Corn Husk Angel

Corn Husk Dolls have been around for a long long time. They were first made by the Native Americans. It's a fairly simple craft and once done it can be decorated with dyed husks, fabric, paint, beads, ribbon, just about anything you can come up with.To start you are going to need some corn husks. You can buy them at the grocery store dried. A little soak in water will make them flexible to work with. First tear three long skinny strips of husk. Then braid them together. This will be the dolls arms. If you are making a large doll, you may want to make two braids. Then gather a bunch of corn husks together neatly in your hand. Hold them at the tip and add a bunch of corn silk or thread. Fold the husks over the silk or thread and tie a thin strip of husk or thread around the top (where my fingers are pinching in the last photo).Next, turn the husks inside out. The silk/thread should be sticking out of the top. The thread is going to be the hair. Tie a knot a little way down around the husk like I have done in the first picture. You just made the neck. Lift up a few of the husks (two or three works just fine) and place the braid that you made earlier across the husks evenly like I have done in the second picture. The third picture shows that you pull the husks back down across the braid and tie a piece of husk or thread around the waist of the doll. You can stop here and have a corn husk doll. To make this doll into an angel keep going.Take two pieces of husk and hold them how you want them to look on your angels back. Hold them across the back of the doll and crisscross a piece of husk over the wings. Tie a piece of thread or husk around the waist of the doll to hold the wings in place. You can make a bonnet or a braid to put over the top of the hair out of husk or silk. Place the skirt of the angel over a bottle and leave it for a day or two to dry. Once done you can decorate it however you like or use it as is. Have fun.