Hollyhock Dolls + Easy How-to

When my friend Emily was visiting last week, she taught Maude and Olive how to make hollyhock dolls. Such an adorable little craft! They would be fun to make at a birthday party with a fairy or woodland theme, and they’re perfect for a low-key Sunday afternoon.

Emily’s mother is a naturalist and an artist. She taught Emily all sorts of fun things to make from pretty bits of nature. Wouldn’t it be a treat to spend a day with Emily’s mom and learn some of her secrets?

The how-to is easy. Pick blooms of different sizes, and new buds for the heads.

Remove the fuzzy, pollen-y stamen. Then, use toothpicks to piece the flowers together. We used three flowers to make the skirt pictured. If you have hollyhocks in lots of different colors, you could make a multi-color skirt. Keep scissors nearby in case you need to shorten your toothpicks.

Experiment and see what you come up with. You can use a smaller bloom as a hat, or maybe even use a flower to fashion an umbrella. Emily’s husband, Weston, recommended using two smaller blooms as arms — so cute!

P.S. — I’ve never planted hollyhocks before, but they grow like weeds here at La Cressonnière. They are everywhere! Have you grown them?

26 thoughts on “Hollyhock Dolls + Easy How-to”

  1. Oh my goodness, my daughter would love this. Do you have hollyhocks growing there? So jealous if you do. Maybe we could do it with another flower. Thanks for this :)

  2. love creative ideas like this that just come about when you are playing outside! creating and being outside are two great things especially when mixed together!

  3. Oh! This takes me back. My cousins and I used to make these all summer long in our back yard. Instead of toothpicks, we’d use prickly stems from our pine trees to ream out the middle. Then we’d have to pick the right bud or flower with a stem that would fit in perfectly. I think I need to plant some holly hocks so my little one can experience these in years to come. Thanks for a walk down memory lane!

  4. GG made these when she was a child and she showed us how when we were young, but we rarely had access to the flowers. I’ve always thought I needed to grow them.

  5. Oh I love this! We used to make them all the time growing up with my grandma. It brings back such sweet memories. I need to find some to make with my baby girl. Thanks for the reminder.

  6. Thank you for sharing this! I grew up making these, and had all but forgotten about them. Making a note right now to plant hollyhocks in my yard!

    1. thank you I remember making these when I was a child now I am a great gramma and will be showing our little girl that will visit soon. The deer munched the first flowers but they came back just in time for the little one to see this,,,

  7. I grow hollyhocks because my great-grandmother, who immigrated from Scotland as a little girl in 1886, grew them in her garden and as a child I found them so engaging. Now my granddaughters and I are all about playing fairyland outside. They are allowed to pick flowers, leaves, bark as needed to make fairy houses. This year for the first time, we made hollyhock dolls.

    I’d love to see some pictures of your French hollyhocks. I live in Arizona, so mine bloom in April and May before the intense heat comes.

  8. Memories! Great memories of my gram’s yard, spending summers with her and her beautiful gardens. Hollyhocks were abundant in her yard. My mom taught me how to make these dolls. Thanks for this.

  9. My mother played with hollyhock dolls as a child and taught my daughters to make them. Since we don’t have hollyhocks, we use our Rose of Sharon shrub instead.

  10. I barely remember trying to make Hollyhock dolls. I remember my mother telling
    us how she and her sisters loved making these dolls. Just thinking of her and her
    lovely sisters as little girls making hollyhock dolls is a blessing of joy and connection.

  11. This brought back wonderful memories of going to my grandma and grandpa’s house in Indianapolis. They had lots of hollyhocks. My sister and I would make all kinds of pretty dolls. Precious memories.

  12. My mom grew them. Every summer we would make the hollyhock dolls. I have very fond memories of this and passed it on to my children. You can also take the petals and split the base (the inside is sticky) and clamp them on your earlobes for earrings.

    Unfortunately, the deer love them too and so they don’t fair to well in my neck of the woods.

  13. These are so deeply precious to me! The Mormon Pioneer Saints who were forced to leave their home in Missouri due to religious persecution left all of their personal belongings, much of it being burned by angry mobs, in the dangerous and bitter cold of winter. Cruising the Mississippi river on January 3 to evacuate, these saints walked hundreds of miles, burying many loved ones along the journey, and had very little to settle the Salt Lake Valley with when they arrived. My ancestors were among those chosen to settle surrounding areas of the wild and rugged rocky mountain west. Without dolls or toys, my great great grandmother and her sisters would make these hollyhock dolls to play with along the edges of the late summer fields while the Saints strived to clear sagebrush and plant and nurture crops. Using a nearby stick instead of a toothpick, they built these flower dolls, which became a delightful joy, and is a treasure still passed on in our family today. My grandfather taught my daughter to make these and she will teach her children. They are a precious part of our family history, as they remind me of the beauty of perseverance and the wonder of childlike joy.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top