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How to Make a Voodoo Doll

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Earlier this month, I was talking to the Bar Manager over at Fibbers Rock bar on Ormond Quay about how I think there should be a Mardi Gras type celebration here in Dublin. Out of this idea, there result snowballed – and I offered to do the decorations for the New Orleans Style “Voodoo Mardi Gras” party for Charity. Jason got a band booked – T-bone (more on them later) and I started on the decorations, determined to make this an awesome event.

Being that this was to be a Voodoo Mardi Gras party at a Rock bar, naturally, we needed some Voodoo Dolls as decorations. After some looking about, and knowing that I can’t sew – I figured out a fairly fast way to make the dolls themselves – and get them put together using fabric glue and some bits and pieces of crafting stuff I had about. Here’s how I did it – and what you can do to make your own No Sew Voodoo Doll.

What you need:

  • Old Fabric – I used plain colors, but old t-shirts, sheets, or tea towels would do as well.
  • Scissors
  • Fabric Glue
  • Sewing Pins
  • Newspaper
  • Stuffing (I got some poly cotton stuffing – a small bag made ~4 dolls)
  • Fabric Markers
  • craft odds and ends – old buttons, old beads, broken necklaces/bracelets, craft foam, ribbons, yarn, craft flowers, feathers, glitter glue, the sky’s the limit.


    Step 1:
    Lay out your newspaper and draw the appropriate shape for the Voodoo Doll you want. I found it easier to do the legs together and the arms out, but I also made one pattern with the arms at the side. Make it about twice as big as you think it should be. Eg. The arms were about two finger widths wide to account for the glue and turning it inside out.

    Step 2: Cut out your shape.

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    Step 3: Pin the shape to your fabric – I folded my fabric so that I cut 4 at the same time (2 doll fronts/backs)

    Step 4: Cut the shape out of the pinned fabric, and remove the pins.

    Step 5: Lay down some newspaper to keep the fabric glue off your table. Place down the first bottom of the doll and apply the glue to the outer edges, leaving the area near the foot part with no glue so you can turn it inside out later.

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    Step 5.5: (Optional: if you want the doll to have “hair” you should apply the glue, the ribbon/yarn/other pieces of fabric sticking toward the inside of the doll)

    Step 6: Carefully lay another piece of your fabric down on top of the first piece, carefully lining up the edges. Push down on the glued area with the back of a spoon to make sure it is well adhered.

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    Step 7: Set it aside to dry for about an hour.

    Step 8: After the glue has dried, take your piece off the newspaper. The glue should have dried clear.

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    Step 9: Turn the doll shape inside out.

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    Step 10: Use an unsharpened pencil to push out all the edges of the arms and into the edges of the legs or head.

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    Step 11: Your doll should now look something like this:

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    Step 12: Let’s get stuffing! Carefully break up your stuffing and place it into the doll. I recommend filling the arms up first, then working from the head down. Use the pencil to push it into the arms and pack it tightly, being careful to not overfill and break the glue seam.

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    Hint: As you fill your doll, you may discover that the arms curve, or that the head tilts. Personally, I think it gives them more personality.

    Step 13: Add or remove stuffing as needed, until you have filled it almost to the end, leaving space to turn in the base and glue closed.

    Step 14: Fold in the ends, and apply fabric glue anywhere that the fabric will touch itself. Be generous, but try to be neat. Once applied, you may need to pin the end closed to hold it together while the glue dries.

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    Step 15: Set aside and let the glue dry on the base. When dry, remove the pins.

    Step 16: Let’s Decorate. I raided my craft odds and ends stash for all of the dolls that I made. I picked up fabric scraps for clothes, old buttons, broken bits of jewelry, old ribbons, old stuffed animal bits, some tiny paper dolls, feathers, etc etc and attached them by tying, glue, or few stitches. Don’t forget to draw on some faces.

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    Step 17: Your voodoo doll is complete. Light a few candles, stick them with pins or toothpicks, place on the mantle, and enjoy.

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    A few thoughts – I was making several dolls at once, I turned it into a type of assembly line. I cut them all first, then glued 3 or 4 and set them aside. Then, I cooked dinner. After dinner, I turned them all inside out, glued the other 4 and set those 4 aside to dry. Returning to the first 4, I stuffed those and closed the ends off. By the time this was complete, The second “set of 4” was done, so I repeated the turn inside out, stuff, and glue ends. Setting those 4 aside, the first 4 were done, and I began to dress and decorate.

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    • Great Graffiti

    Generally speaking, I dislike the people who go around and vandalize everything here in Germany. It seems to be an epidemic – and unlike some places in the world – who promptly cover it up with paint (or repair work) and punish the people placing their mark out there — Germany seems to be more leniant (either not bothering to prosecute or if they do, it’s a fine and that’s it). Thus, there seems to be a large amount of interesting and somehow “art”-like graffiti that flows out of the creative minds of the local vandals – everywhere. And so, those that are doing this type of stuff are now (in my book at least) divided into two categories – the Taggers / Vandals – who just set out to put their horrible ugly mark on everything…. and the Graffiti artists.

    Humor me if you will – the following is tagging/vandalism that I hate (this green WR of someone’s initials or handle or whatever) because it is just nothing – it’s ugly, it’s just there and has no visual quality that you can see other than just to annoy and cause me to want to go back and repaint / repair the windows, doors, tables, chairs, or whatever else that it has been put on:

    Nurses Station Sign

    However – the following is a short sample of some amazing graffiti art – that I’ve found all over Berlin (with labels), mostly in/around abandoned places – by unknown “artists” that seem to come back and/or have hours to spend spray painting – with out the worry of being BUSTED (where do they find the time to do this?):

    Paint Can Art (full view)
    “running spray can” at Weissensee Childrens Hospital
    The Sweeper & his Broom
    The Sweeper & His Broom (notice how the broom is actually incorporated) at Weissensee Childrens Hospital
    5 Figures Graffiti
    5 figures at Barenquell Abandoned Brewery

    Anyhow, the thing is that over time, you realize that some of the work you’re seeing is “marked” somehow and/or all by the same graffiti artist. The style is the same, and the interesting thing is that believe it or not – some of them have actually gained a following. For example, one guy XooooX here in Germany is rather well known (photos below), and another “Banksy” in the UK has been here as well. To top it off once relatively known by their handle, you can find books where these more “famous” graffiti artworks are even MAPPED OUT for people to go and see. (Personally, I like just stumbling across it…)

    XooooX of Paris
    “XooooX Paris”

    Barstool Girl graffiti
    Barstool Girl by XooooX

    Striped Sweater / Shorts gal
    Striped Sweater / Shorts Girl by XooooX

    Because of a sort of sick sense of pleasure and enjoyment in the discovery – over 4 years, I’ve become kind of aware of the pattern of some of the more consistent “artists” – and when I see it, I make sure to take a picture and add it to the set. Why? Well, because it could be covered up sometime – any time. And if you talk to the people putting it up there – that’s half the fun… creating a work of “art” that people see before it’s gone.

    You can see my full graffiti art set (ever growing, in fact) by viewing the slideshow below:

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    1000 Domino Fall

    Me, Caroline,Julie - taken by Andie

    Now that the Angels over Berlin were done, and I had met up with my fellow photography group, we decided to head over to check out the dominoes after dark – and we got caught in a huge mass of people. I certainly was glad that I managed to pick out a great spot beforehand – especially as it started to rain. J, A, C, and I all paused for a nice hot gluwein (mulled hot wine) at one of the vendors, when I saw the TV screens were showing:

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    Festival of Freedom

    Which made me happy, because it really was as much a festival to freedom, as it was about the effect that event had on all of our lives – even mine as a middle school aged American child at the time. You see, in the last few days, I had really been thinking about how my life has changed since 1989. You see, without the events of 1989, Russia’s government wouldn’t have changed. The cold war wouldn’t have ended. And me? Well, I wouldn’t have wound up in Russia as an Exchange Student. And, because I was an Exchange Student in Russia, that gave me the edge when I was offered the job with a move to Berlin, Germany, which naturally I took. And that job, well, 3.5 years on, is still here in Berlin. So, in effect, much like a set of dominoes, my life too wouldn’t have been nearly the same – if the Berlin Wall had stayed up.

    Anyhow, the longer we were waiting, the colder and more rainy it got. I had chosen to stand up on the balcony – at the congressional library building across from the Reichstag. Being that I’d taken many evening photographs in the clear weather, I stayed up there waiting – while the others wandered. Around 7PM, John showed up, and then took off to go back to the Main Train station to go get McDonalds (Thanks John for that!) and also to get an umbrella. Meanwhile, with my coat held in my jacket (so as to keep it as dry as possible) I watched the tourist ships pass up and down the river,

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    and the crowds gather on both sides of the giant dominoes in the now persistent rain.

    As Julie, Andie and Paul returned (Caroline left to go stand in the people wall, and John was still getting food), I snapped a couple photos for posterity (thank goodness for a tripod and 2 second timer)

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    and went back to waiting in between hearing reports of security getting tighter. Then, began the symphony, and Bon Jovi made a guest appearance singing too. Next were the speeches (I watched them later on Television because the TVs were facing the other direction from where we were) given by Hillary Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, Angela Merkel, Nicholai Sarkosy, and Lech Walesa. Finally (an hour late, I might add), Lech Walesa stepped over in front of the Brandenburg gate and knocked over the first of the dominoes, to the applause and cheers of the crowd, and the popping of champaigne bottles around us.

    From where we were standing, the dominoes went much too quickly – less than a minute from the Brandenburg gate to the corner of the Reichstag, down the river, around, over the bridge – and then in front and below where we were. Effectively, we went from This:

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    To this:

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    To this:

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    And it was done. The wall was done, gone, and the crowds roared. Now all that was to happen was the fireworks, but for me, I was finished. Soaked clean through, freezing cold, and very tired (I’d been out since 9am), I left and headed home – only stopping for a hot chocolate on the way. What a weekend!

    * This is the last post in a series on the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – and my attempt to document the events of the weekend, where 20 years before, a peaceful revolution brought about a big change which helped to end the cold war, and bring about a new Europe. Many more of the events are in the full flickr set here. *

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