with the yarn. The books suggested that if I made slits in the skirt, the strips would dry into attractive curls.
Not brave enough to try putting hair or distinguishing facial features on the doll, I left her bald and hung her to dry in the kitchen.
After checking back on the doll the next day, I realized that I had positioned the husks in the wrong way (curling in instead of curling out), so the doll didn't end up with the impressive full skirt that I had expected. Oh well. I didn't have enough clean cornhusks (or enough patience) to make another doll.

I wrapped my creation carefully in tissue paper so that she didn't get damaged on the long trip home from Kentucky.

I'm not sure that Christie really expected me to follow through and actually make the doll, but she was happy to receive it on Christmas Day!

Although my first attempt wasn't the most attractive piece of craftsmanship, I was overall pretty pleased with how it turned out. The whole process, from soaking the husks to the finishing cuts, took only about an hour. I think I'd try it again......but I really need to finish our wedding scrapbook first.....