A Wax Doll for Megan

 I had mentioned that my favorite gift to give this year was a wax doll that I made for Megan. I thought it would be fun to tell you more about it.

  Megan has been expressing a desire for a wax doll for the last couple of years and so having never seen one available to buy I started thinking about how I could possibly make one. I had been mulling on this every so often for a year or so but hadn't truly come up with a plan. But when I heard her mention it again, shortly before Christmas, I decided I would just jump in and try.

 First I got some wire with which I made a very rough looking frame.

Then I cut an old t-shirt into a long strip and started wrapping it around the wire frame.

This was what it looked like after I had it totally wrapped. Rather mummy like, I think.

The next step was melting wax. I had to do this on the stove in the kitchen so I had to encourage Megan to play outside and then go read to get it done. My wax was mostly beeswax with a old white candle thrown in and a red crayon. I would dip the top of the doll and then let it dry a little and then dip the bottom half. I get rotating back and forth until it seemed to by sufficiently covered. As I got close to the end I worked to shape a chin and nose with my fingers. At the very end I pressed in two small beads for the eyes.

Her body shape is nowhere near perfect but it works.

The next step was to paint on her face. After that I worked to glue on her hair. I planned on using craft glue because I figured that hot glue would melt her but I could get my craft glue to work so I tried hot glue and it actually worked fine.

 The doll was done. She just needed clothes. So I quickly made a dress, shawl and slippers. I decided she looked kind of like a Spanish senorita so I gave her a flower in her hair and a fan too.

 I am not sure if Megan has given her a name yet or not. She has been thinking on it.

 She is a little flat faced and has fat hands but Megan has a wax doll now and she is happy. It was a fun project.

 Have you worked on any fun projects lately? Did you make any handmade gifts for Christmas? I love to hear from you!