Printable Peg Dolls; Painting in 3 Different Styles

I ended up painting multiple Resurrection sets from my printable peg dolls this year for various friends and family, and I wanted to share how differently they can look with you!

different styles of peg dolls

All of the peg dolls you see in this post are decoupaged from my printable sets. They’ve all been printed and Mod Podged on- I only painted the heads. The first set I designed have faces that can be drawn on with a sharpie, and I provide step by step directions for doing so in my download. Here’s the sharpie-faced people.

craft a resurrection set for Easter- printable peg dolls

Here’s the set I made for my Goddaughter. It’s just a “mini” set. I decided to try the thing where you leave the skin the wood color and just paint eyes- nothing else on the face. Here was the end result.

wooden peg doll resurrection set for kids

I honestly really like the look of just eyes rather than having other facial features. This takes out the questions like “Should Mary Magdalene be crying, or surprised? Or maybe she should be smiling! Hmmm… maybe I should make 3 Mary Magdalenes…”

I also painted a wooden box to look like a tomb on the front with a rock.

wooden painted resurrection set

They can stand in front of it, or be stored inside like this.

wooden resurrection set for kids

I also ended up adding a sheet of green felt folded up on the inside to lay out and use for grass outside the tomb. I like that when the box slides open, it’s like the rock is being rolled away.

wooden resurrection set in a box

You can totally leave the wood just wood, and seal over it with the Mod Podge when you’re in the sealing set. I opted to wipe them with a little of this Minwax stuff first. I love this stuff- I got it at Wal-Mart and I wipe it on my cabinets and furniture when it gets banged up around the edges. I keep it in several colors.

wooden skin peg dolls

My printable peg dolls are only made to fit onto the straight peg people, so before you all ask how I put it on a bell shaped peg doll, here’s how.

wooden angel peg doll

I just cut it in this general shape, made lots of snips all around the edges, and figited it on. I wouldn’t suggest attempting this unless you have some experience with Mod Podging, and I won’t be posting more complete directions for doing this. I left the whole back of the angel white- just the front got this little piece.

wooden resurrection set- printable

Also, instead of painting the red down the Roman Soldier’s helmet, I just painted it silver. Once it was all sealed and dried, I added pieces of pipe cleaner to make it fuzzy.

wooden roman soldier peg doll

First, I cut the pipe cleaner to the right length for his helmet. Then I carefully bent the pipe cleaner to the same curve as his head. Then I carefully put hot glue on the inside of the curve, and quickly stuck it to his head, pressing down with my fingers as it hardened. It stayed on very well.

I made the box from a Melissa and Doug puzzle box like this one. My husband broke out the dividers from the inside for me using a screw driver.

Post continues after this brief information about the Catholic Icing Monthly Membership


Monthly Liturgical Membership

Catholic Liturgical Monthly Membership

Perfect for families! Each month you gain access to printable activity pages, crafts, home altar pieces, and more.
 
Never has living the liturgical year been so easy and affordable!
 

wooden box for resurrection set

The tomb was painted on the front, and I Mod Podged on a painting of Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene on the back.

wooden decoupage box for resurrection set

Then I also made another set with a friend. I know, I know. I’m insane. I really enjoy the painting, though, and these really go together fast once you’re Mod Podging!

painted easter peg dolls

For this set, I tried painted more details into their faces, with whites of the eyes, etc.

painted judas peg doll

These came out cute, but they are a lot more cartoony, so it’s just an entirely different look. With these, you definitely get stuck with just one expression.

painted jesus peg doll- printable

I did make a few minor changes that I really liked on this set. First, I made the face of Crown Of Thorns Jesus lower on the head, so he kind of looks like he’s looking down. I really like him this way!

painted crown of thorns jesus peg doll

On Pentecost Mary, I did exactly the opposite. I painted her face near the top of her head to make her look like she’s looking up!

painted pentecost peg doll

I also made Pontius Pilate look older by giving him white hair, and I added that gold leafy crown thing he wears in paintings sometimes.

painted pontius pilate easter peg doll

Here’s the whole Passion set this way (minus St. Veronica- my friend is not Catholic and didn’t want that one).

painted passion set peg dolls- printable

And here’s the whole Easter set with the more-detail faces.

painted resurrection set peg dolls

So there you have it. One set of printable Resurrection dolls, 3 very different styles.

Don’t be thinking that it’s too late to make these! I’m going to be posting lessons using these dolls throughout the entire Easter season, which is 50 days until Pentecost! Also, I had a reader post that you could order these slightly smaller peg dolls from Amazon Prime and print the pages at 70% to make them work. So get to it, people! 😉

Find the original set of dolls as well as the printables here.

Comments

  1. Tammy Cordery says

    They look so good. I have to get them after Easter but they will be good for next year. I love the Jesus with the cross,so nice.

  2. Ann-Marie says

    Finished my Passion set yesterday and I am going to start the Easter set today! You are right – they are so easy to do! Thank you for making these. I can’t wait to see what set you create next.

  3. I’m going to make some of these soon. For the ones with just eyes, do you do the hair the same as instructed and just do two dots for eyes? What about the beards? Thanks! Can’t wait to see how mine come out.

    • You can paint their heads however you want, so yes, you can use the same hair from my directions. The only ones I actually have full directions for are the “sharpie style” faces. The rest you pretty much have to figure out with the photos. 🙂

  4. I love these! My friend and I plan on making these as soon as we get some more peg dolls. It won’t be in time for Easter, but we figured it would be fine if it was during the Easter season. 🙂 We both made a nativity set years ago that is much like your first set, but with even less painting and details. Instead there is fabric for their headpieces and arms, and real hair for Mary. I’ll try to e-mail a picture to you. 🙂

  5. Thank you so much for making these!!!!
    We started our sets today; they really are fun and the kiddos are so excited! This is my first time making these. Thank you for continuing to post variations, ideas and helpful hints. They are so appreciated!!!

    Blessings to you and your family!

  6. Theresa T says

    Can you do a Mass set with a priest, nun, alter servers, etc. I would just love that!!!
    Thanks for all you do!

  7. Where to I get the wooden figures?