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It's almost November already, I can't believe how fast this year has gone.

It's time for Christmas in October's ornament make-along project.

If you missed any of the last nine months' projects, you can check them all out here:

Twelve Months of Christmas

This month we are making some cute little pipe cleaner dolls inspired by some vintage ones I saw.

Christmas in October - Pipe Cleaner Doll Ornaments

Aren't they cute?

I'm sharing both a video tutorial and a written tutorial below.

I'll also have a share thread on my Facebook page to share our finished ornaments.

Here is the supply list:

Supplies Needed:

2-3 bump chenille stems for the dress
1 regular chenille stem in a color appropriate for arms and legs
1 black, brown, or yellow chenille stem for hair
1 tinsel stem in a coordinating color for the body
1 - 3/4" plain wood bead with holes
Scissors
Wire cutters
Craft paint in blue or green for the eye color, black, and red, (white - optional)
Small artist's paintbrush
Old scruffy paintbrush or Q-tip
Hot glue gun
A scrap of coordinating ribbon
Small Christmas-themed ornament (optional)
Small piece of coordinating embroidery floss

Here is the video tutorial:

Step One - Make the body

Use one chenille stem to create the body. Twist about half of the stem around a wood dowel (I used the end of a sponge brush) to form a spring shape.

I used a tinsel chenille stem, but a regular one will work too.

Cut the other half of the stem off. Leave a little piece and bend it so it stands straight up from the center of the spring shape. We will use this to attach the head.

Step Two - Make the legs

Use another chenille stem to create the legs. Cut about six inches off the stem and bend it in half at the middle to form the legs.

Put some hot glue on both sides of the point and glue it into the bottom of the body.

Step three - make the head

Use one chenille stem to create the hair. You can really be creative with hair... any color and any hairdo will be cute! Your doll can have a bun or buns, a beehive, long hair (the video tutorial shares how to make long hair), etc.

For this doll, I started by curling the end of a black pipe cleaner up and then gluing it over the top of the wood bead. Make sure you leave one hole on the bead facing down so you can attach it to the body.

Cut the pipe cleaner, leaving enough to create a matching curl on the other side of the head. Glue it down.

Create the back of her hair by gluing a piece of the pipe cleaner in a spiral. Start next to the hair you've already added and glue and coil around and around until you reach the center and the bead is covered. Snip off the excess.

You should have enough left over to glue a little piece on for bangs.

Glue the head to the body.

Add a piece of embroidery floss to her head for a hanger (NOTE: ideally, I would add this at the very beginning before you add the hair) and glue it down between the layers of hair.

Step four - make the arms

Use the other half of the stem that you used for the legs and glue it between one of the coils on the back of the body, near the top.

Bend the ends over to create little hands and then bend in the center on each side where the elbows would be.

You can trim the stem if the arms seem too long but not too short if you want her to hold something.

Step five - make the dress

Use two bump chenille stems to create her dress. Cut the stems between each bump and then fold each bump in half.

Twist the ends together and then glue them to the bottom portion of her body. (Optional: you can bend the twisted ends of the bumps to form little hooks and hook them into the body for additional support.)

Cover the raw edges with a piece of the stem you used for the body.

Step six - paint the face

Start by painting two ovals with flat bottoms in the eye color of your choice. Then use black to outline just the sides of each eye.

Create her pupils by painting a black half-circle on either the right side or left side of the eye.

Make eyelashes with three thin lines facing the same direction that she is looking and add eyebrows.

To make her mouth, dip the end of a paintbrush into red paint and dot it onto her face. Her cheeks are made with a very scruffy brush. Dip the brush lightly into the red paint and then scrub most of the paint off on a paper towel. Then scrub the cheeks on.

TIP: I suggest practicing on a scrap of cardboard if you've never made cheeks before. You can also use a Q-tip and real blush instead.

Step seven - make the shoes

Use a piece of chenille stem in whatever color you like to create the shoes. Wrap it around the end of a small paintbrush and then glue it to the bottom of her legs (her foot should go right into the loop).

Step eight - embellish

You can have your doll hold something. I gave mine a vintage Shiny Brite ornament.

Some other ideas:

A miniature cat or dog
Make a little book with old book pages
A candle
A miniature cupcake or donut
A flower
A tiny bottle brush tree or wreath

Add a tiny bow to her hair or neckline if you'd like.

Step nine - share!

Be sure to share your finished ornaments on the Facebook share thread for this month's ornament.

I also made one with blond hair and side buns.

Her dress is a little different. It is made by rolling up the end of a chenille bump instead of folding it in half.

This is the one from the video.

I hope that you enjoyed this month's tutorial, I'd love to hear your thoughts. What did you do differently? What did you choose to have your doll hold?

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