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How to Make a Paddle
Doll
Materials:
beads,
yarn,clay- approx. the size of a
grapefruit,
rolling pin, a
small cup of water, plastic knife,
glaze and kiln-
or paint, pencil,
and old clothes
or a smock.
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Step
One
Roll
your clay into a sphere, then pat it flat.
While flattening you will want it to be
the size of a juicy burger. Next you will
need to roll over your clay with the
rolling pin. Make sure to roll it out on
all sides so it will be both tall and
wide. You want to keep rolling until your
clay is the size of a thick
pancake.
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Step
Two
Now,
using your plastic knife, you will need to
cut out the shape of your paddle doll. We
prefer to make a pattern first, but it is
not necessary. After your shape is cut out
you must smooth the edges. To do this,
simply dip your finger tip into the water
and rub along the edges.
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Step
Three
Oh, the
fun part is about to begin! With your
pencil draw eyes and a mouth on your
paddle doll's head. Then push three or
four holes through the top of your dolls
head. We will later attach the hair to
these holes. Now continue to use your
pencil to draw a series of patterns on the
paddle part of your doll.
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Step
Four
This is
the most difficult step. In this step you
will need to learn how to score and weld.
Scoring
is when you make a series of small slits
in a piece of clay that you plan to join
to another piece of clay.
Welding
is when you weld those two pieces
together. In this step you will smooth
both pieces of clay together with your
finger until the lines between them
disappear.
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Now you are
ready to make your paddle dolls collar and nose. To
make the collar, simply roll out a snake, then use
scoring and welding to attach the snake around your
dolls neck. For the nose we found it easiest to use
a flat piece of left over clay to cut out a small
triangle. Score and weld the triangle to the dolls
face then use the point of your pencil to poke
nostrils into your dolls nose.
Congratulations,
you have now finished making your first paddle doll
with clay! You can now fire and glaze your doll or
if you are using air dry clay you can let it dry
then paint it and add yarn and beads for
hair.
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