Several years ago Sarah got it into her head that she wanted to do a dance routine with a human-scale limberjack for the Northeast Squeeze-In in Becket, MA. Limberjacks are usually small (less than 12" high), charming dancing dolls made of wood that make a percussive sound when played. They are a traditional Appalachian toy that came with immigrants from the UK where they are known as jig dolls. We had been playing with the traditionally sized toy for awhile, and the annual Squeeze-In seemed like a good place to experiment.

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We decided that styrofoam would work well, being lightweight and easy to work with. We had a small scale limberjack to model proportions.
		Bill started cutting
I can fit my whole head in here!
		There was quite a bit of sanding to be done. We're still finding styrofoam bits in the living room.
The start!
		To make her more durable, Sarah gave her a skin of cotton muslin and glue. Bill attached the head of a push broom (sans bristles) to the back with bolts through to the front.
Here you can see the dowels that hold the legs.
		Knees! We put pvc pipe in the holes so the dowels wouldn't break the foam and would move freely.
More paint and a face!
Hair! We made her a "wig" out of spiral-cut quilting cotton.
		Sarah wants these boots for herself.
The buttons of the overalls are the bolt heads holding the broom head on the back. It was either overalls or "pasties".
Jackie Dances!
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