How to Make Corn Husk Dolls

At work I got the rare chance to try my hand at the Native American craft of corn husk doll making. The English were first introduced to dolls made out of corn during an 1585 expedition in Virginia. It seems that the English preferred rag dolls but that corn husk dolls were numerous among many Native civilizations. 

Soak the husks for 5-10 minutes to make them pliable.

Make a stack out of four husks and tie a string around the husks around an inch from the top.

 

Divide the husks into two sections, with two leaves on both sides.

Fold one side over. 

Tie a string around the bulge to make the head.

 Cut a piece of husk in half longways. Roll it up and tie both end up to create the arms.

Lift up the front two husks and insert the arms in. 

 

 Put the husks back down.

 Tie a string under the arms to hold them in. From this stage you can vary the doll in many ways. if you cut the front husk a little smaller than the rest, it will appear that the doll is wearing an apron. If you cut a vertical line from the bottom of the dress up to the bottom string, you can tie off "legs" and make a boy.

Watercolor painted by John White on his expedition to Virginia in 1585. It depicts a little girl playing with an English doll, which was part of a series of trinkets given to the Native Americans that Sir Walter Raleigh's men encountered. It was reported that all of the the Natives were "greatlye Dilighted with puppetts, and babes which wear brought oute of England." 

I Miss Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year, I love going up north and taking photos of all of the leaves in their brilliant glory. The reds, the oranges and the greens look like they just flowed out of the paintbrush of a master artist. I love the clear air, apple cider and the wood burning stove smoke that rustles in the leaves up above. It is cool enough for fuzzy sweaters but not so cold that you can't enjoy yourself outside. It is the perfect time for stargazing. The skies are clear and there are two meteor showers this October. Unfortunately, like last year, Fall has been so rainy that the leaves may all fall of the trees before they get a chance to change.

I thought I'd post some of my favorite photos from falls in the past. A virtual fall, if you will.

 I hope this season is just as beautiful as past seasons. I've bought myself a new palette for my paints and I plan to document it this year. I just love looking at it; it is pretty and white. My others are stained from pigments being left too long and bad cleaning practices. I almost don't want to dirty it. Of course I will. :D  

Facebook :(

I will no longer be checking my facebook. I have hated facebook since its inception and was hoping it would fizzle out before I had to make one. Unfortunately, I did end up having to make one so people without blogger could follow my blog. It was fun for a while and I made a lot of new friends, mostly reenactors from units I would never have met in person and for that I am happy I signed up. 

However, it’s just getting annoying now. This site enables superficial relationships. You are in everyone’s lives without being in anyone’s life. It provides human interaction on your terms, friendships without any real investment. It lets you feel connected while not really being connected at all. The experience is more important than documenting it in detail so your friends will think you have such an interesting life. (I’m betting you know people who do this.)   

I want to keep my relationships meaningful and my activities meaningful and there is nothing meaningful about scrolling through 1,000 photos of someone’s vacation, especially if you are not involved enough in their life for them to even tell you they are going away.

I will check out people’s photos but only if they mention them to me personally. You know my phone number, you know my e-mail, you know my blog; you know how to get in contact with me other than through facebook. 

 

I’d really appreciate it if you would.  I know everyone is busy. I am busy, which is why I want to make my relationships as meaningful as possible. I’d rather spend an hour with friends than 1,000 hours on facebook. I know this means that I won’t know what you are doing every hour of the day. I’m looking forward to not knowing, so we’ll have lots to talk about when we see each other!   

I’m not deleting my facebook account, but I will only be checking it once or twice a month. I much prefer blogs because they give an overview of your activities, not a micro detailed timeline of your life. I get to see your photos and hear your thoughts and feelings. I love reading my friend's opinions, beliefs and ideas. It's much more stimulating than "[Insert vague status update here that will prompt people to ask about something you're dying to tell everyone.]"      

Civil War Shetland Wool Shawl

I am currently working on a fun knitting project that uses a very simple pattern but a pretty complex stitch. It's not that the stitch is particularly hard, but if I mess up once, the whole pattern is ruined and it's really difficult to figure out where I messed up. Once I find the offending stitch, it is almost impossible to rip out the other stitches and get them back on the needle in the correct places.

It's getting to be that time of year where wool on your lap is a toasty welcomed companion. My knitting list is growing. I should stop looking at everyone's beautiful knitted things before my hands fall off.
 

 I love the Civil War era wraps that I have but now I'm starting to eye up some pretty shawls. I normally walk around my house in the winter wrapped in a small blanket, folded the the shawl above. I've been fooling with the idea of making a shawl that I can wear around the house as well as at reenactments. (I really think someone with more fashion influence than I needs to bring shawls back.) This pattern is simple enough but uses different stitches to make pretty patterns. It is probably gorgeous when made and I am thinking of adding it to my list. It is folded over do it will be twice as warm. But first I have to finish the garment I am working on.  

The item I am currently working on uses a very open stitch and I am afraid it will be too open to be warm. It is a gift so I can't post much about it yet but I really like how it looks so far. I am very happy that I have something to be excited over because this semester is really sucking the life out of me. (Yes, it's pretty sad that I am looking forward to 3 minutes of knitting here and there throughout the week but at least it is something and I'm not running around full of stress like I have been in previous weeks. :D)


When I am done the three big projects that I have this semester I vow to sit and knit to my heart's content. I am a pretty slow knitter so I usually only manage one or two knitting projects a season. Unfortunate, knitting takes so long and there's so many other enjoyable hobbies.   

Civil War Bread Recipe

I meant to make this a tutorial, but didn't think it entirely through. While my hands were covered in sticky, partially kneaded dough I decided that I should take a photo of it and realized that I had no hands to do so. So, this is a very photo light tutorial.

During the mid-1800s, bread was a stable food. Like today, there were many different types of bread and bread mixtures. Cornmeal, rye, potatoes, rice, hominy, buckwheat and other variant ingredients were used to make different kinds of bread. Most of these breads had a base of wheat flour and a smaller proportion of another type of flour or ingredient.[1]  Bread was thought to be unhealthy when warm; so many books advised waiting a day before eating.[2]Bread was available for purchase at bakeries but many houses still made their own bread.  Bread was also being manufactured by machine at this time.

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[1] The Complete Confectioner (Philadelphia: J. B Lippincott, 1864), 143-154.

[2] Mrs. Beeton’s Dictionary, 45

The recipe I used was from Mrs. Hale’s New Cookbook that was published in 1857. It was for "English Rolls."

 Ingredients:

-8 Cups Flour

-1 Pint of Warm Water, which should be between 105 degrees and 115 degrees, or you will kill the yeast.

-3 Tablespoons Yeast, The fast acting kind is fine. If you use period liquid yeast, omit the pint of warm water.

-2 ounces of Butter, softened

-1 teaspoon Salt

- Enough water to make a dough that does not stick to your hands. 

Instructions:

Add the yeast to the water and let sit for a few minutes. Put flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast liquid and the butter, mix with a spoon, then with your hands until the dough is well mixed. Knead the dough for about 5 -8 minutes (this may be easier in two smaller batches.) Form the dough into a ball, place in a clean bowl and cover with a warm, damp towel and place under a lamp to rise. When the dough doubles in size, about two hours, remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and punch the dough down. Divide the dough in half and in half again until you have 12 lumps of dough. Form the dough into roll shapes and arrange on cookie sheets, leaving space in between rolls to let them rise. Cover the rolls with a warm, damp rag and let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes. Score the rolls with a serrated knife or razor blade. Bake in an oven preheated to 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes. They do not get very brown, so be sure to make sure they don't get too hard.    

If you are curious about what ways to shape your bread. Round loves with crosses on the top were popular as well as bread baked in tin loaf pans. Here are some loaf examples:

A traditional style of bread baked in a tin loaf.

This style of loaf was popular in England but not in the U.S.

An illustration of the Bread Riots. Look at all the different kinds of loafs.

For more reading, The English Bread Book by Eliza Action in 1857, is a very good start. For different kinds of American bread recipes try, The Improved Housewife, published in 1855, particularly pages 125- 128.