Dollmaker Tips: How to Make Hot Glue Doll Eyes for Cloth Dolls

In this hot glue doll eyes DIY, I am going to show you how I make hot glue doll eyes for my cloth doll. But before we get started, lets talk about eyes.

By, Cassandra George Sturges

I love it when a story begins with the phrase, “As far as the eyes could see…” What the eyes can see is the biggest illusion of human reality because our eyes blind us to all of the mysteries, life forms, and worlds that are beyond our vision. We look at the lakes, oceans, and rivers and we see water moving, dancing, splashing, and rippling. Sometimes water is quiet and motionless. It sits still and becomes a mirror allowing us to see the reflection of our own images. It quietly conveys to us to look within ourselves—beneath our own surface.

 

Water is ancient and beneath its surface lives creatures who have lived hundreds of years. They lived on this planet before were born and will still be here long after we are gone.  We don’t see them in the grocery story; they don’t vote; or go to the movies—and we will spend our entire existence and never ever see them—but it doesn’t mean that these water life forms do not exist or are not real, or do not matter simply because we cannot see them.

We don’t have to see something with our eyes to validate its reality. What we can actually see limits our perception of what is true. Historical records indicate that during slavery, an enslaved person would be severely beat for not smiling or appearing happy with his or her economic conditions. I see so many painted on smiles of people in the service industry who are probably struggling to make ends meet in a low paying job that garners very little respect. Nevertheless, when I look into their eyes…their eyes tell a different story.

The eyes are so complex, ambiguous, deceiving, and honest all at the same time. I love looking into the eyes of people and animals because their eyes are a one-way mirror of truth that reflects the sincere emotions, well-being, and psychological state of the soul. However, on the other hand, our eyes limit our views and perceptions of reality and all that is possible. Our eyes show us what is possible, but only when we close our eyes are we able to see how to perform and create the impossible.

As a very curious and sensitive person, I always try to look beyond what I am actually seeing. When I ask a question, I am not interested in the actual words used… I am always listening to what is not being  said, the tone, the intention, and of course the look in the person’s eyes.

Every artist is a storyteller and visionary. Art doesn’t lie. Whether we choose to close or open our doll’s eyes or give them no eyes at all we are still revealing a truth about ourselves; about how we see the world; and how we want others to see us.

I encourage you to make eyes for your cloth dolls no matter how imperfect you may think they are because this is when you give your doll a soul and share a piece of your truth with world. Make eyes for your doll will cause you to feel vulnerable and emotionally naked because you are no longer simply looking at your cloth doll…she is looking at you as well—and this will keep you honest.

I know there is a doll inside of you… who is dying to come to life and only you can breathe life into her.

Here are a few quotations of my favorite quotes about eyes:

“The eyes see only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”

“The eyes are useless when the mind is blind.”

 

“A Person who truly loves you is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else believes in the smile on your face.”

“If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how very different our ideals  of beauty would be.”

“Don’t be eye candy. Be soul food.” 

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”

Hot Glue Doll Eyes Tutorial

In this hot glue doll eyes DIY, I am going to show you how I make hot glue doll eyes for my cloth doll.

The first thing you are going to do is draw circles that represent the iris, on the cardboard paper the size that you want for your cloth doll’s eyes.

I like to make several eyes, of various sizes and colors. Because once you make the fabric doll—she will help you select the eyes that best suit her face and personality.

Next, you are going to cut out the cardboard circles and place them in the bottom of the plastic paint palette tray.

Use your hot glue gun, to put glue onto of the cardboard circles approximately the size that you want your cloth doll’s eyes to be. Let the hot glue dry completely.

After the hot glue doll eyes, completely set and cool off, use a butter knife or something similar to pluck them out of the paint palette tray carefully.

Now you are ready, to paint  around the edges of the hot glue doll eyes using white nail polish or white acrylic paint to create the (sclera) the white around the eyes. Let this dry.

Now you are ready to paint the irises of your cloth doll’s eye using your imagination. After the paint dries, I like to add some glitter to make the eyes pop.

Lastly, add a few drops of Crystal coat glaze to the top of the eye to create a clear dome. Let it dry completely, and then add a few more drops. Let the eyes dry overnight before inserting them into your doll’s eyes.

I hope you enjoy this tutorial on how to make hot glue eyes for your cloth doll.

More step-by-step details are provided in the YouTube Video inserted in this article.

Materials Needed:

Cardboard

Plastic paint palette tray

Acrylic paint or nail polish

Glitter

Crystal Coat Glaze

Ruler with circle template or Circle shaped objects to trace, the size of the doll’s iris.

Hot Glue Gun

Glue Sticks

Doll Makers Know when their Cloth Dolls Come to Life

Every doll maker has a magical moment when she knows that her doll has come to life. I always feel like my cloth dolls are born once I attach their earrings to their ears. I think the reason my dolls feel like they have come to life for me is that unlike the doll’s ears--earrings are not a necessity—to the doll’s physical structure. Earrings are accessories that speak to the doll’s style and personality. She doesn’t need them she wants them.

As a doll maker, I love big ears that are prominent on my dolls faces because if I am going to go through the trouble to make them, I want to see them. I want them to be dominant and prominent so that people know that the doll’s ear size is not a mistake. She is not a mistake and that we all don't need to look alike or think alike to validate and respect each other's truth.

 

Toy companies that manufacture dolls, go out of their way to make small features on the doll’s head, with the exception of the doll’s eyes. In fact, they exaggerate the size of the doll’s eyes in proportion to the rest of her face. The plastic fashion doll’s eyes are the biggest feature on her face because they hypnotize the little girl into believing all of the sweet little lies the world wants her to believe about womanhood, femininity, and beauty.

This standard of unobtainable beauty that is perpetuated by plastic doll makers contributes to the beauty industries 445 billion dollar industry. When a little girl is given a doll, she has not yet developed a self-identity imbued with her own dreams, values, and sense of beauty. The doll plays with the little girl inside of her imagination where she is most vulnerable, susceptible, and impressionable of who she is supposed be; how she is supposed to act; and how she is supposed to see the world through the doll’s eyes.

One day the little girl looks at herself in the mirror and asks her doll, “ Do you think I am beautiful like you?”  The fashion doll gives the little a girl a blank stare that reaches to the core of her being and says, “Of course not. Your lips are not like mine. Your nose is too big. Your eyes are too small. You are too fat. Your hair is not shiny. You are too short. And one day you are going to want to get plastic surgery to increase the size of your breasts.”

The little girl spends the majority of her youth trying to live up to her doll’s ideal of beauty—never feeling quite good enough…beautiful enough…or even alive enough…just like her doll.

To be alive to me means to be beautifully imperfect, like nature. Freckles, wrinkles, cellulite, potbellies, and gaps in our teeth are the characteristics that make us uniquely human. I think the reason, I love making cloth dolls, in the second half-a-century of my life, is because I spent the first have of my live, trying to fit into society’s expectations and standards of beauty—and now I want to experience what it is like to feel perfectly flawed and, imperfectly beautiful with big ears and all.

By, Cassandra George Sturges

How to Make a Doll – Black Handmade Doll Nose Tutorial

When I say, “I am a doll maker” it feels empty, half-hearted, and superficial. I am not just a doll maker; I am an African American Doll Maker. I am a Black Doll Maker. I need to tell you why this label is so important to me. I grew up in the mid -1960s and early 1970’s primarily playing with White dolls envying their tiny noses, blue eyes, and long straight hair. Even though James Brown sang, “I am Black and I am Proud,” most African Americans knew that this was an affirmation that every Black American wanted to be true. We sang and we chanted, “I am Black and I am proud say it out loud,”-- although we didn’t believe it—but my God-- we wanted to believe it. We wanted this to be true, while we permed our heads bald.

 Michael Jackson had supernatural talent as a singer, dancer, and performer—yet he did everything he could to downsize his broad, African featured Black nose. As a kid, we made fun of other Black kids who had what we called big noses—myself included. Growing up in a culture where I have been socialized to hate my African heritage, and severed psychologically from my ancestor’s roots has altered my consciousness as a human being. Learning how to make dolls is my way of healing my psyche and putting back the pieces of my broken soul.

 When I first started making cloth dolls, I combed the Internet and bought every cloth doll making book, I could find to help me create a cloth doll pattern that reflected my culture. As a child, I did not have the cognitive ability to understand race, culture, and ethnicity. I simply played with White dolls that did not resemble me or the people in my family or community. As a fifty-something-old Black Woman—my soul will not allow me to dismiss, ignore, and minimize the spiritual, psychological, and physical experience of being a Black woman in a world dominated by White people.

It was very, very, very important to me—to figure out how to sculpt a broad, African, featured nose for my black handmade cloth dolls to honor my ancestors, and to heal the little girl inside of me—who wanted to be anything but Black. I begged my daddy to paint me White when I was a little girl—and he cried and asked me why. And I said, “Daddy, can’t you see that everybody hate Black people.” I was  5 or 6 years old at the time.

I hope no one is offended by this—but I think one of the biggest lessons that I have learned in this Dark Brown Earth Suit is that it is not White people’s responsibility to make Black dolls that reflect the African American experience. It would be like asking an elephant to help squirrels cross the street.  A doll is always more than a plaything—it is a representation of a version of reality that conditions the imagination to accept and ultimately act out—it’s creator’s truth.

This YouTube video on How to sculpt a cloth doll’s nose is 35 minutes long—because it took years for me to figure out how to make my doll’s nose look Afrocentric, broad, and beautiful like Oprah Winfrey’s Serena William’s, and the comedienne Monique. I wanted to do my best and take my time sharing this doll making technique on how to make African American handmade cloth doll noses for other people like me. This is also my apology and atonement for making fun of all of the Black people whom I criticized for having Afrocentric features.

For the complete doll pattern visit my Authentik Beauty Magazine Website

Platonic Friendship - Male and Female Best Friends - Should you Trust Them

Is it possible for heterosexual people to have best friends of the opposite gender? If most people were honest about human nature, they will admit to themselves that opposite sex friendships usually have a murky past.  If it is a truly platonic friendship, it is because one person has made it clear to the other person that being in an intimate relationship is not an emotional option.

No matter how many times he assures you that she is just his best friend-- there is something about her presence in your man's life that makes your heart ache with jealousy. Why does he have a need to talk to her, text her, hang out with her? Now that you are in a committed relationship with him -- why does your man need to remain in communication with another woman who makes him laugh and whom his family loves? If they were not "just friends" they would make such a cute couple and this is what bothers you the most.

Now that you are his girlfriend does he really need to a "female best friend?" What could his female best friend possibly give him that you can't? Does he trust and love her more than you? Is she a threat to your relationship? Does she secretly have a crush on your man? Is she waiting in the wings to take your place? Who has the most power over your man-you or his female best friend? Well there are advantages to both relationships depending on how he truly feels about his female best friend--FBF.

The advantage of being his wife or girlfriend is that you get to make love to him, kiss him, see his nude body, go to family functions, attend work-related events, spend holidays together, set relationship boundaries such as expecting him to call or come home at certain times of the day.

His FBF may never get to know him in the intimate way that you do. She may never know the taste of his kisses, or the way he whispers, "I love you" after having an orgasm; but her position of power in his life is a lot deeper than a sexual relationship. Her relationship with your man is not as intense, potent and rich with passion but this is exactly what gives her the upper hand in your man's life because she is not having arguments with him fueled by jealousy over who called, or fights over who left the toilet seat up, drank the last of the milk without replacing it, splitting the bills, sharing the remote, or in-law drama.

So what does his female best friend have to offer him that you can't? -- The most honest and truest part of his heart and soul. Yes, your man tells his FBF all the things that he could never, ever, tell you in a million years because it would break your heart. His FBF is privy to how he really feels about your body-whether he really thinks you need to lose weight; she knows his truest intentions for your relationship and all of the other women that he is attracted to.

An advantage of being the female best friend is that he will typically ask her "the female perspective" on important issues such as love including whether or not he should break up with you, marry you or apologize about the last argument you had in your relationship. Her ultimate power is that she was a part of his life before you came and will likely be a part of his life if or when you leave.

As long as his female best friend does not have sex with him - she will always hold a powerful, meaningful position in his life. Sex complicates relationships because it is an emotional chemical that either bonds or destroys a couple based on other variables in the relationship. If he is not having sex with his female best friend this gives him the emotional freedom to share with her the details about his sex life that he wouldn't even be comfortable discussing with a male friend.

Can you really trust this woman that your man confides in and trusts with all of his little secrets including how he really feels about you? All female best friends are not a threat to your relationship but herewith listed are...

Signs that you cannot trust your man's Female  Best Friend

1. 1   They have been friends for less than 2 years.
2. She is the girl that he couldn't sleep with so he settled for "friendship" status.
3. His parents, especially his mother, sisters - women in his family love her!
4. She calls him all the time to do little things for her such as pick up her kids, take her to appointments and fix things around the house.
5. She constantly pulls rank in your interactions with her by reminding you that she was a part of his life before you arrived and that she will be there when you leave.
6. She gets pleasure out of watching you cringe when she favorably talks about his previous girlfriends.
7. You know that his  female best friend thinks that he can do better than you.
8. Your man always takes his female best friend's side whenever there is any type of disagreement.
9. She does not have a boyfriend or husband and is not seriously dating or looking for a mate--because she is leaving space open in her life for someone--- your man.
10. You caught your man checking her out when he thought no one was looking.
11. She goes out of her way to wear sexy, provocative clothes whenever she is around your man.
12. She hesitates or shows a slight discomfort with letting you sit in the front seat of the car.

These are signs that your male partner's female best friend is an ally and that you can trust her.

1.   She respects your relationship by not contacting him constantly over little things because she know that he is in a serious relationship.
2. She makes it a point to invite you to all functions, parties and events.
3. Your male partner tells you that he is sorry because his female best friend told him that he was wrong and she took your side without having talked to you.
4. Your man feels extremely comfortable bringing you around her and he acts like himself in her presence.
5. She gives off a sister-platonic vibe when she is around your man. She doesn't dress to impress him.
6. She is in a loving, healthy relationship, date or seeking a relationship.
7. They had sex at least 5 years ago and they both have moved past a sexual attraction to the other.
8. She is pleasant and respectful to you over the phone.
9. She introduces you as his wife or girlfriend, not his "date."

10. She jumps in the backseat of the car when he is driving—and would have it no other way.11. She loves you too. You feel like she is your sister.

12. She turns down invitations to certain events, functions, and parties—she knows her place in his life—is after you.

By Cassandra George Sturges,  Psy. D  MA, MA.

For Handmade Doll Stories, life lessons, life hacks, Crafts, tutorials and DIYs  Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: Authentik Beauty Handmade Doll Crafts https://www.youtube.com/user/AuthentikBeautyBlogs