If any genius is involved in handwork, it is in adapting any kind of material to the realization of any one of these ideas.
Dolls. Clothespins with cloth or paper tied on are about the simplest.
Corncobs, with “real” silk hair, clothes of corn husks or cloth make popular dolls. Arms may be made of cloth bags stuffed with paper, cotton, cloth, and sewed into the shoulder seam of the dress.
Rag dolls stuffed with cloth, the features and fingers marked in with ink or water color. Any one can cut a rag doll pattern from muslin. (For sanitary reasons, rag dolls are not so popular as they used to be.)
Nut dolls. Peanut dolls are made by using double nuts, sewed together to make the head, arms, legs and body; the features and hair marked with ink. Almond, hickory, hazel and walnut heads are used, attached to sticks or rag bodies. Corks, clay pipes, bone buttons, raffia, yarn, may be used for doll heads with these bodies.
Vegetable dolls. Carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, squashes may be used, and the features marked with ink or knife.
The temporary possibility of vegetable, nut, and other “stunt” dolls does not add to their popularity. They are of interest chiefly after nine years, when the doll interest is waning.
Paper dolls. Bodies made of stiff paper or pasteboard, with clothes that can be taken off and put on. Faces can be drawn with ink or water colors, or heads from pictures may be pasted on.
Such paper dolls must be of a size to handle with ease.
Paper dolls cut singly or in chains, by folding paper and cutting, are a source of amusement to children about five, and of creative enjoyment about eight, when there is the motor ability and imagination to create them in great variety.