Adri's Palette

When the hot weather came I searched the basement for our summer wreath.  Although I thought I stored it well the dolls moved and bits and pieces fell off. At the time I didn’t have the drive to fix it, so I put it up on the door as is and put off mending it. Well, today was the day when I couldn’t look at the crooked design anymore and decided to take action.

I remember a couple of years ago I had this idea of creating a wreath with our little family on it. I started with my husband and I in the form of dolls and thought of adding our dog later. Weeeell, he never quite made it as far as the wreath goes.

I never made a doll in my life, so started looking at the internet for inspiration. I looked at many patterns that would fit my style, concept and the size I imagined. I found something I liked here, but ended up designing something quite different from the original concept.

The body is made from unbleached linen. I took scraps of old jeans and made the pants with front pockets for them. I created similar shirts in contrasting colors. I especially like the sandals, which are made from scraps of dark brown rubber material I had lying around. The hair is from sewing thread. Eyes are black beads that I’ve sewed on the face. The face itself is painted with watercolor in a rather dry form as not to bleed on the linen.

The  bucket and the watering can are made from cardboard. For the bucket I rolled it into a cylinder and cut a matching bottom. Took apart a paper clip and bent it to create the handle. The watering can is made in a similar fashion. I first created the body and then slowly built up the design to create the shape I wanted.  I used an old metallic grey nail polish to achieve the desired color effect.

 When coming up with the design I couldn’t decide which doll should hold what. I ended up asking my husband: if he were the doll, which one would he choose? He told me, no way would he want the watering can. After the little tools were ready and seeing the wreath come to life he changed his mind. I guess even a watering can can be very manly!