Journey to The West finger puppets

Finger puppets of Monkey King, Pigsy, Sandy, White Dragon Horse, and Tang Sanzang.

My brothers and I loved watching Journey to the West shows when we were kids—I think there was a hundred episodes! We loved watching  Monkey King, Pigsy, Sandy, and White Dragon Horse battling demons to protect Tang Sanzang. Now, with children of my own, I made them a collection of finger puppets to re-tell the story and for them to play with.

The puppets are made with 100% wool felt. Gold metallic threads are used to add "sparkle" to Tang Sanzang's robe. This collection is now available to purhase on my ETSY shop. 

Pattern—Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf Quiet Book Pop-Up Book

Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wold Pop-Up Book

Hurray! After more than a year, the pattern for my felt pop-up book is now available on my ETSY shop. 

This pop-up book was created for children to play and discover the joy of pop-up books — without the parental worry of rips, tears, and crushed pages. However, because there are small objects, magnets, and batteries used in this book, play should be supervised to avoid choking hazards.

Each turn of the page features a pop-up straw house, stick house, and brick house. The doors on each houses opens and shuts. Each page also have additional activities to inspire playtime imagination. Activities such as battery operated camp fire, a clothes line for drying laundry, magnetic fishing rod and fishes, and finding treasures underneath the stepping stones to name a few.

The Cover Page

The cover page features a pocket to store all the puppets, and a ribbon to tie to book close.

The Stick House Page

The stick house pages features a mud puddle, a clothes line, and objects (key, dog bone, and worm) hidden underneath stepping stones. 

The Stick House Page

The brick house page features a pond (zipper pocket), magnetic fishing rod and fishes, a water lily, a flower garden patch with a busy bee.

The Brick House Page

The brick house page features a vegetable garden (carrots, parsnips, and radishes), a basket (button onto the page, and a battery operated camp fire.

A pop-up book like this will take me about  a week to finish. For this reason, I choose to use 100% wool felt. 

If this is your first time making a pop-up book, I recommend using acrylic felt to learn the basic techniques. If you make a mistake, it's okay. Acrylic felts are an inexpensive way to build your first pop-up book prototype. 

The disadvantage of acrylic felt, is that it will "fuzz" over time. Nothing is more disheartening when you see "fuzz" covering a book you've spent countless hours working on. For this reason, if you want a heirloom quality pop-up book, I highly recommend 100% wool felt. Although it is more expensive, it is well worth the investment.

A pop-up house prototype made from acrylic felt

Chinese New Year Craft For Kids - Chinese Fire Crackers

 

Chinese New Year is about three weeks away! To get my kids excited and to learn more about their culture, I showed them how to make Chinese firecracker decorations.

It was also an opportunity to show them some Chinese firecrackers on YouTube. As we watched, I told them the loud bangs and the colour red from the firecrackers are used to scare the evil monsters away and will bring us good luck in the New Year.

To make the firecrackers, I took red paper (I reused red wrapping paper left over from Christmas gifts) and cut them to 4.5 by 3 inches. Using a thick marker, the kids rolled the paper around the marker, applied glue, stuck the edge down, and finally removed the finished tube from the marker. Then repeat. My son was quick!

Once we have enough tubes, I thread them up with a needle and two strings. I helped to poke the needle through the center of each tube while my kids help to move each tube down.

Make a loop at the end and that's it. It's done. It is now hanging on my front door scaring the "evil" away.

Peter Rabbit Finger Puppet

Peter Rabbit with his vegetables.

It's been a long winter. To welcome spring, I made my kids a Peter Rabbit felt finger puppet to play with! Peter Rabbit is now for sale on my Etsy shop.

The veggies: carrot, radish, and parsnip.

Yep, the vest comes off too!

DIY Thread Spool Holder

DIY Spool Holder

I need a spool holder. I do own a small wooden spool rack, but I'm not in love with it enough to purchase a larger, more expensive unit. I found the wooden spool rack was a bit wobbly on the table. So here's my version of a super quick and cheap DIY Thread Spool Holder project.


Materials:

• egg carton (cut the cover off)
• wooden dowels from the dollar store
• air drying clay from the dollar store
• hot glue gun

Step 1: Cut dowels to desire length and insert in to a ball of air drying clay. 

Step 2: Once the clay has dried/harden, hot glue the clay onto the egg carton.

Step 3: Insert your spools!

The Three Little Pigs Pop-Up Quiet Book

The Three Little Pigs felt pop-up book

I love pop-up books. I love the delightful surprises that pop-up each time a page is turned. I love discovering the secrets behind every pull strip, rotating pivot, and hinged flap.

So when I saw pop-up books at the book store, I really wanted to buy one for my son. But my husband was quickly against this because he knew the book would be destroyed fairly quickly. I didn't argue with him, he was right...the book I was holding already had rips and tears. Paper pop-up books are made for kids, but aren't meant for kids.

That is why when I started to design a quiet book for my son, I designed it to be a pop-up quiet book. Made with 100% wool felt, heavy weight interfacing, and thread, it should withstand heavy play. No glue, every piece is securely stitched in place. Below are the pages from The Three Little Pigs felt pop-up book.

The front cover has a pocket to store all the finger puppet characters.

An overview of the straw house page.

Detail of the pop-up straw house and finger puppets.

This pig is having a mud bath.

Behind the straw house is a pop-up clothes line.

Turning the page will pop up the back of the stick house. The stick house has been "flipped" to reduced bulkiness.

An overview of the stick house.

Going fishing. The fishing rod is removable.

Turning the page to the brick house.

An overview of the brick house.

A vegetable patch with carrots, radishes, and parsnips.

Back yard camping by the fire.

The "fire" is from a tea light candle I've taken apart.

The blanket hides the battery compartment and on/off switch.

What I also like about the book is that there is no text. Through play, each child tells their own version of The Three Little Pigs.

Making the switch from Eco-fi felt to 100% wool felt.

LEFT: 100% wool felt.  RIGHT: Eco-fi felt.

When I first started making felt puppets, I used Eco-fi felt. Readily available, Eco-fi felts are polyester fibers made from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. Not only is it cheap to buy, but it is made from plastic bottles that would otherwise end up in landfill.

But it wasn't until I came across an old puppet I made for my niece that made me search for a higher quality felt. You see, her puppets have worn out from play. The felt has fuzzed up like a used kitchen sponge. It hurts even more when I think about the hours spent hand sewing her puppets! I came across 100% wool felt when I was reading through craft books, and I decided to look into it.

It turns out that not only is 100% wool felt really expensive, but I have to order it on-line. After searching on-line for a supplier, I placed my first felt order and made the switch.

LEFT: 100% wool felt.  RIGHT: Eco-fi felt

Since making the switch from Eco-fi felt to 100% wool felt, I have noticed a huge difference in quality. Wool felts are softer, smoother, and cut cleaner. 100% wool felt comes with bonus benefits too! Some of my favourites include:

• Wool felt is wear resistant. Play after play, wool felt will not pill and fuzz.
• Wool felt has anti-bacterial properties.
• Wool felt is fire resistant. It self extinguishes itself making it kid-friendly and baby-safe.
• Wool felt is a natural and sustainable resource. I used to believe that by using Eco-fi felt I was being environmentally friendly. When in fact, I am encouraging the use of plastic bottles...which is not very environmentally friendly at all.

So even though wool felt is expensive and I have to wait a week for it to arrive, I am happy to make the switch. I am happy to know the puppets I make (to the best of my knowledge) are safe for children, environmentally sound, and a step closer to "heirloom" quality.