As many of you know, we had a Brother-In-Law just return from a deployment to Afghanistan (Oorah). When he left, the Red Cross donated "Daddy Dolls" (though Operation Hug a Hero) to all of the children who had a parent going down range. If you don't know what a Daddy Doll is, they're absolutely adorable! They take a full length picture of your Solider and attach it to a pillow (essentially). Her children looked so cute, walking around the house and falling asleep, all while clutching their daddy dolls. At the time, we knew John would be leaving in a matter of weeks and so I decided to visit the website to order daddy dolls for Porter and Wyatt.
The dolls, while absolutely adorable, are a bit pricey if you're like the average Military family and have more than one child. a 12" daddy doll runs just under $24 while a 17" runs just under $30. If you want a voice recorder sewn into the doll, that adds another $9. Multiply that by 2+ kids and you're suddenly looking at a very expensive, albeit wonderful, coping mechanism.
As usual, I wanted the dolls, but I didn't want to spend $80 to supply my boys with a piece of their dad while he was away. I got creative and decided to try making my own, and succeeded (for the most part). You actually can benefit from my mistakes, so if you are interested in making your children their own daddy doll (or grandma/grandpa, auntie, etc. doll) then here's how I chose to do mine:
Materials Needed to Make 1 Daddy Doll:
* One, full-length photograph of your Soldier (in uniform, if desired) transferred to either a shirt, or some other material.
* One Voice Recorder (optional)
* Cotton stuffing or batting
* Needle and Thread
* Cammo Material (I wish I had thought to use an old uniform of John's before I did ours!)
* Iron-on Paper (also known as Transfer Paper - also optional)
Directions:
1)- Take a good picture. All you have to do is visit the website to see examples of how they look. In general, it's a good idea to have your Soldier stand with their hands loosely to the side, but really, I say do what comes naturally and what your kids will like :) Take a picture with a white background if you don't want to cut around your Soldier's body. John left before I could take a really good picture, so we used an old one. It doesn't have to be perfect, your kids just need to recognize that it's daddy.
2)- Get a voice recorder device. We had an old, nasty teddy bear which someone had just given us that we were going to throw away. It had a recorder in the paw, so I dug it out and recycled it. The other recorder, I obtained from Amazon. (I prefer Amazon, but really, any online market place will give you a competitive price). I ordered one for $6 (with shipping) and it arrived the week before John left, so I was cutting it a bit too close. Still, I'm so glad we got a recorder for both boys!
3)- Upload your picture to Walmart.com > Photo Center > Clothing & Jewelry. I chose to have the photograph put on an Adult T Shirt, just because I wanted a bigger doll... but it's only $11 and if you want to have it sent to your local Walmart store, you'll even save on shipping. It takes a few weeks to have the shirt completed and shipped.
4)- Once you've got all needed materials assembled together, you'll want to do one of 2 things. You can either cut the image from the background OR you can leave the image alone and simply cut the shape of the doll out of the T Shirt.
I chose to cut out the background from John's photo, and then I used the rest of the T Shirt (obtained from Walmart.com photo center) to make the white part of the daddy doll, or the front of the doll. I used the Iron-on (transfer) paper to make the picture stick to the T Shirt, then I simply cut out the shape of a doll and sewed it together. If you want to skip the iron-on process, you don't need to cut out the background. I chose to do this because the picture itself can be a bit scratchy. Granted, I didn't try washing it first, either. So, do whatever feels best and is easiest in your situation. When I make these again, I'm going to skip the Iron-On Transfer because Porter loves his a little too much, too often, and the transfer paper has broken down, which means John is barely hanging onto Porter's doll. So, again, do what you think is best for your kids. Wyatt's is still as pristine as the day I finished it.
5)- Cut the Cammo Material to match the shape of the doll.
6)- Pin the front of the doll to the back of the doll. If you're unfamiliar with sewing pillows, you want the whole project to be inside-out. This is will keep a nice, smooth edge on your finished product. Sew the entire doll, except leave a hole that's big enough for the stuffing and the recorder.
7)- Stuff the doll with the stuffing/batting all the way up until you reach Daddy's shoulders. Then, insert the voice recorder (complete with personalized message from Daddy!!). Finish stuffing.
8)- Sew stuffing hole closed.
9)- Present the doll to your beaming child, and share the pictures of your handiwork on our facebook page!
10)- Remind yourself that you're an awesome mother and a wonderful wife for keeping your children so connected with their daddy.
At the end of the day, my dolls aren't as pretty as the ones you can buy from the official Daddy Doll website. The edges are a bit wobbly, the stuffing looks more like the cellulite in my legs, and we didn't get the best picture in the world. BUT, my boys don't love their dolls any less because of that. They sleep with them, they kiss them, they talk to them, and they carry them around all over, everywhere. That's the whole point of the dolls anyway, right? Don't stress about making them perfect. All your kids will feel when they hold them, is that their mommy and daddy love them very much...
These are also a great gift idea (if you're needing an idea for a family member who is far away). Really, these dolls are just great coping mechanisms for any loved one that is away from your child!!!
