How To Craft Clothespin Doll Skiers

Finished clothespin dolls dressed at skiers.

   Clothespin dolls dressed as skiers have been crafted by many people to decorate Christmas trees for the past 100 years.    

   I have made two of my own versions here . . . both female and male. They wear the fashions of modern skiers: their coats are made of tiny sock remnants; their warm hoods, ear muffs and scarves are fashioned after the winter sportswear worn on the slopes of Colorado today.

 

Supply List:

• wooden clothespins
• wooden craft sticks
• wooden toothpicks
• scrap cardboard
• baby socks
• chenille stems
• pom poms
• yarn
• two or three cotton balls
• yarn for hair
• acrylic paints for painted eyes
• needle and thread
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• wood glue
• felt scraps

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First, paint your clothespin head a flesh color.
2. Use a solid bright color like blue, yellow or red to paint the skier's pant legs. Then paint their boots in an obvious contrasting color.
3. Bend a chenille stem about the shoulder area of the clothespin below the neck. Tape and glue this in place. 
4. Wrap the arms and neck of this chenille stem using yarn or twine. 
5. Trim off the arms to an arm length but leave enough to wrap around the end point of a toothpick. 
6. Cover these "hands" with a bit of cotton batting and wood glue. Paint the mittens a color you like.
7. Cut tiny round shapes from cardboard to insert the opposite ends of the toothpick through to make the ski poles. Paint them if you like.
8. Cut wooden craft sticks into the shapes of skies. My skies have traditional pointed tips.
9. Use the wood glue to attach the tiny toy skies to the ends of each clothespin leg. Let the glue dry solid.
10. Use felt scraps to trim a faux fur about the top of the boots if you like. I show the male skier with this trim.
11. Now cut and shape with a needle and thread the coats of each doll. I layered cotton underneath their jackets to make them look bulky. The coats are simple tube shapes. 
12. After fitting the coats to your clothespin doll body, glue it in place.
13. Now use the remaining toe sections of the socks to shape hoods for each jacket and glue these in place, up or down. 
14. I glued ear muffs using pom poms and a colorful chenille stem onto the head of the male skier. He also has a black pom pom between the muffs to act as his hair.
15. I glued a black yarn braid to the top of the girl skier's forehead after gluing her hood on the back of her head.
16. I used a very tiny paint brush to make their eyes. First dab on the white and let this dry. Then add a tiny speck of black for the pupil. 

The clothespin skiers are shown here from different angles so that you can see all the details.

The male skier wears winter ski garments in yellow, grey, red and white. He is quite a fashion plate
 to behold on his way down the slopes, I think!

The girl skier is his younger sister. She is also fashionably dressed in bright blue and hot pink!

Both wooden dolls are ready to conquer the slopes and meet with friends afterwards for hot cocoa.