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Deep River Pioneer Lutheran Church, National Resgister of Historic Places. Typical architecture of early churches in U.S. |
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Friday, July 7, 2023
A Pioneer Church
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Craft Orthodox Clergy Clothespins
- eight cotton balls or white felt
- wooden clothespins
- wooden stands
- decorative paper for the stands
- black and brown felt
- seed beads
- tiny crosses (charms)
- acrylic paints
- white school glue
- hot glue gun and hot glue
- scrap white paper
- twine
- plastic egg carton
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- In making the nun, you may choose to use white felt alternatively to wrap around her head and shoulders. I chose to use cotton batting instead because it is easier to get the cotton onto the doll with a layer of white glue. Simply unravel the cotton ball and proceed to wind it around her figure at the top in order to shape the bandeau, coif and guimpe.
- Her veil is shaped from a black piece of felt hot glued to the top of her head.
- Her black felt skirt is a simple tube wrapped around the waist of the clothespin and glued in place.
- Paint her head, legs and shoes black.
- String some tiny seed beads and a cross pendent for her to carry in her hands or as a crucifix to hang about her neck.
- The monk clothespin is a friar dressed in brown felt. I chose to give him a "tonsure" hair cut using cotton batting and brown paint. This is a very old way to identify his devotion to the church. But there can be no doubt of it and this is why he wears it.
- The good friar also carries a devotion or hymnal, depending on what he is up to at the moment. Tie twine about his waist and wrap a hood, a capuche, using either brown felt or cotton batting as seen in the above photo with white glue. Paint it brown after it dries.
- Then paint the monk or friar's features.
- The priest may be dressed in traditional black. Paint his wooden legs and shoes black.
- Wrap a felt coat about the torso and attach it permanently with glue.
- I cut a collar from white paper to glue about his neck and glued a cross to the front of his chest.
- Take the tip of a toothpick and dip it into gold acrylic to paint on the chain for his cross or crucifix.
- Paint on his facial features and hot glue a yarn or cotton batting wig to complete his look.
- I decoupaged a patterned red and white ''floor'' to the wooden bases of these dolls, to make them look as though they are standing on tiles. Their black shoes are simply painted directly on to the wooden stands.
Links To More Catholic Clergy Dolls and Content:
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Color these stained glass windows for a dollhouse or doll sized church
Below are four coloring sheets for stained glass windows. Sometimes large Victorian mansions even had stained glass windows in the front parlor. Print, color and cut them out before pasting them onto your dollhouse or doll sized church walls.
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Stained glass includes spiral designs and 3 panes. |
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Stained glass with fern motifs. |
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Stained glass with floral and vine motifs. |
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These leaf patterns are Arts & Crafts designs. |
Monday, October 26, 2020
A Stained Glass Window for A Doll's Church
I restored this image of a stained glass window for those of you who would like to construct a doll sized church. I depicts Jesus as The Good Shepherd, with a staff, sheep, lamb, wilderness, and breaking daylight in the background. Doll crafters may also search our other collections of stained glass clip art at the Christian Clipart Review blog linked below. Those images may also be used for personal crafts like: model buildings, dollhouses and journals as well.
- Stained glass window collections at Christian Clipart Review.
- Stained glass window coloring from Color The Bible for crafters who wish to finish their own printable stain glass projects.
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"The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23 |
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Dollhouse window printable includes stained glass...
Cut and paste pictures of the outdoors from magazines. Then paste the views inside the window frames below, trim off the excess typing paper and adhere the windows to the inside of your dollhouse. The windows are from the Arts and Crafts movement from 1910 to 1925. Dolls like Samantha might have stained glass inserts put into windows in their home.
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Printables at our blog are not to be redistributed from any other online collection or sold for profit. They are the property of kathy grimm and are for personal home use only. |
Sunday, September 13, 2020
Sunday Toys: My Little Pew Baby
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Because of the angle of the camera the doll looks larger than it is, weird. My little pew baby actually measures 13" from the top of the head to the tip of the handkerchief. |
Supply List:
- Two linen kerchiefs, one plain, the second embroidered or printed.
- one small white baby sock
- cotton batting to stuff the sock
- needle and white thread (or to match)
- First you will need to stuff the sock with new cotton batting. You could use a sock that is more representative of flesh tones than the white shown here if you wish.
- Whip stitch the opening of the sock closed.
- Take a threaded needle and also sew a straight stitch around the doll's neck to gather in the sock's fabric as you pull the needle tightly around the area beneath the head.
- Sew together the shorter ends of one rectangle with the right sides facing together. Turn the fabric inside out to gather the simple bunting around the neck of the baby doll.
- I tucked approximately 1/4" of the raw length under as I gathered the material using a straight stitch. (see photo below)
- Now take the second embroidered kerchief and lay it flat to position the pew baby's head in the selected corner of the kerchief for her head.
- Wrap and tack down the kerchief in a pleasing arrangement.
- I chose to stitch the kerchief around my doll's face.
- Then you may sew on a button or ribbon at the doll's neck to finish. The entire sewn assembly takes about 10 minutes from beginning to end!
- Kits by Sundillies Explained - traditional handkerchief dolls
- Vintage Hanky Church Doll by Maggie's Crochet - knotted, no sew version
Sunday, August 9, 2020
My Doll's First Communion: Link List
- First Communion Dress, Fits American Girl Doll by Jo MacKinnon - knit version
- Pintucks and Lace 18" Doll Clothes Pattern - bonus wedding veil
- Sydney Spring Wedding Dress 18" Doll Clothes - this version can be shortened for a first communion gown
- Special Occasion Fashions for 18" Dolls Crochet Pattern Book - you will still need to sew a tulle slip to go underneath
- Butterick Pattern number 3875 for 18" Dolls
- Simplicity Pattern number 4364, 5952
- Sew Adorable Doll Dress Pattern 'Vitoria's First Communion' for 18" Dolls
- Avery Lane: Ella Dress - 18" dolls
- Amy's First Holy Communion Cake - using a dressed Moxie Doll
- First Communion Cakes by Lacy
- Simple Communion Doll Cake by CakesDecor
- How to make the base for a doll cake by VeroSweetHobby
- McCall's Communion Dress Pattern for Girls 3586, 3050, 2552, 3586, 5792, 2590
- Burda Patterns 9654, B4967
- Vogue Pattern 1877, V9072
- Simplicity: Daisy Kingdom for Little Girls and Their Doll, number 8554
- Simplicity Pattern number 3545, 4647, 8843, 9344
- Butterick Pattern: B4441, 6603
- Special Occasion Apparel for Children: Communion Dresses
- Tiny Threads Makes Custom Communion Dresses
- White Lace Flower Girl or Communion Dress with Jacket
Monday, August 3, 2020
Church Catechisms
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The Catechism Lesson by Jules-Alexis Meunier. |
Parents may wish to visit those websites online that teach their own church's version of the Christian or Jewish Catechism to incorporate into doll play. It is not our intent to draw children apart from the beliefs of their parents here, moreover it is to encourage parents to integrate their family's faith into the doll play of their children. That being said, catechisms are very much the same from one Christian group to another.
- More About Christian Catechisms
- Teach Luther's Catechism
- Teach The Geneva Catechism
- Teach The Heidelberg Catechism
- Teach The Church of England Catechism
- Teach The Westminster Catechisms
- Teach the Wesleyan Methodist Catechisms (pdf)
- Teach The Church of Rome Tridentine Catechism
- The Baptist Catechism (Keach's Catechism) pdf
- Charles Spurgeon's Catechism with Scripture Proofs (pdf)
- Best Catechism Resources for Families
- Catechism For Jewish Children
- Short Catechism About The Lord's Prayer in Brief by Benjamin Kutz
- General Prayers For Little Children
- Free Children's Hymns for The Christian Home
- The 10 Commandments, Are The Laws of Love!
- Sabbath Morning
- The Noah's Ark by Katherine Pyle
- Children Teach..."What is the Apostle's Creed?"
- The Apostle's Creed: Illustrated by Central Church of Christ Amarillo
- Children illustrate The Apostle's Creed
- Thanksgiving Prayer by Mary Caroline Merrick - "Dear God, I thank you for each lovely tree..."
- Children's Prayer Collection - All in the public domain and some to color as well.
- My Doll's First Communion - a linking list about the topic
- Sunday Toys: My Little Pew Baby - a traditional method for making these Sunday dolls
- Sunday Toys: All By Herself - church quiet book - a retro quite book
- Nun Doll Dressed in Habits - article and pictures
- A stained glass window for a doll's church - printable for doll churches and chapels
- Sunday Toys: Noah's Ark Craft - antique wooden plans for a pull-toy ark and cut out animals too!
- American Girl Dolls Create Relationships by Pastor Bill Mitchell
- Dollhouse Church with Rectory from BENEDOLLS
- Building A Doll Church Diorama by Dauhl House TV
- Cedar Sided Church Doll House
- Church Model by satnam.models
- How to make a church using cardboard by Crazy Ideas
- Model Making of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Klang (Time Lapse) by Chee Wen Yi
- How to make a church with wooden sticks by FoBIRD
- How to make a popsicle stick church by Simple Art
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Three ways to craft the St. Lucia crown...
The First St. Lucia Crown.
"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12
- The St. Lucia Song in Swedish.
- St. Lucia Day - Swedish Traditions
- Santa Lucia procession in Cleveland
- Santa Lucia, Queen of light, at 29th Swedish Christmas Festival in Toronto
- Rick Steves' European Christmas: Norway
Supply list for the simplest and the first of our St. Lucia crowns:
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Recycled oatmeal container. |
- a paper cardboard lid from a recycled food container,
- green felt
- hot glue and hot glue gun
- eight golf tees,
- green, white and orange acrylic paint
- sprigs of Christmas holly and red berries
- Cut off the bottom of a cardboard oatmeal container and cut an additional hole through the bottom of the container for the hair on top of the crown to show through. During the service of St. Lucia, a small white linen napkin is used to cover the head of the girl so that tallow from the candles does not drip directly on her hair. You may like to cut a small white tissue for your doll's head covering although you must only pretend to light the candles while playing.
- Glue the tops of the golf tees to the dolls crown. Space out eight candles evenly.
- Paint the outside rim of the cardboard crown green.
- Paint the tips of the golf tees orange for the faux flames.
- Glue shredded green felt pieces around the candles.
- Glue sprigs of Christmas holly and red berries to the outer rim.
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Left, Glue the tops of the golf tees to the dolls crown. (tips up) Right, Glue sprigs of Christmas holly and red berries to the outer rim. |
The Second St. Lucia Crown.
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The second version of St. Lucia's crown. |
- white typing paper
- variegated green yarn
- yellow, orange and red tissue paper
- tiny pinecones and red berry pics
- green felt for additional holly leaves.
- hot glue and hot glue gun
- a recycled plastic oatmeal lid
- Cut out the center of a recycled plastic oatmeal lid, leaving approx. 1/3" of cardboard in the center for the place to glue faux candles.
- Roll up white typing paper into tight narrow tubes and cut these to a variety of lengths. These tubes will become the candles.
- Glue eight of them to the inside rim of your lid with equal spacing between each one.
- Use a hot glue gun to drip faux looking candle wax around the upper edges of each candle.
- Wrap variegated green yarn around the oatmeal lid to cover the outside and inside rims between the faux candles, using glue to hold it in place.
- Now you can weave a pretty pattern with the yarn around the candles several layers up their sides.
- Hot glue tiny pinecones and red berry pics to the outside rim for additional decoration.
- Tear or cut red, orange and yellow flames from tissue and glue these inside the holes at the top of your candles for fake flames.
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Left, the inner parts of the recycled plastic oatmeal lid are cut away for the crown. Right, Use a hot glue gun to drip faux looking candle wax around the upper edges of each candle. |
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Left, a penny to show size proportions. Right, the crown is ready for flames and decorations. |
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Third and final variation of our St. Lucia crowns has the traditional arc shaped to follow the head of the wearer. Right you can see all three crowns together. |
The Third St. Lucia Crown.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:5
Supply list for the third crown version:
- cardboard
- green acrylic paint
- white candles
- hot glue and hot glue gun
- masking tape
- old plastic drywall anchors
- at least four color variations of green felt
- tiny red pom-poms
- green yarn, and wire
- The third version of our St. Lucia crown craft uses actual white birthday candles for display purposes only. If you feel that a child might be too tempted to light these, use paper tubes instead!
- Measure the circumference of the doll's head using either a tape measure of piece of yarn that you can hold up to a ruler.
- Cut a long narrow piece of cardboard to equal this same measurement. You may try it on the doll's head to insure that it fits before continuing.
- Cover this crown with masking tape.
- Hot glue eight plastic drywall anchors around it's edges. Space these anchors evenly.
- Mask with tape around the anchors.
- Use green paint to cover all of these parts.
- Now wire the arch for the top of the crown in an X shape, wrapping the ends firmly around the inside and out of the crown.
- Cut long strips of green felt and clip a fringe on one half of these.
- Wrap and glue these fringed felt strips around lengths of yarn.
- Wrap the yarn around the wire.
- Glue the more fringed felt directly to the crown edges, overlapping a bit in order to cover the crown completely.
- Stick the white birthday candles into the drywall anchors. If these are too loose to stand on their own. wrap the bottom edges of the candles with aluminum foil and reinsert.
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Left, Mask with tape around the anchors. Right, Use green paint to cover all of these parts |
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
A Lovely Church Interior for Doll Photography
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Our doll Sophie stands in front of a terrific background for our doll church school. |
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Photo by Simon Bowen 2016, Interior of St. Andrews Church, Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International cc |