Back in the early days of the American Girls Collection, when it was owned by Pleasant Company, the main focus of its products was to teach children about American history through play. In addition to the dolls and their stories and accessories, there was also a line of non-fiction books that went beyond the teaching and helped children experience history by engaging them in a hands-on way.
For each character, there was a whole set of American Girls Pastimes: paper dolls, a theater kit with easy-to-stage plays, a cookbook, and a craft book. But Mattel stopped this immediately when they took over in 1998. Josefina, released in 1997, was the last to get her own pastimes; Kit, released in 2000, never got any Pastimes.
In the 90′s, I had Kirsten’s craft book. Paperback, and fully illustrated with plenty of text to give historical context to every project.
(In her hands is the braided rug; in her basket is the bunny pincushion. I’ve made both. They’re great.)
I feel like this book was my gateway into sewing, leather working, decorative painting, clay models, and dyeing yarn, all of which I still regularly enjoy doing, all these years later. I come from a crafty and creative family, but I preferred the detailed written instructions to having an adult try to teach me, since I really struggle (then and now) with following verbal directions. So adults would get frustrated with what appeared to be my inability to listen, and then they’d get mean and insulting, which would discourage me from doing anything more, which would just make the adult even angrier. I learn much, much better working on my own with printed directions that let me learn and work at my own pace.
One of my favorite crafts in the book was the little clay Dala horse, modeled after a traditional Swedish children’s toy, normally carved from wood. But you, with a bit of modeling clay and some paint, could make one for yourself, without help or instruction (or criticism) from an adult.
Dala horses, although featured in her craft book, are not mentioned in Kirsten’s central stories; but I know that Kirsten was a nurturing, patient girl who loved animals, so it’s easy to imagine her playing with a tiny painted horse like this. (The book shows them displayed on the dining table, while also explaining that they were toys?)
So I wanted to make one for my own doll. She’s a good kid, and she deserves to have some toys that remind her of her faraway home. I’ve adapted the book’s instructions here, but I’ve modified them to make them more precise and accurate. To do this, I recommend using a sharp tool and a homemade clay recipe that a children’s book would not have included.
What you’ll need:
Modeling clay (I recommend an easy homemade recipe: 1 cup of baking soda, ½ cup of cornstarch, and ¾ cup of water; put it all in a saucepan and cook it on low heat, stirring constantly, until it comes together in a nice soft mass. That’s what I use here, because it’s smooth, soft, and flexible and easy to paint. It self-hardens as well, and is quite sturdy after drying.)
A clay cutting knife, or a craft knife like X-Acto
Tracing paper or tissue paper
A pen
Acrylic paints: bright red, black, white, and pale blue
Glue or Mod Podge
Paintbrushes: one for broad strokes, one artist’s brush for tiny details
First, trace the pattern.
You can print this out or hold your tracing paper up to the screen to trace it. To make it doll-sized, as I did, you’ll want to make it about 2 inches/5 centimeters from the top of the ear to the hoof. I just used a stencil I found on Pinterest. The book doesn’t provide one.
Then cut out the stencil completely.
Now for the decorative accents, I based mine off of the illustration in the craft book, and I think that’s a great place to start. but if you feel moved to make something fancier, do a google image search for “swedish dala horse” for inspiration. But here’s what the book provided:
Next, flatten out the clay into a small pancake, and about the same thickness of a pancake. Place the cut-out pattern onto the clay.
Cut around it with the knife. Think of it like making cookies, and your knife is the cookie cutter.
Then cut slices into the surrounding clay, so the excess can be easily peeled away from the pattern. So instead of pulling it all away in one piece and possibly breaking it, you’ll carefully remove it piece by piece.
Leaving you with your horse, with the pattern on top.
Peel the paper pattern off. Then, if you’re using a clay knife, use the curved end to carefully smooth the rough edges where the knife cut the clay. Dip it in water first to soften especially raggedy corners. You can use your finger to do this as well, but keep a light touch!
Once the horse looks smoothed out and clean, let it dry. Depending on the humidity level of where you are, this could take a few hours. Once the exposed side is dry, flip it over to dry the other side.
It’ll look dull and matte when it’s fully dry.
Then, it’s time to paint!
I used an acrylic paint called “Crimson Red Lake”, but any acrylic will work fine. This is just what I had on hand.
When the red paint is dry after a few minutes, use the small artist’s paintbrush to paint the white accents.
Let that dry, then do the blue bits.
Then the black outlines.
Now some red accents. I used a red Sharpie pen for these tiny lines.
Let that side dry, then flip it over and do the exact same thing on the other side.
When it’s painted to your liking, brush it with Mod Podge or some sort of sealing glaze.
There you go. That’s it. Doesn’t need to be perfect. Mine definitely aren’t! Your doll won’t mind.
Speaking for my Kirsten… she seems pretty happy with her little horses, despite their imperfections. They bring a bright splash of color to the dreary winter days.
Sandra Soapbox Cosplay 