Mummy Madness! Felt Finger Puppets

Are these cute little mummies ready to scare, or coming for a hug?

To make them, cut cheesecloth into 1/2" strips.  Wrap your mummy shape with the strips before sewing. Glue on a little pom pom for the nose and use fabric paint or google eyes for the eyes. 

A story to go with it?  Maurice Sendak has a monster pop-up book:

For a humorous counting read-aloud that adds a little Egyptian learning along the way, try Ten Little Mummies, by Philip Yates and illustrated by G.Brian Karas. The illustrations are darling!  Makes me want to try drawing mummies, too!

Or from the feline perspective:  read about the clever Mummy Cat, from Marcus Ewert and Lisa Brown,  both from the story and in the murals on the pages, a story within a story!  Complete with hidden hieroglyphs? Can't wait! Not coming out until July 2015 though...  

A clever parody for Runaway Bunny fans from Michael Rex is The Runaway Mummy...

And there is the unique, rhyming WORKING MUMMIES (by Joan Horton, illustrations Drazen Kozjan)...  

But for curious little ones that might have a lot of mummy monster questions, try I'm All Wrapped Up by Shannon Knudsen and Renée Kurilla.

Happy Halloween!

Captain Hook Felt Finger Puppets

Talk Like a Pirate Day?  All the info you need is right here:

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Though I wasn't sure if I could come up with yet another pirate puppet design, 

along came Captain Hook!  The hooks are earring hooks:  bent, cut,

and hand sewn into the sleeve.  Ahoy matey!

New books on pirates abound... I haven't reviewed these, but the titles are

intriguing. Captain Hook meets Santa?

Mutiny at bedtime? Yes, like every night!

Do hungry pirates love pizza?

What happens to a pirate's bed when his boat crashes at sea (the

pirate escapes safely to a tropical island)?

Are pirates immune to Christmas spirit?

And can a young scientist make peace between his two best friends at his birthday party? What if those best friends are a pirate and viking!!!

Arrrrr!

Astronaut Felt Finger Puppets

With their simple design and easy-to-cut pieces, these astronauts have quickly become a favorite of mine! We've used them as party favors for our Alien Party (inside a pinata), as souvenirs for a field trip, and treats for a space-themed walk-a-thon!

How to's: You need the template below, three colors of felt (white, blue, and sparkly black), some fabric paints (control panel), and some 1/4 inch wide ribbon.  It worked easiest for me to cut the ribbon into lengths of and position them in an X with a dot of glue. After those were dry, I set the ready to sew pieces on top with another dab of glue. Then I folded over the ribbons and secured them under the control panel.  When all was dry, I sewed them up, trimmed them, and added the fabric paint details.

Here are a couple of stories to try with it...

Written by former astronaut Mike Kelly, the almost true story of Mousetronaut is a cute little underdog story.  The littlest mouse is included on a space adventure even though he isn't the biggest and strongest.  He was noticed because he worked hard!  In the end, his size is exactly what is needed to solve a critical problem on board.  A great story for one of those days when your child is frustrated by being little!

Hedgie Blasts Off, by Jan Brett, is a fun little story about a hedgehog that wanted to be an astronaut but wasn't allowed, until one day when an opportunity arrived.  Hedgie got the job done!  Nice sparkle pages add to the kid-friendliness of the book.

Also try Meghan McCarthy's Astronaut Handbook for a non-fiction guide to the astronaut business and  Joan Sweeney's Me and My Place in Space for a great introduction to the universe for kids, starting with the planets and then to the stars.

   

Astronaut Finger Puppet Pattern by C.A. Leu

Pirate Finger Puppets

 

 

Yo ho ho! Look who arrived just in time for Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19th, 2012).

 

 

 

I was thinking I'd have it easy this year, just making puppets for one class (2nd grade).  But my 5th grader wanted them, too!  And they are already asking what is next...

 

 

 

Meanwhile, these hearties were well received by my son's second grade teacher...  I just love it when they get put to classroom use!

 

 

I've already covered our favorite pirate books in another post but we just discovered Melinda Long's sequel, "Pirates Don't Change Diapers."  David Shannon's entertaining drawings make this a must check out from your local library!

 

 

And also look for I Love My Pirate Papa, by Laura Leuck.  Kyle Stone's illustration are cute cute CUTE!  You don't have to be a pirate fanatic to fall in love with this book.. father and son lead us through plenty a pirate escapade aboard their ship to keep us entertained, laughing, and loving.  Watch for the little mice who help with the action!

 

 

Weather warming up? It's construction time!  Add some hair to turn these guys into gals...

These ready for action people were inspired by the request of a kind and inspiring teacher in Grand Ledge, MI.  Thanks for all your hard work raising our future, Ann! 

Do you have a favorite construction story?  When my son was little, he could not get enough of Road Builders, by B.G. Hennessy and Simms Taback.  Looking at the reviews on Amazon, I see we were not alone!  Truck-loving kids can't put this one down. It goes through steps in making roads and identifies the required machinery.  We read it so often that my husband and I STILL know it by heart, many years later.  The most fun was changing around the names of the trucks and names of the workers and watching our little boy squeal in delight to correct us.... NO, IT'S A BACKHOE, MOM!!

Another family favorite was Digger Man, by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha.  This joyfully illustrated story features a truck-obsessed big brother who ends up teaching his baby brother to be a Digger Man, too.  He rides along in his car seat!  And big brother is going to build him a park where they can play together... What great family fun, from the garden to bath tub, full of trucks!

A great take on an ABC book, June Sobel and Melissa Iwai's B is for Bulldozer gives a great twist on construction literature.  The story not only takes you through an ABC of truck vocabulary and building action, but it takes you through seasons, too.  Watching the background change as I read the story again and again gave me great relief from the business at hand, which was building a roller coaster theme park.  Happy memories from this one too!

Construction Worker Felt Finger Puppet Pattern

Rustic Cupid Valentine Cuties

Little love dispersal agents for Valentine's... rustic cupid cuties!

(The perfect antidote to all the Ninja mayhem that's been goin' on around here...)

  

I saw angels posted by ArtMind, and they went straight to my heart, literally! I had to make a dozen! 

Here's how easy they are: 

  

Cut lengths of twine or jute into 15 inch and 6 inch segments.

Make some itsy bitsy arrows from toothpicks, snips of ribbon, and the hearts from a specialty hole punch.

( I used tacky glue to put them together, which dries clear, but got impatient for photographing them so you can still see the white).

Grab some wooden beads and draw faces on them. I used this Sharpie paint pen but recommend the finest point you can find.

Bend the larger (15 inch) piece of twine in two, slip on the bead, knot the end and feet.  Two knots at the end of each makes an even cuter foot.  On the six inch twine, knot just one side, then grab an arrow and knot the other.

Tie the arms around the body.

Glue the felt wings to the back of the dress felt, add the body, then cover with the other dress piece.  I used a paisely printed red felt for the wings for the fancy texture.  Patterin is below if you'd like...

Rustic Cupid Pattern

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Sensei Felt Finger Puppets

Sensei is ready to party, too!