MATERIALS2 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
2 beads to use as eyes
needle and thread in a color to match or contrast your fabric
tacky glue
7 pins with heads in the following colors: red, blue, green, purple, yellow, black, white
INSTRUCTIONS1. Gather your materials. Make a cross shape with your two sticks. Ties them together with your string. Hemp cord or waxed thread is better than regular string as they tend to be stronger.
2. Take the Spanish moss and wrap it 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. I find that the result is often times a stronger doll. If you break the moss apart and have to use more than one continuous piece, that is okay. However, you may have to wrap string around the moss to keep it from falling off. If you wrap tight enough, you shouldn't have to use string over the moss.
3. Take you fabric strips and wrap 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.
4. Make a face. Take your beads and attach them 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. I used a small plastic flower for the mouth of this doll.
5. Dress your Voodoo doll. This step is entirely optional. However, I always add details like clothes to my dolls because they begin to speak to me and tell me what they want to wear, whether they are male, female, gay, lesbian, or androgynous, and what types of items they want to carry, such as a mojo pouch or gris gris bag. 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.
Take some yarn or contrasting material and wrap it where you want it for accent. You can make a belt or use it for hair, for example, or make some clothing.
Symbolism of the 7 pin colors:yellow - success
white - positive
red - power
purple - spirituality
green - money
blue - love
black - repelling negative energy
Click here for step by step photos of the process:
http://www.mysticvoodoo.com/how_to_make_a_voodoo_doll.htm