Corp of Re-Discovery – TOS review

PRODUCT:  Corn Husk Doll Kit

COMPANY:  Corp of Re-Discovery

Price:  $4.50

Sitting in front of my fireplace, I am taken back to a simpler time and place.  Lately, I have been wishing I had been born about 100 years earlier.   The way society has become where everything is done at such a fast pace is beginning to get to me.  I yearn for the times when I can just sit with my family and not have to run, run, run.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen very often.  Between ballet, guitar, co-op, church and all of the other activities we do as a family, we don’t get to just sit very often. 

Little House on the Prairie is one of my favorite TV shows because of the slow paced life that it portrays.   i would love for my children to play outside with simple toys instead of all of the electronic gadgets of today.  If you are longing for simpler toys for your children, I have found the perfect place to get them.  Corp of Re-Discovery is a company started by a homeschool family that traveled all across America to allow their children to see 47 of the 50 states that God has so graciously blessed us with.  During this time, they came up with some great kits to help other families enrich their studies of American Indians, Frontiersmen and Pioneer Americans. 

I received a Corn husk doll kit to review as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  Bella was pretty excited about this.  One year when we were on vacation she bought a very small corn husk doll as a souvenir.  She loved the fact that she was going to get to make her own.  

The directions to the doll seemed pretty easy.  Everything you need is included in the kit except for a needle and thread (this is only necessary if you want to put a dress on the doll).   

The directions stated that you have to soak the corn husks for awhile before beginning.  We found that after about an hour and half they were good to use.  This is them in the sink full of water. We left each one in the water until we were ready to use it so it didn’t dry out.    

 

Here, Bella is tying the first husks together.  I had to tighten each time she tied because they had to be done very tightly in order to hold it together.  It took us a couple of times on the skirt before we could get it just right. 

 

 

 

 

We had to be very careful to not take too long or the pieces started to get dried out.

 

 

After making the arms out of a single corn husk, Bella then tied lower to make the waist of the doll.  Again, I had to help her tighten the knots.   She’s starting to look like a person (doll) now. 

 

 

The next step was to add a piece to her arms to make them look more lifelike.  This was difficult to get the strings tight correctly.  I had to help a lot with this step. 

 

 

 

The final step before sewing the clothes, was to make the skirt.  This was the most difficult part of the doll.  You had to take all of the husks for the skirt (6) and hold them around the doll in order to tie them around her waist.  The top of the husks were around her waist with the bottom up around her head at this point.  When we finally got them tied (after several tries we finally got them all included in the tie) we then pulled them back down over her “legs” to make it look like a skirt.  

 

Here, Bella is cutting out material for the dress.  The piece she is using as a pattern is the one that came with the doll.  She wanted to use material that matched an apron she has so we cut a new piece to use for the doll. 

 

 

  Here is the final doll before she is dressed.  Griffin thought it was pretty funny that we had tied her up.  Bella explained to him that this was so she stayed like she wanted her with her arms down in the front.  As the corn husks dried, the material held her in place. 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, the instructions for sewing the dress were a little less than I felt was needed.  I had Bella sew the apron with a needle and thread and she only poked herself once.   This was great practice.

 

 

 

Here she is (still all tied up).  Bella wanted her to have  a face so she drew one on with a permanent marker. 

This doll kit is recommended for ages 6 and up.  It can be purchased on the website.  It normally sells for $5.99 but is on sale for $4.50.   I personally thought it was difficult to make.  We had a lot of trouble holding all of the pieces of husk together until we had it tied together.  I am pretty sure, Bella who is 7, could never have done this by herself.    The directions, which did have pictures, were not easy to understand.  I had to look at the final picture of the doll to really figure out what to do. 

I think the ages should be about 12 and up if you really want them to be able to make it by their self.  With a little more descriptive instructions, this would be a great addition to a unit study on pioneer life.    We had a lot of fun making it.  It took a little over an hour from start to finish (not counting the soaking of the husks.) 

Here is our finished doll.

Corp of Re-Discovery has many other kits that you can use.  If you would like to see some, please check out what the other crew members reviewed by clicking here.  

We give Corp of Re-Discovery

Smiley guide:

1 Smiley - Product not really for our family. Probably wouldn’t buy. This really should probably be a frown face but we hate to be negative.

2 Smileys - Would maybe buy this product if on sale. Not a great fit for our family.

3 Smileys - We really liked this product and would probably recommend this to friends and fellow homeschoolers.

4 – Smileys – Definitely would buy this if the budget would allow. We suggest you check this out to see if it is a fit for your family.

5 Smileys – Would sell the family pets to get this one (just kidding). A must have for our family and we think you should get it too.

 

Please note, I received this corn husk doll kit in exchange for my honest opinion in this review.  No other compensation was provided.  Thank you to TOS and Corp of Re-discovery for this opportunity.