How to make a doll sized football...

Our 18" male doll cradles our handmade, felt football between his hands.

 

        To craft a football for your 18" dolls, all you will need are: scrap brown felt, a cotton stuffing of some sort, a needle and matching brown thread, white embroidery floss and the free pattern I have included below. You may shrink or enlarge the pattern to fit the size proportions of both smaller or larger dolls as you need to. 

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut four identical felt pieces using the pattern above.
2. Sew, using a straight stitch, the eight sides together, leaving a small 1/2" opening.
3. Turn the felt football inside out through the opening.
4. Stuff the football with cotton stuffing.
5. Using a whip stitch and brown matching thread, close the 1/2" opening shut.
6. Thread an embroidery needle with white floss and stitch the simple ladder pattern along one of the eight seams to match what is normally seen on an actual football.

Checker Board Games for 18" Sized Dolls

        These checker game boards were easy to print and mount onto cardboard.
       I then sealed the surfaces with Mod Podge. The checker game pieces are made from Sculpey, rolled out and then flattened with my fingertip. I painted half of them red and the other half, I left unpainted (white.)
       The Chinese checker board was printed out and mounted on top of an oatmeal can lid. I glued tiny Styrofoam balls in different colors to the lid in the starting positions for the game.

Checker or Chess Board Game

Left, checkerboard measures approximately 4 1/4" across.
Right, I used Sculpey to make the game pieces.
Download a checkerboard for printing here.

       Draughts - British English) or checkers (American English) is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque. The name 'draughts' derives from the verb to draw or to move, whereas 'checkers' derives from the checkered board which the game is played on. Read more...

Left, the Chinese Checkerboard is approximately 5" in diameter.
Center, I used a oatmeal can lid for the checkerboard/container.
Right, colored Styrofoam balls are used to mimic doll-sized marbles.

 Chinese Checkers Board Game

        Sternhalma, commonly known as Chinese checkers (US and Canadian spelling) or Chinese chequers (UK spelling), is a strategy board game of German origin which can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners. The game is a modern and simplified variation of the game Halma. Read more...

Printable Chinese Checkerboard for your 18" dolls.

Print a Vintage Halloween Party Game Board

       This Halloween Party board game was first published in 1950 by Child Craft Magazine. It may be freely used by children to print out and play with their dolls. It is not for sale. Do not use it for money making opportunities. You will also need dice or a spinner to play the game. Each player rolls one dice or spins to see how many spaces he or she can move. The first to get to the party wins! After I have made a doll sized version of this game, perhaps you will see it in an upcoming Halloween post? Have a spooky good time playing with it on Halloween!

Halloween Party Game Board Printable. Includes game pieces to cut, fold and paste together.

Craft a Rabbit Ring Toss Game

Assign point values to each different
 color of chenille ring.

        This doll sized Rabbit Ring Toss game is a fun activity for the dolls to play during a Spring Picnic or Easter Party Celebration.

Supply List:

• cardboard tube
• white typing paper
• chenille stems
• white school glue
• tacky craft glue
• decorative pink paper
• permanent black ink pen
• wooden dowel
• white felt
• decorative buttons (optional)
• stones or marbles to use as weights
• scrap cardboard 
• template for rabbit body parts 
• cotton balls

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First you can twist together little chenille stem rings using two colors of choice. Set these aside for the game.
2. Print out the patterns below for the rabbit ring toss: ears, face and legs. Trace around the patterns on top of cardboard. There should be two ears, one face and a set of rabbit legs from the cardboard. Cover these with glue and white paper.
3. Cut the centers of the rabbit ears from pink paper and a rabbit nose from the same. Glue these pink features to the rabbit face and ears.
4. Use a permanent ink marker (black) to draw on the rabbit's eyes, mouth and speckles where his whiskers would be. Set these features aside for later.
5. Now cut a tube measuring 4 1/2 inches long to attach to a square base 2 1/4" on all four sides.
6.  Triple up the bulk of the cardboard base pasting between each later.
7. Mount the tube to the center of the base using a tacky craft glue. Let this dry before filling the tube with a couple of marbles or stones. These weights will help keep the rabbit ring toss standing during the game.
8. Fill up the rest of the tube with cotton balls and seal the top off with paper and glue. 
9. Now wrap and glue white paper to the tube; this will act as the rabbit's body.
10. Glue a decorative paper onto the base of the ring toss game. 
11. Use scissors to poke a hole into both sides of the rabbit near the top.
12. Push a wooden dowel (5") through the holes and paint this white. You could use a cut chopstick instead of a wooden dowel if you wish.
13. I cut long strips of white felt approximately 1" wide. Clip one side only into a fringe. 
14. Wrap the white felt fringe around the outer edges of the dowel "arms" of the rabbit to act as paws.
15. Mount the rabbit's head and ears using toothpicks and tacky glue. 
16. I also hot glued a few button trims, a flower and a bug between the rabbit's ears.
17. I wrapped even more of the fringe under the chin of our rabbit to create a fluffy looking animal.
18. Don't forget to glue the legs to each side of your rabbit ring toss and use tacky white glue to adhere a cotton tail to the back side of the rabbit, just above the cardboard base.
19. Now your dolls can assign a point value to each colored chenille stem ring and also add extra points to the scores of those dolls who are able to toss and hook a ring around the rabbit's ear(s)!

Left, use an extra tacky glue to mount the paper tube to the cardboard base. Center, I tripled the thickness of may base
 to add weight to the bottom. Right, I also inserted stones and marbles into the bottom of the tube to guarantee the
rabbit ring toss would stand on it's own.

Left the tube is sealed shut with an additional piece of cardboard and craft glue. Center the tubular body of our
rabbit ring toss is covered in white paper. It's base is covered in a decorative scrapbook paper. Right the cardboard
body parts of our rabbit ring toss.

Left, the cardboard head and ears are pasted together with the aid of tacky craft glue and toothpicks. Center, here you
 can see that the rabbit's hind legs are covered with white paper and mounted on either side of the rabbit's body at the
 base of the construction. Right, the head has been mounted with glue to the top of the tube.

Right, the rings are made by twisting together two chenille stems. I used white, purple, red and orange for this
part of our game craft. Center, attach a white cotton ball to the backside of the rabbit to act as his tail. Right, the
rabbit ring toll is finished.

Template for rabbit body parts. Shrink or enlarge as you like. For play only.

Craft Doll Tennis Rackets

Left, two finished tennis rackets for our fashion dolls. Center, one of our dolls (a curvy Fashionista)
 is dressed and ready to play. I've included a pattern of her tank T-shirt below.
 Right, tennis racket covers made from felt will protect the racket from wear and tear.

       A tennis match between doll friends may be something you will need to craft on your own. So I have included here the first part of this DIY crafty sport, the rackets. Soon there will be an additional post showing how I made the tennis court and net.

Supply List:

• black tape (color preference)
• wire
• masking tape
• green acrylic paint (or a different color of your own choosing)
• fine mesh netting (plastic, may be purchased from a hardware store)
• tacky craft glue
• white felt (a small amount)
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Download and print out the tennis racket pattern below.
2. Shape wires into tennis rackets up against the pattern for twisting the wire. 
3. Wrap the racket in masking tape until it is stiff.
4. Paint the upper half of the rackets, see picture below.
5. Cut out the center of the racket's pattern and hold this on top of the netting while cutting out the shapes for the inside of your tennis rackets. Cut these a little larger than you need so that they can be slightly adjusted with scissors as you fit them to your doll rackets.
6. Glue the mesh netting shapes in place with a tacky craft glue.
7. Let the glue dry and harden before proceeding with the next step.
8. Cut long thin strips of black tape to wrap the racket handles.
9. Wrap these handles overlapping the tape just a little as you work your way up the handles.
10. Now you can trace around the rackets including 1/4 an inch felt for a better fit for the tennis racket covers. You will need four pieces like this for two rackets.
11. The cover should not cover the racket entirely see pattern below and picture above.
12. Sew a straight seam around each set of felt covers.
13. Turn them inside out and fit them to the rackets when they are in storage.
    

Left, Shape wires into tennis rackets up against the pattern for twisting the wire. Center, Paint the upper half
 of the rackets. Right, Glue the mesh netting shapes in place with a tacky craft glue.

Free guide for doll tennis racket and a free pattern for a doll tank T-shirt.

More Tennis for Fashion Dolls:

• Career Fair for Barbie and her friends
• DIY Miniature Tennis Racket