Staining and Blushing the Bag Holder Dolls

I don't know how everyone else blushes their doll's cheeks, but I do my doll's cheeks while the tea stain is still wet.

I add 5 tea bags to a small pot of boiling water, and take it off the heat to cool. While it was cooling I lay my dolls on top of plastic shopping bags to protect my table.

Make sure to get both sides of the doll well covered with the tea.

To blush the doll' cheeks open your cheek paint and barely dip a damp foam paint brush into the paint.

Then rub the foam brush back and forth onto a corner of the plastic shopping bag.

Then rub the brush on the doll's cheeks. Try to keep the two painted cheeks the same size, but do not be concerned that there seems to be to much paint on the cheeks at this point.

Next take a paper towel and lightly rub from the front to the back of the doll's head or around in circles on the painted edge of both cheeks to smooth out the paint.

Maybe you can do better then me, but I don't think that my doll's cheeks turned out to bad!

Then lay the doll in front of the fan to dry.

Well my break is over so back to work.

Welcome to Ragged Britches Primitive Doll Store!

The dolls that I make are not washable nor meant to be played with by children. They were made for adult doll collectors to decorate their homes with.


I love dolls and I have been making them since I was 13 years old and needed a present for my little sister Audrey. I did not have any money to buy her a present with so I made her a set of little dolls from my Mom's quilt scraps and a pattern that I found in a McCalls magazine. Audrey loved getting the little dolls as much as I loved making them. That was over 40 years ago, and I am still making dolls today.


I am located just off Western Avenue in Knoxville TN which is about a 45 minute drive from The Great Smokey Mountains.

I do not have a storefront here in Knoxville where you can come and visit me, but I will be at Dollywood's Harvest Festival during the whole month of October so stop by and see me.