These macrame Halloween dolls are creepy cute and seriously fun to make. They’re an addictive Halloween craft where you won’t want to stop at just one! With knotted cord bodies, painted wooden bead heads, and lots of spooky personality, you can bring a skeleton, Frankenstein, or jack-o-lantern character to life.
Each mini doll comes together with just a few simple knots, but the results are full of charm and Halloween magic. Turn them into keychains, bag charms, or playful decorations that instantly add a festive touch. Kids, teens, and adults will love customizing colours, expressions, and details. And they’re easy enough to make that you can easily create an entire collection of Halloween characters in a single crafting session.
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support our website and allows us to keep creating fun, free content.
How to Make a Macrame Halloween Doll
Materials:
- Large wooden bead (1 inch)
- Multi-surface acrylic paint (green or other colour)
- Fine tipped black marker
- Paracord (to match paint colour)
- Split ring keyring
Equipment:
Watch the step-by-step video tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Make the doll head
- For the head of our dolls we’ll be using a 1 inch wooden bead.
- Paint the outside of the bead. Allow to dry.Repeat, adding a second coat if needed.
- Use a marker or paint marker to draw a face on the bead. The type of face will depend on what character you’d like to make.Here we did a simple face with thick eyebrows and some stitches to represent Frankenstein.
- You may also want to add some hair details that go around the top of the bead.
Step 3: Attach the head
- Cut a 20 inch piece of paracord that matches your paint colour.
- Slide a split ring keyring onto cord, bringing it halfway down.
- String the head bead onto both cord ends. Slide it up until it hits the keyring. This will keep the head in place.
Step 4: Make the doll body
- Set the cord and bead down so the bead is next to you (upside-down). This allows you to create knots like usual and end up with the cord ends at the top.
- Cut another 20 inch piece of cord in the same colour. Place it under the other cords, perpendicular to them, lining up the center.
- Make a square knot. To start, bring right end of cord to the left over the 2 center cords.
- Bring the left cord end over the right cord (the part that’s now on the left), under the 2 center cords and up through the loop on the right.
- Pull the two cord ends to tighten the knot. Try to keep an even amount of cord on each side.
- Now we’ll make the 2nd half of the square knot.Bring the left cord over the 2 center cords to the right and under the right cord.
- Then bring the right cord under the 2 center cords and up through the left loop.
- Pull the cords tight against the last knot. This completes the square knot.
- Make 2 more square knots below the first.
Step 5: Finish the macrame doll
- Slide the square knots until they’re next to the head. These are the doll’s body.
- Make a knot in each cord end, about 1 inch away from the body.
- Then make 2 knots in each center cord, for the knees and feet.
- Cut off the excess cord, close to the outside knots.
- Melt the cord ends with a BBQ lighter. This will stop the cord from unraveling.
- Your macrame Halloween doll is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Only melt the cord ends if you’re using synthetic cord: Paracord and other synthetic cords will melt when carefully heated, which helps seal the ends and prevent fraying. Natural fibers will burn instead, so don’t use this method with macrame cord made from cotton or other similar materials.
- Seal the wooden bead before drawing the face: If you don’t want to paint the bead, brush on a thin layer of glue first and let it dry completely. This creates a smooth surface so you can draw the Halloween face with marker without the ink bleeding into the wood.
What type of cord can I use for macrame Halloween dolls?
Traditional macrame cord is a great choice if you want your Halloween dolls to have a softer, more natural look. Paracord is what we used for our dolls. It’s excellent for knotting and comes in lots of bright colours, making it perfect for characters like Frankenstein and jack-o-lanterns.
What Halloween dolls can I make?
We made a Frankenstein, jack-o-lantern, and skeleton, but there are lots of other characters you can create with the same basic macrame doll design.
Try making a witch with a little cardstock cone hat, or turn your doll into a mummy, vampire, or spooky clown. Once you know the basic technique, it’s easy to customize the colours and facial details for different Halloween characters!
How long does it take to make a macrame Halloween doll?
These are a really quick Halloween macrame project, taking about 15 to 20 minutes per doll, plus any time needed for the paint to dry. If you’re comfortable drawing the face and already know which character you want to make, you may be able to finish one in around 10 minutes.
Is this a beginner-friendly macrame project?
Yes! These macrame Halloween dolls are great for beginners because you only need to learn one knot. We use a basic square knot, which is one of the easiest macrame knots to learn, and we show you exactly how to make it in the tutorial!
These macrame Halloween dolls are a quick and beginner-friendly way to add a little handmade fun to Halloween. Once you learn the simple square knot, it’s easy to customize each doll with different colours, faces, and details. They’re such a fun little project, and the finished dolls have tons of spooky personality!
Here’s even more Halloween craft ideas:
Halloween Egg Carton Portraits
Now available
Low-Mess Crafts for Kids Book
72 cute and fun crafts that kids and parents alike can enjoy. All with as little mess as possible!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
Leave a Reply