Lifesaver Doll Tutorial

I posted this pic of a lifesaver doll last Christmas and had several people ask for instructions SO I did a tutorial, yes months later but hey Christmas In July right hehe.. What you will need

Yarn
Lifesavers
Styrofoam balls 2" is best but I used 1 1/2 all I had
Scissors
Cardboard (thick)
Pencil
Glue Gun
Ruler

I think thats all so lets get started:
First cut out your cardboard, you will need one that is 5 inches long for the legs and one that is 6 inches long for the head/arms

Lets do the legs first

Take your yarn and start wrapping it around the cardboard, not too tight but not too loose either, you dont want the yarn to be hard to get back off the cardboard. Wrap it 36 times around depending on the thickness of your yarn



Next you want to get it off the cardboard, take a piece of string and tie it around the middle like shown in pic. Tie it in a tight knot.



Now to pull it off the cardboard, carefully slide it off, hold it by the knot on top and with your scissors cut down through the center of the bottom like in pic, you have a little tassle at this point :D



Find the middle and divide it back in half, pull each side out nice and straight you will now tie off the legs like shown in pic. Tie in a nice tight knot and clip the little feet so they are nice and even



Your legs are DONE you can set them aside for now

Now for the Head/Arms

You now take your 6 inch piece of cardboard and start wrapping your yarn just like for the legs. 36 times or more/less depending on the fatness of your yarn



now move on to the tying off the middle and sliding off the card part like you did for the legs


Now to cut the bottom middle to form you tassle just like for the legs



Now time to make the head, take your styrofoam ball and place under the middle of your tassle. start spreading the yarn neatly around your ball so none of it shows, you dont want a lumpy head so make sure your yarn is nice and even then you need to grab a piece of yarn and tie a knot around the neck, you now have the head.





Now divide your yarn in half again to form the arms under the head. Pull them out to the sides nice and neat and tie off the ends just like the legs, make sure your ends are clipped nice and even..




Your yarn body parts are done now to add the lifesavers



I hot glue my body to my lifesavers, my mom used to used a nut pick to poke holes in both ends of the lifesavers, making a hole through the head and passing a string down then attaching the legs, I personally dont want stale lifesavers lol so hot glue works for me

grab the head and spread out the arms.. put some hot glue right in the center and glue on to the top of the lifesavers, make sure the head and arms are even and centered before it dries



Do the same with the legs



Your Doll is all done :D you can leave as is or decorate it,




I added felt to mine






I could add buttons, eyes even a skirt if I wanted. How about a white one thats a snowman or a brown one thats a gingerbread man? You could go crazy.
You can also vary the size of the cardboard for shorter or longer legs.
If you make one Id love to see.. PLEASE!!! Hope you liked my tutorial for these. You can email me any questions
shweetpotato@gmail.com