Upcycled Lightbulb Doll by ImagiMeri's Creations

ImagiMeri's Creations Presents: The Upcycled Lightbulb Doll using  Creative Paperclay®

The "Upcycled Lightbulb Doll"

Using  Creative Paperclay®

Hello all,

My name is Meri Wiley, and I'm one of the most recent design team members.  I will be posting projects/tutorials every 2nd and 4th Friday of each month.

This post will be shared on Creative PaperClay's FaceBook Q & A page, their blog, Joanne's,Michaels, and Hobby Lobby's FaceBook pages, as well.

Today is my first project/tutorial and I'm very excited to share this with you.  Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions and questions, and I'll answer questions as quickly as possible.

This is a class I taught back in 2013, at one of my events in my home studio. 

Today's project/tutorial will show you how to make one of these as a witch......Halloween is coming, you know.  This project is perfect for children as well, with supervision, for birthday parties, scouting events, etc.

Click on this image of supplies, save and print if needed

Click on this image, save and print for full size pattern

Fig. 1 miscellaneous tools, Fig. 2 used light-
bulb, and Fig. 3 18 guage wire shaped into a
stand for baking the head.

Fig. 1  Creative Paperclay®, Fig. 2 Rolling pin

and small bit of clay, Fig 3 roll out clay

to about 1/8 inch thickness

Fig. 1 drape flattened clay over the lightbulb

and start mashing to cover. Fig. 2 while

holding clay covered lightbulb in hand,

smooth with your thumb or fingers using

water (Fig. 3) and work out air bubbles.

Try to smooth as much as possible which will

eliminate much of the sanding when dried.

Fig. 1 roll out small cone shape for the nose, 

Fig. 2 create a concave end at largest end

of cone, Fig. 3 using spatula or knife

(I prefer just a regular kitchen paring knife)

and blend concave cone end onto the

covered lightbulb where you'd like

the nose to be.

Fig. 1 After smoothing the clay around the

lightbulb I trimmed off excess clay at the

bottom so the threads of the lightbulb are

exposed. Fig. 2 after placing the cone on as

the nose, I then twisted it to make a funny

witch nose.  I also added ears.  Fig. 3 print

out the body and dress pattern on legal paper

or on two regular sheets and tape together. 

Fig. 1 20" x 8.5" piece of muslin,

Fig. 2 fold fabric and lay out pattern.

Fig. 3 After sewing fabric pieces, make

sure you clip all curves and angles.

Fig. 1 make sure your clay head is in a

250-300 degree oven,using the pre-formed

wire stand to hold it up, while working

on the body. It's perfectly safe to bake the

lightbulb in the oven. Bake for approximately

1 hour remove and let cool. You may also let

your clay air dry naturally.

Fig. 2 Finish sewing body together with

a 1/4" seam allowance and leaving the neck

open, Fig. 3 Proceed to turn body inside

out after making appropriate seam clippings.

Fig. 1 straighten seams, Fig. 2 notice the

gathering information from the pattern at

the neck opening,

Fig. 3 double thread your needle.

Fig. 1 fold over neck edge about 1/4" to the

inside, Fig. 2 proceed to create a large

basting stitch through both layers of the

neck opening, Fig. 3 Make sure you start at

one point and end as close as possible to the

beginning.  Leave long "tails" as you will need

to gather and tie the neckline.

Fig. 1 stuff doll body, starting with legs.

I created segmented legs so that my doll will

sit and legs will hang in a natural position,

Fig. 2 continue to stuff the remainder

of body & arms, Fig. 3 stuffing should reach

the neck opening and your basting "tails"

should be off to the side.

Fig. 1 apply hot glue to the end/tip of the light-

bulb, Fig. 2 quickly place the end/tip of light-

bulb into the opening at the neck so that

the glue is sticking to the fiber fill,

Fig. 3 using hot glue, "tack" the neckline

around the "neck" of the lightbulb and

proceed to gather the neck opening around

the lightbulb neck by pulling on the

thread "tails" until snug.  Tie a couple of

knots to hold gather and snip off excess.

Straighten out the gather around the neck.

Fig. 1 paint the lightbulb head using "flesh"

tone acrylic paint. Fig. 2 begin to paint the

body with flesh tone as well, Fig. 3 Finish

painting on both front and back.

Fig. 1 After letting the flesh tone paint dry,

I applied a layer of crackle medium and

let it dry, and then applied a layer of light

greenish color over the two previous layers.

I let that dry and it resulted in an overall

crackled finish for perfect witch

skin (Fig. 2) Fig. 3 Using the provided

pattern for a doll dress,  I found some

suitable halloween fabric, cut a

piece 20" x 8.5", folded, pinned pattern, cut out

and then proceeded to stitch one shoulder seam,

one side seam and only about one inch on the

opposite seam near the bottom. I turned

the dress right side out and ironed it flat.

Fig. 1 using either a single side razor blade, or 

scissors, cut the bottom edge of the dress

up multiple times to "fray" the edge,

Fig. 2 Put the dress on the doll and finish

"hand" stitching the side and shoulder seams

with matching thread and needle,

Fig. 3 completed dress on doll.

Fig. 1 add gathered lace around neck to hide

the gathered fabric.  Embellish with more

ribbon or charms, to your liking.  Fig. 2 using

your hot glue gun, place miscellaneous dots

of glue around on the face as "moles."

Finish painting face and glue yarn or jute

to the head as hair, Fig. 3 You've finished

your Halloween witch!  Enjoy!

Please leave me feedback if you enjoyed this, or even if you have suggestions or comments on something you don't understand.  I want to make sure you understand my projects/tutorials. Please do not share without giving me credit and or a link to this blog.

Please check out participating sponsors and especially the Creative PaperClay Q & A Facebook page using the links provided at the beginning of this project/tutorial.

Hugs,

Meri