Doorway Puppet Theater

While I was suffering from crafter's block, about a month ago, I searched my pinterest boards for inspiration.  When I came across a beautiful doorway puppet theater, I decided to try and make one myself.

It seemed fairly easy.  I mean, I did make a fitted domed circus tent topper, so I figured I would give it a try.

I had material, a tension rod and plenty of puppets, so I had nothing to lose.

First, I measured the width of my door frame and cut out the amount of material I would need.
*I would suggest, if you attempted to make your own, to use striped fabric, the stripes act as better guides in cutting than polka dots. 

The next steps really were easy.  I sewed a hem, along all sides of the puppet theater.  Then, I took the top of the puppet theater and folded it down about 3 inches. 

I sewed along the seam line to make a pocket the tension rod would feed into.

This is where it got tricky.  I cut out the center, for the puppets to peek through BUT I had no idea how to finish the edges.

So, this project sat and sat. My crafter's block made more frustrated by half finished projects I had no idea how to finish.

Cue a visit from my mom, the Queen of Quilts.  Using some double biased tape, she hand sewed the trim over the raw edges using a reverse miter on the inside corners.

Finally, the unfinished project was finished.

My crafter's block is, fortunately, a thing of the past.

And, this hedgehog is happy to have a stylish venue to perform.

I am determined to master the art of reverse miter and make these as gifts for Grace's classmates birthdays.




*The doorway puppet theater I was inspired by, is for sale on Etsy.  If this stay at home mom could have afforded it, I would have spent the $90 (including shipping) to have bought it myself. 

Shadow Puppets

 Shadows have become a recent fascination at my house.

I just love these Fairy Shadow Puppets made by Moulin Roty.

What a cute way to introduce shadows to kids and spark imaginative play as well.

The possibilities for making your own shadow puppets are endless and the cost involved is next to nothing.

All you need is:
Black card stock or paper
Scissors, X-acto knife, hole punch
Chop sticks, doll rods or popsicle sticks
Pencil
glue or tape
Packing tape or laminating machine (optional)
Silhouette images - feel free to use my template below

***UPDATE***
I have converted the transportation shadow puppet pattern into a Silhouette file. * If you have a Silhouette and want to easily cut these out, email me at whilewearingheels at gmail.com and I'll send you a copy of the file.

If cars and trucks don't spark your interest, try drawing your own design or do an image search to find a silhouette of what was does interest you.

To make a template, I drew and cut my design out using white paper. Using my template, I then traced my design onto black card stock (which I realize sounds like double the work). If you are more artistic than I am, proceed directly to drawing your image onto the card stock without the worry of creating a template.

Cut your images out using whatever works best or quickest. I found using a hole punch for the wheels and rocket ship saved time. The windows were cut using an X-acto knife.

The first set of shadow puppets I made got sat on and as a result the shadows looked crumpled and sad. Lesson learned. To reinforce the shadow puppets I now cover them with a layer of packing tape on both sides. Moments like this I realize how nice it would be to have a laminator...but these moments are few and far between so a laminator is not my future. This step is completely optional.

Trim the tape off along the edge of the image. I opted not to remove the tape covering the windows and wheels.

Glue (or tape) chop sticks to the back (not that it matters which is the front and which is the back) of the silhouette.

Grab a flashlight.

Let your imagination go and have some fun...

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

 3-2-1 Blast Off!

Simply displayed, they are even cute. I finally found a use for my flower frog.

I hope you enjoy making a set of your own.