How to Make a Voodoo Doll
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How voodoo dolls became a means of casting a spell on an individual is unknown, but like ouija boards and tarot cards, they're popular outside of the spiritual traditions from which they arose. The fun thing about making voodoo dolls is that pretty much anything goes. Still, if you are interested in learning how to make a voodoo doll, here's how!
Steps
New Orleans Voodoo Doll
- Gather the Things You'll Need, listed below.
- Make a cross shape with your two sticks. Tie them together with your string. Hemp cord or waxed thread is better than regular string as they tend to be stronger.
- Wrap the Spanish moss around the sticks, starting at the middle for reinforcement, and going up around the head, down to one arm, back across to the other arm, back to the middle, and down to the bottom. If possible, use moss that is connected together in a big enough piece to cover the sticks without breaking it apart. The idea is to wrap the doll in one continuous motion (the result is often times a stronger doll). If you break the moss apart and have to use more than one continuous piece, you may have to wrap string around the moss to keep it from falling off. If you wrap tightly enough, you shouldn't have to use string over the moss.
- Wrap your fabric strips around the moss. Make sure to leave some of the moss showing, such as on the head (for hair), at the ends of the arms, and at the bottom. Secure with tacky glue. You may want to reinforce with a couple of stitches with your needle and thread.
- Make a face. Attach beads with the needle and thread for eyes, or glue 2 black eyed peas to the face for eyes. Add a button or bead for the mouth.
- Dress your voodoo doll. This step is entirely optional, but perhaps you'll get a feeling for who the doll represents, what they want to wear, whether they are male or female, and what types of items they want to carry, such as a mojo pouch or gris gris bag. Remember that a voodoo doll is supposed to symbolize a real person or a spirit. Sometimes they are made to look like a person you know, in which case you should have some hair or a piece of clothing or other personal item that belongs to that person in order to charge the doll with that person's energy.
Modern Voodoo Doll
- Print the photo as large as possible on a sheet of photo transfer paper.
- Transfer the image onto ironed white fabric, following the instructions that came with the photo transfer paper.
- Cut around the person's shape, leaving a seam.
- Cut the same shape out of a second piece of fabric, which will form the back of your doll.
- Sew the shapes with the right sides facing together. Leave a hole near the center for stuffing. Cut off excess fabric when you have finished. Cut small notches at armpits, crotch, and fingers being careful not to cut the thread. You may want to sew the upper half of the doll first, stuff, sew the rest, and stuff again.
- Turn the doll inside out carefully. You may need to use a pencil to push the fingers out.
- Stuff the doll with fabric scraps, yarn, cotton, or any stuffing material.
- Sew the stuffing hole closed.
Tips
- If there's any text or graphics on the picture (such as on the person's shirt) remember to reverse the image horizontally before you print so that it shows up normally later when it's on the doll. Alternatively, you can cut out a heart from red fabric to cover that section on the doll.
- Add pins. Voodoo practitioners use dolls primarily for boring positive things like healing people or sparking romance. If you harm your boss out of spite, karma dictates that the consequences for you will be worse. There are seven pins, each one with a different symbol:
- yellow - success
- white - positive
- red - power
- purple - spirituality
- green - money
- blue - love
- black - repelling negative energy
- yellow - success
Warnings
- Don't do this kind of thing in front of people, it is frowned upon in most places.
Things You'll Need
- New Orleans Voodoo Doll
- 2 strong sticks
- Spanish moss
- scrap fabric cut in 2 inch strips
- 2 to 3 feet long (color of your choice, yarn that complements or contrasts fabric
- string
- hemp cord, or waxed thread,
- beads to use as eyes
- needle and thread in a color to match or contrast your fabric
- tacky glue
- pins with heads in the following colors: red, blue, green, purple, yellow, black, white
- 2 strong sticks
- Modern Voodoo Doll
- full body shot of a person
- printer transfer paper
- white fabric
- thread and needle
- full body shot of a person
Related wikiHows
- How to Use a Voodoo Doll
- How to Make a Kachina Doll
- How to Make a Yarn Doll
- How to Make a Sock Doll
- How to Make a Stress Doll
- How to Make a Hate Relief Doll
- How to Create a Ouija Board
Sources and Citations
- MysticVoodoo.com - Original source of New Orleans doll instructions, shared with permission by Denise Alvarado.
- JPG Magazine - Original source of modern doll instructions, shared with permission by Lauren Smith.
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