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. 

Interactive Fire Nesting Puzzle

Where there's smoke there's fire...Okay, not really. {That would be dangerous and this is a kids' toy, after all.}

Interested in the tutorial.  Here it is...

Find yourself a scrap piece of wood, approximately 6 inches wide by 8 inches tall and 3/4 inch thickness.  Footprints on said piece of wood not required :) 

In pencil, draw out a flame design. 

Using a band saw, cut along your lines.  To preserve your fingers, make your first cut on line 1.  This will leave you more wood surface to hold onto while guiding the blade.  Work your way out, leaving the 5th cut as your last cut.

After you finish your 5 cuts, sand down each section.

*I only sanded the outside layer.  With each layer of paint I added, the thickness increased, making it more difficult to fit back into place.  Sanding each layer, even a little bit, should easily correct this.

Paint each layer.  I used both latex and acrylic paint.  Starting from the center, I used black, transitioning to red, transitioning to orange and finally to yellow.

This wooden fire nesting puzzle will certainly heat up imaginative play for your little one.

Roast some marshmallows, tell some ghost stories, sing campfire songs...

 use it as a puzzle or put it on a shelf and admire.

But you might want to make it a high shelf, I'm pretty sure the kids will be attracted to this puzzle like a moth to a flame.

{Pun intended.}

*Thanks Elena at 'A Casarella for helping me heat this post up with your word weaving skills :)