Summary:
Making japanese egg dolls is a beautiful craft and the dolls can be used for decor or gifts. Here are easy instructions on making these dolls.

Details or Sample:
Japanese Egg dolls are beautiful, unique little art objects that can be used as decorations for your home, unique place names for guests, or small gifts. They are simple to make and take advantage of the many lovely designs of `washi’ or handmade Japanese paper.

First you will need a couple of eggs. Empty the eggs by piercing the pointed end with a sharp knife or thick needle and invert over a bowl.

Gently break away some of the eggshell at the pointed end to make a larger opening, and wash out the inside of the shell with running water. Let dry thoroughly, and paint the outside of the egg with gesso to strengthen and whiten it. Paint the inside of the eggshell with craft glue to preserve it.

When the gesso is dry, paint the eggshell with white acrylic paint. Let the paint dry, and paint features on one side of the eggshell with a fine brush and acrylic paint. For a male face, paint the shapes of eyes and brows, and a simple line for a mouth. For a woman’s face, paint black eyes and brows and a red mouth like a geisha.

With the black acrylic paint, cover the back of the eggshell head to represent hair. Allow to dry thoroughly, and add a coat of varnish to keep the paint in place.

To assemble your dolls, you will need cardboard tubes (such as kitchen paper or toilet roll tubes), some scraps of crepe paper, and some beautifully decorated washi.

Paint one end of a cardboard tube with craft glue and slip in one of the painted eggshells, with the broken end fitting into the tube, and leaving the painted face exposed. Paint the join between the egg and the tube with a coat of craft paint to keep it secure.

Trace around the open end of the tube onto a piece of scrap cardboard and cut out the resulting circle. To keep the doll steady, fill the tube and shell with rice, or soft wadding from the pen end. Glue the cardboard circle over the open end of the tube to keep the filling in and provide a steady base.

Cut out a rectangle of washi paper in a vibrant design the right side to wind around the tube with a small overlap. Glue the paper to the tube, smoothing out any wrinkles, and glue down the overlap so the coverage looks seamless. This creates the kimono.

Now cut a narrow strip of contrasting washi paper long enough to go round the tube with over lap. Glue the `obi’ to the middle of the `kimono’. Take a piece of decorative cord or ribbon and wind it twice round the tube in the middle of the `obi’ and tie in place.

Some suggestions for colors are; a red patterned kimono with black patterned obi and gold or silver cord; a white patterned kimono with blue patterned obi and black silk ribbon; a yellow patterned kimono with white patterned obi and silver cord.

You can the hair as it is, or use black crepe paper or black embroidery cotton to create a topknot.

To give your doll sleeves, cut a square of paper the same length as the body tube and fold it in half. Glue the folded paper together and run a strip of craft glue down the center of one side. Place this at the back of the doll and press into place so hat the glue holds the sleeves to the kimono body.

A variation of this is to cut a circle the same width as the length of the tube and fold that in half and glue it together. Repeat the same procedure for setting these half circle sleeves in place.

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Written by: Gail Kavanagh
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