Merida Doll

With a reputation for being more at home roaming the Scottish Highlands than in her role as a royal, it might be said that Princess Merida is as untamed as her curly red tresses. Here’s how you and your child can transform a swatch of fabric and some bright bulky yarn into a doll that resembles the adventurous young archer. 

What you'll need

• Wooden craft spoon, 2 Woodsies circles (1¼ inch), and a wooden craft stick (sold in craft stores)
• Hot glue gun
• Craft knife
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Blue fabric, cut into three pieces: 9 by 18 inches for the skirt, 2 by 10 inches for the arms, and 1¾ by 4 inches for the bodice
• Thick rubber band
• Template for Merida Doll
• Sheet of white cardstock
• 2-inch square of a laminating sheet (sold in office supply stores)
• Tacky glue or tacky glue stick
• Orange/red super bulky weight yarn

How to make it

1. Create the doll’s head and torso by hot gluing the two wooden circles to the wooden craft spoon, with the handle sandwiched between them, as shown. Make sure the spoon handle extends beyond the circles a ¼ inch so you can glue the hair to it later.  
2. For the dress, first fold the largest fabric piece in half to create a 9-inch square (the folded edge will serve as the dress skirt hem).      
3. Scrunch the top of the skirt around the spoon below the head, and use a rubber band to hold it in place. Leave a bit of the handle exposed to serve as the doll’s neck.  
4. Use the fabric bodice piece to create a ¾-inch strip by folding over the long edges and hot-gluing them in place, as shown. 
5. Glue the bodice in place around the top of the skirt.  
6. To create the doll’s arms, first cut a 1¼-inch length from each end of a wooden craft stick to use as hands. Hot glue the hands to the pipe cleaner ends.  
7. Fold over and hot glue the short ends of the remaining fabric piece to create ½ inch sleeve hems. 
8. Then glue the pipe cleaner to the center of the fabric, as shown. 
9. Fold the long fabric edges over the pipe cleaner and hot glue them down.  
10. Glue the center of the arms piece to the back of the dress bodice. Wrap the arms around to the front of the doll, bending them at the shoulders and elbows.  
11. Print the template on white cardstock and then seal the doll face with the laminating sheet square. Cut out the face and use tacky glue to stick it to the wooden head.  
12. For Merida’s long, curly red hair, cut seven 13-inch lengths of bulky yarn. Gather six of the strands in a bunch and use the seventh to tie them together at the center. Unravel the individual strands.  
13. Hot glue the bound portion of the yarn wig to the end of the spoon handle above the head. Then glue a few yarn strands to the back of the wooden head. (Tip: To stand the doll upright, simply set it over an inverted paper cup or a rolled-up piece of thin cardboard or cardstock.)