We can’t believe it’s a new year already! With a new year, comes new goals. For many, it's time to make fitness a priority and we'd love to get our dolls in on that action too! Fitness should be fun, right? One way to exercise and play at the same time is by jumping rope! It’s fun to do by yourself or with a group. So join along in this tutorial with us and make your doll a jump rope that can look like it’s really in action! We’ve included instructions for adding wire to the jump rope, for those of you who enjoy photographing your dolls and setting scenes. For younger children, just leave out the wire to make it safe for their age.
Bonus Giveaway: Enter to win a $50 Pixie Faire Gift Card! Scroll down to the bottom of the post to enter the giveaway!
Supplies Needed:
- 2-3 colors of cardstock, 3 sheets total
- Craft glue
- 20 gauge jewelry wire
- Wire cutters
- Twine or string about 1/8 inch thick
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Pencil
- 6 inches of 1/4 inch wide elastic
- 3/16 inch thick dowel or other thin, round object the same diameter
- Paper cutter (optional)
- Hot glue gun and glue
- A long thin tool - I’m using an elastic bodkin, but you could use a knitting needle or maybe a chopstick!
Let's Get Started!
Step 1: Cut a piece of twine 31 inches long and two pieces of wire 31 inches long each. Cut your elastic into two 3 inch pieces. Set all these aside. Cut two strips of card stock from the color you want the handles to be, 2 inches wide by the length of the paper, which should be 11 inches.
Step 2: Using your 3/16 inch dowel and starting my with a short end, roll your cardstock up tightly around the dowel.
Continue until you get to the end of the paper, and use your craft glue to glue the end down. You could do this with hot glue if you prefer, but it may be difficult to get a smooth result (and you may burn your fingers!). We chose to use craft glue, and took our time to hold the cardstock in place for a moment and make sure it stuck well. Slide off of the dowel. Repeat for the second strip of cardstock. You’ve made two thick paper “beads”.
Step 3: Apply some hot glue to the inside of the paper bead, and stick about half an inch of one of your pieces of elastic down into it. You may want to use your long thin tool to hold the elastic in place while the glue cools. Make sure it is glued to one inside “wall” of the bead.
Step 4: Now wrap the elastic down the side of the bead, and hot glue the first 3/8 to half inch down.
Stretch the elastic slightly and lay it down the rest of the way over the side of the bead, applying hot glue to the only to the bottom 3/8 to half inch again. Make sure you hold this in place really well so it is very secure while the glue cools.
Step 5: Now apply more hot glue to the bottom inside of the bead, and use your tool again to tuck the elastic in and hold to the inside wall while it cools.
You should now have an elastic handle that will be used to help your doll hold the jump rope!
Repeat steps 2-6 to make a second handle and set aside.
Step 6: Now take your twine and two pieces of wire and grasp the end of them 1.5 inches away from the ends.
Apply hot glue to the inside of your handle again, and push the twine and wires down into it up to your fingers. Add more glue as necessary; you want a good strong hold! After this, set aside the handle with wires and twine attached.
Step 7: Now we are going to make the little beads that our jump rope will be strung with! Use your remaining two colors of cardstock and make 1 inch wide by 8.5 inch long strips. Then cut each of these in half so the measure approximately 1 inch by 4.25 inches each - it does not have to be exact.
Our jump rope only ended up needing 27 beads, so you only need to make 28 or 30 of these, so you will have a few extra in case you mess up on any of them.
Step 8: Using the dowel again, roll up and glue each strip of paper into a bead, until you have 27-30 beads. This may take a little while, so turn on a favorite tv show or listen to some music!
Step 9: Once you have all your beads made, string them onto your twine and wires, alternating colors, and leaving 1.5 - 2 inches of twine and wires exposed.
Step 10: Once you are done, apply hot glue to the inside end of the handle that is not attached to the twine and wires yet, and push the twine and wires into it. Make sure to leave a little space that is not pushed in so your beads can move around a bit. You do not want them all tightly touching each other.
And that’s it! Once your hot glue has cooled and is set, your doll can jump rope! Stretch the elastic open and put her fingers into the opening on the handles, and gently bend the wire into a nice curved shape. You may need to bend it up at the spots where the wires join the handles. Isn’t that cute?! Now your dolls can enjoy recess like a real person!
We'd love to see your creations too, so if you make one, please tag us on Instagram @PixieFaire and @forofsuch
You can also share pictures in the Pixie Faire Inspritation Gallery right here on the website, either use the #pixiefaire when posting on IG, or just click the little + box to upload your picture right here on the website!
Thanks everyone!
For Pixie Faire, @forofsuch
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We’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment and tell us, What is/was your favorite playground activity?
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Kathy
July 20, 2022
I remember many a day and hour I did jump rope.