The smallest member of the Bad Batch is smart, curious, and resourceful. Even when she’s on her own, Omega never gives up. A prisoner of Dr. Hemlock in Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3, she brings a little piece of home to her by crafting her very own tooka doll out of straw — and she doesn’t even have a hot glue gun! But in our galaxy, you can use the hot glue gun along with Styrofoam, raffia, and suede lace to handcraft your very own straw tooka doll just like she does. Here’s how.
What You’ll Need
Two 1.8” Styrofoam balls
Dark brown acrylic paint
Paint brush
1 package (approximately 100 in³) of raffia
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Toothpicks
Dark brown suede lace (approximately 8 yards)
Two round head push pins, black
Get Started!
The activities in this article should only be done with adult supervision.
Step 1: Paint one Styrofoam ball with the dark brown acrylic paint and let dry.
Tip: Insert a toothpick and stick it in another piece of foam to keep the ball from rolling away.
Step 2: Cut a bunch of raffia about 8-9 inches in length. Hot glue small bundles of raffia, about an inch wide, to the top of the brown ball.
Note: Watch those fingers! You will likely touch hot glue while gluing raffia to the doll.
Step 3: Hot glue another pinch of raffia, on top of the one you just glued, in a perpendicular position.
Step 4: Continue hot gluing small batches of raffia around the top of the doll’s head until the front half of the ball is covered with vertical pieces of straw. You can also hot glue raffia to the back of the head, but it will be covered with suede lacing in a later step.
Step 5: Place a dollop of hot glue on the bottom of the doll’s head and carefully grip the raffia around it, gluing it together on the bottom.
Step 6: Trim the raffia bunch on the bottom of the head. Continue hot gluing the ends down until the raffia covers and lays flat on the brown ball.
Step 7: Gather a large bunch of raffia and tie a piece of straw around the top. Trim the ends and set the large bunch aside.
Step 8: Next, cut a bunch of raffia about 11-12 inches in length. Repeat the process of gluing and completely covering the unpainted Styrofoam ball in raffia, but do not glue or trim the bottom of the ball as you did previously.
Step 9: Turn the body to the bottom side of the ball. Hot glue the bunch you cut previously in Step 7 to the ball to add volume.
Step 10: Glue down the raffia to the sides of the ball as needed to completely cover the body in vertical pieces of straw.
Tip: Keep watching out for those fingers!
Step 11: Trim the straw on the body to about 4.5 inches long. You should now have the head and body of the doll complete.
Step 12: Next, gather two small bundles of raffia to make the tooka’s ears. Tie them on one end, then trim both ends of the ears so that they are about 3.5 inches in length.
Step 13: Cover one end of a toothpick in hot glue and insert it into the bottom of the tooka’s straw ear. Repeat on the second ear.
Step 14: Attach the ears to the top of the head by pressing the toothpick into the straw-covered ball.
Step 15: Hot glue one end of the suede lace to the back of the tooka’s head.
Step 16: Wrap the bottom part (about 1.5 inches) of one ear in suede lace. Move the lace to the other ear and repeat, hot gluing and cutting the end when you’re done.
Step 17: Next, cut small pieces of suede lace a few inches in length. Hot glue one end of each piece to the front of the tooka’s face, and the other to the back side. Continue gluing small pieces until a rough circle is formed around the tooka’s face with the ends of the suede lace.
Step 18: Cover the bottom and back side of the head in small suede lace pieces as well.
Step 19: Cut two pieces of suede lace a couple of inches in length, and a third small piece for the tooka’s nose. Glue the two longer pieces end to end in a V shape in the middle of the tooka’s face, then glue her nose on top.
Step 20: Push the two round head pins into place, about an inch and a half apart, to make the doll’s eyes.
Tip: If you don’t have black round head pins, you can paint a different color pin with black acrylic paint.
Step 21: Next, gather a small bunch of raffia and tie both ends with straw. Trim the ends to make a bundle about 2.5 inches in length; this is the tooka’s arm. Repeat the process for her other arm.
Step 22: Hot glue a toothpick into the bottom of each arm. Insert the arms on either side of the body.
Step 23: Hot glue one end of the suede lace on the back side of the body, and slowly wrap the lace around the doll’s body and arms. Hot glue the other end down when done.
Step 24: Cut pieces of the remaining suede lace and hot glue them in place to fill the back of the head and body as needed.
Step 25: Take a look at your tooka doll’s proportions and trim the ends of the ears, arms, and body as needed.
Your doll is complete! Give it a soft squeeze now and then when you miss the rest of your Bad Batch. We promise you’ll feel better.
