DIY Cotton Wool toy with your own hands

Welcome to my channel! Today I will show you the process of creating a cotton toy. I'll start with making a face. Since I don't have a mold for a face, I need such a doll, which I bought at a fixed price. By the way, you can make a Christmas tree ball from a plastic packaging, placing the composition inside. Then I need this clay. I have already told a lot about it and use it in almost every video. I apply a little cream to the face of the doll so that the hardened clay easily moves away. I press the clay tightly to the face to make a printout and leave it for a couple of days until it dries completely. When the clay is completely dry, I remove the mold. Now I will use this clay. I put it in a mold and press it well. Then I take it out of the mold. I leave the resulting faces to dry completely. While the faces are hardening, I will make a wire frame. My wire is thin, its diameter is 0.5 mm. I twist it several times. First I make the legs, then I connect them with the body and then add the hands. I will use two types of cotton wool. For the base, I use ordinary cotton wool in a zigzag. And for making clothes for the doll, I use linen wool. Linen wool is more textured and is well suited for making scarves, scarves and coats. I divide the cotton wool into the harnesses and begin to wind on the wire frame. Do not be afraid that the cotton wool is wound unevenly and the parts of the body turn out to be disproportionate. In the future, all these shortcomings will be corrected. With the help of a thread, I fix the cotton wool on the wire frame. And I give a more even shape to the little man. One of the main elements that are used to create a cotton toy is clay. It is made of water and starch. In a small cup, I pour a small teaspoon of starch and add a little water. I mix well until smooth, avoiding lumps. Then I add boiling water and mix well again. I let it cool and grease the surface of the workpiece with a clay. The clay finally smooths out all irregularities. I leave the workpiece to dry overnight. Meanwhile, I paint linen wool for clothes. For coloring, I will use watercolor paints. I add a little vinegar to the water to fix the paint. The principle of coloring is as follows. The more paint you add to the water, the brighter and richer the color of the wool will turn out. And the more water you add, the stronger you dilute the dye. And the paler the original color of the wool will be. And therefore, initially do not add too much water so as not to waste a large amount of paint. Then you need to squeeze the wool well. At first, I was upset that after squeezing the wool, it acquires a too pale shade. And that it is not possible to achieve saturated colors. But looking at the final result, I realized that such gentle pastel shades are what you need. I tried to find the best way to color. I used various dyes, kept the wool for a long time in a dye solution. And even did not completely squeeze the wool in an attempt to achieve a more saturated color. Which led to the coating of the wool with a crust and made it unusable for use. As a result, I realized that watercolor paint is best for me. Also, I do not keep the wool in a dye solution for a long time, I take it out almost immediately. And you need to squeeze it very well. I hang the dyed wool and leave it to dry completely. In the meantime, the clay particles are frozen. I process them with fine-grained sandpaper until smooth. Then I cover with beige acrylic paint. With a paint of a darker shade of beige, I draw shadows. I add blush to the cheeks and nose. Eye drawing requires special attention. First, I use dark blue acrylic paint. Then I add a blue shade to the center. With black paint, I add the edging and pupil. With dark beige paint, I shade the eyelids. I lighten a little with blue paint and add white glare. With light brown paint, I draw the edging of the eyes. I draw a crease on the eyelids and add eyelashes and eyebrows. I also add shadows to the corners of the lips. After the paint dries, I cover the face with varnish. I cover the eyes and lips with glossy varnish, and the rest of the face with matte. I leave it to dry completely. In the meantime, the cotton blanks and dyed cotton wool for clothes have dried. I proceed to the formation of clothes. I glue on the same clay. I make clothes from small pieces of cotton wool. In order not to have seams, the edges of the cotton wool need to be broken off in this way. I turn the upper edge of the future blanket in such a way that it is more even. I smear it with a glue gun and wrap my leg. This will be the neck of the blanket. With the help of small pieces of cotton wool, I form the rest of the blanket. I start making a skirt. I smear a lot of cotton wool on both sides. I turn the lower edge of the future skirt so that it looks more neat. And I connect the skirt on both sides. I put the skirt on the doll and proceed to the formation of folds. For reliability, I fix the skirt with a thread. When the folds are formed, I send them to dry. After the skirt is completely dry, I proceed to make the upper skirt with an ornament. For this I need such a napkin. I measure the desired size and cut the napkin a little larger than the size of the cotton wool. I tear the napkin on both sides so that the seam is not visible when connected. I also smear the cotton wool well on both sides. I put a napkin on top and cover it again with a glue gun. I turn it on one side again. And I connect it on both sides. I put the skirt on the doll, fix it with a thread and form the folds. After the skirt is completely dry, I proceed to make the coat. I will form the coat from small pieces of cotton wool. It is easy and pleasant to work with cotton wool. It is very flexible and plastic enough. I probably associate cotton toys with childhood. We had a Soviet Santa Claus with a snowman. I still remember how I crunched on Santa Claus's starched cotton fur coat when I took it in my hands. For a long time I thought that the cotton toy appeared in the Soviet period. But it turned out that cotton Christmas decorations appeared in the 19th century as a cheap alternative to expensive glass Christmas toys. Figurines were cut out of dense cardboard and glued with cotton wool. Or they wound cotton wool on a wire frame. Most often the face was made not of clay, but of cardboard. There were also more expensive versions with porcelain faces. Cotton was impregnated with a special fire-resistant solution, since we know that at that time Christmas trees were also decorated with real lit candles. Instead of sparkles for flickering, they were covered with a glitter with a mark or sprinkled with salt. In general, it takes about a week to make a cotton doll. Most of the time is spent drying various details. The cotton toy goes a long way before it gets to the sparkling Christmas tree. After the coat is completely dry, I create fur cuffs from light beige cotton wool. I coat the cotton wool with glue and wrap it around my hand. We continue to build up the necessary volume. Now I will make the hair. Long thin pieces of cotton wool are smeared with a cleanser and wound on a toothpick. I leave it to dry completely. I glue the strands to the head with glue. I glue the face to the workpiece and create a small bandage on the head. The last element of the clothes is a handkerchief. I put it on the doll. Here is such a doll turns out. Initially, I planned to make buttons on the coat. But now, looking at an almost finished doll, I decided to make a belt. I grease the coat with a leaf and tie a jute rope. I decided to make a handkerchief with an ornament on this doll. I use the same napkin, but I will glue it in a slightly different way. On the already dry handkerchief. And I will glue it not entirely, but in small pieces. I take a little glue and add watercolor paint to it. I mix and begin to shade the folds and bends. Do not be afraid that the shadows look too contrasting and bright. After drying, the paint will become paler. I give a blue tint to the white handkerchief. This is how the doll looks after drying. I snow the clothes with white acrylic paint. There should be a little paint on the brush. And the last touch, I sprinkle the doll with a fine-grained trace, pre-greasing with a cleanser. Now I will make sweets for the babies. I form a lamb out of clay, leave it to dry completely, and then cover it with acrylic paint. I will make an ice cream stick out of epoxy glue and toothpicks. I mix the components of epoxy glue and add watercolor paint of red and orange colors to it on the tip of the toothpick. Now I will try to form an ice cream stick in the shape of a rooster on a stick out of epoxy glue. I leave it to dry completely and give the ice cream to the babies. Such cotton Christmas tree toys bring me back to my childhood and give a feeling of warmth and comfort. Thank you very much for watching and Happy New Year!