ShareThisBy CATHIE FILIAN and STEVE PIACENZA
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Creating story time puppets is a great way to honor a favorite character from a children's book. Kids love reading books and, with character puppets, they can act out their favorites stories.
With a few simple steps, dishwashing soap bottles are easily crafted into fun puppets and all you need is some basic craft supplies.
Supplies:
3 dowel rods, one 20 inches long and two 18 inches long
4-inch Styrofoam ball
Plastic dishwashing soap bottle
Craft paint _ body
14-by-14 inch square of fabric _ head
Features: felt scraps, yarn, etc.
Pipe cleaners _ arms and legs
Clear varnish
Darning needle
Old scissors
Glue
Steps:
Remove the label on the bottle. Wash and dry the bottle.
Paint the bottle using craft paint. You may need several layers of paint. Once dry, apply a clear varnish over the paint to really seal the paint.
Use a scissor to make a hole in the center of the bottom panel of the detergent bottle. The hole needs to be large enough to get the 20-inch dowel to fit through the hole.
Using the darning needle, carefully make two small holes through the top corners of the plastic bottle where the puppet's shoulders would be on the bottle. Do the same thing on the base where the legs will be.
Building the arms and legs: Insert one pipe cleaner into each pair of arm and leg holes. Once the pipe cleaner is through both holes, fold the pipe cleaner in half and twist together. This creates the upper arms and thighs of each leg. Create the forearms and lower legs by bending the remaining pipe cleaners in half and twisting them, then bending them in half again and twisting them so that you have a loop on one end. Place the loop on the pipe cleaners through the upper arm and the thigh and twist them together.
Building the head: Using a craft knife, carve out a well in the Styrofoam ball where the head will meet the body. Cover the ball with the fabric by wrapping and tying the fabric in the back of the head. Trim the fabric at the hole. Coat the nozzle of the detergent bottle in glue and insert into the head. Allow to dry.
Adding the rods: Place the 20-inch dowel through the hole in the bottom of the bottle and through the Styrofoam ball. This is the handle. Cut two small hands from felt and sandwich one 18-inch rod and the ends of the pipe cleaner arms in between the felt hands. Repeat for the other side.
Add the details: Make the facial features by cutting felt scraps or construction paper, or using fun foam. You can use buttons or wiggle eyes from the craft store for the eyes. Use white glue to attach the features and hold them in place with a couple of pins until dry. Add hair with scraps of felt or bunches of yarn.
(Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza are creators and co-hosts of Creative Juice on DIY Network. You can write them by visiting www.cathieandsteve.com. For more information log on to www.diynetwork.com.)
