The Irish Potato Doll and Her Pig

        Did you ever try to make a doll from a potato? It is quite easy to do, as our two pictures clearly show us. We are going to make a folksy little doll and her pig for St. Patrick's Day. You might have learned that in Europe, long ago, some very poor people nearly always kept pigs, which often shared their humble homes with them. These pigs were mainly fed with the potatoes that their owners were unable to eat. During the Great Irish Famine there were not even enough potatoes to feed people! 

• The Potato Famine of 1846
  

       So there is something quite suitable in making our little doll along with her pig from potatoes for St. Patrick's Day. These two strange little folk art dolls will serve to remind us of just how blessed we are here in the states where potatoes, pigs, and good folks still abound during hard times.

1. First wash the potatoes very gently, without breaking the skins.
   
2. For the little woman, get a rather long potato with a little round nob on the top. This little nob is to make our little doll's head. If you can't find a potato this shape, get a smaller round potato and fasten it to the end of the long one using a toothpick. Push the toothpick halfway into the tip of the larger, longer potato. Then push the exposed end of the toothpick into the smaller, round potato. The potato doll should look as though she has a head.
3. Now scrape two little round holes out for her eyes and cut a curved slit for her mouth. Then cut a short slit just above the mouth for the nose.
4. Get two tiny black pin heads from mother's sewing supply to push into each eye hole for the doll's pupils.
5. Paint the doll's lips red and tint her cheeks with pink.
6. Wrap the doll's potato body with green crepe paper and attach a white crepe paper apron and bonnet.
7. The arms and legs can be made with toothpicks and covered with crepe paper as well.
8. The pig is much easier to craft. Sometimes, if you look, you will find a potato with a kind of point at one end which will look just like a pig's snout!
9. Take a nice long, plump potato, sticking four toothpicks into it's underside for legs.
   
10. Push in two black-headed pins into either side of the pigs head for it's eyes.
11. Curl a bit of dandelion stem about your finger. Gently remove it and pin it onto the back-end of the potato pig for it's tail.
    

Advanced Potato Sculpting for Older Kids:

• Sculpt a Lion's Head Using Sweet Potato
• How to carve a sweet potato 
• Potato Carving Challenge

Potato People

OUT in our kitchen, the cook had a pan,

And there I discovered my po-ta-to man.

His head was a knob that was funny and small;

His body a round-little, brown-little ball.

I gave him some legs then, two sticks that were straight;

I added some others for arms. He was great!

I gave him two staring black shoe button eyes

Which looked up at me with greatest surprise!

His nose was a button pushed into his head;

His mouth was another, but one that was red.

He had a most winning and amiable smile.

He entertained me for a very long while

By helping to make me some jolly-good fun:

I played and I played with him when he was done!

Then I made a Lady Po-ta-to. Just see!

I think she's as handsome as handsome can be.

They're now keeping house here on my play room floor;

Right there in the corner behind the white door.

Some time you can make a po-ta-to play, too,

I know you will find it jolly to do!