Several times this year I have caught myself saying "this is the craftiest thing I have ever done!" And Justin, amused, shakes his head and wonders who he married. Because I like extra credit and praise, here is the first project I said that to: hand puppets. But not just any hand puppets, this set is of my sister Juliann and her family! See below. A younger Grandmother-aged woman in my church pulled out a set of hand puppets she had made of her family years ago, when her kids were young, and I nearly died. Adorable, funny, ripe for humor.
I had Juli's name for Christmas this year and the rest was history. The idea of her opening up a box, finding little puppets inside, and putting together the pieces of who's who delighted me.
You wouldn't believe how I studied photos of each face in new way, trying to capture them in puppet form. Juli has a wider smile, Jason a longer nose, sewing those tiny eyelashes was nerve wracking.
Violet gave Max, their son, a stuffed puppet owl for Christmas that year. (We just bought it at a store.) So Max-the-puppet is holding a mini version of that puppet owl. Are you following me? A puppet holding a puppet!! I'm panting with delight.
What I really, really wanted to do, and you'll believe me when I tell you this, is set up the puppets in real life situations and photograph them, playing with the depth of field so it looked real. If only I had a 2nd pair of willing hands and some extra time! They could have been having a small squabble in the kitchen while preparing dinner, sending a smirky Max to time out while Jimmy chewed a shoe...So many wasted possibilities.
I want a puppet set of my own family, but fear I will never complete it. Poor Trevor and Davy have lived their younger childhood years going without! Also, I want to make a puppet Nativity set that the kids can use every Christmas to act out the Christmas story. So far all I have done is cut out some puppet robes and a few beards.
7 comments:
You really nailed the dog and Jason!
And as if depth of field would make it look real.
I'd like a follow-up from Julie's family - how often are they using them? Does Max have a full appreciation of the effort that went into them or does he just ungratefully chew on them and rip the owl off and lose it?
What pranks are they pulling with them? Do they use them to act out their fights with - thus relieving tension/adding humor/making memories? Are they thrilling the old ladies next to them at church when they pull them out of the bag?
I really do love these puppets. Growing up, I had a fascination with Miss Piggy and would often wonder what I would look like muppeted. Now, I know (and she's cute too)!
The puppets debuted at FHE one night as a dramatic re-inactment of how to say sorry and forgive. In my mind it would be an after school special. In reality it ended up with Max pretending to be be Mommy (with shaking and hair flailing wild) yelling NO NONO! I felt like these puppets will probably be brought up in Max's future years of therapy.
For the puppets' survivial from sticky peanut butter hands, I only bring these out when I can play with Max under a careful eye. The puppets remain intact. Alisha didn't mention it but Max's owl is removable and can also be a football. We still have it all.
So far, Max's favorite is Jimmy the dog. Max has just started to pretend (a new favorite stage for me) and I am really looking forward to using these more often.
Jana, you have given me a great idea with church! Perfect time to whip these out. Will definitely try it at the next sacrament meeting.
This is super crafty, Alyssa would be so proud! They're adorable, you did a great job :-) It would be pretty awesome to see some videos of Kolbe family stories re-enacted ;-)
And I'm sure it's not the same, but for whatever it's worth, I ordered a set of nativity hand puppets from oriental trading a few years ago. We (mostly I) have had a lot of fun with them. Instant primary lesson any week you're asked to sub in December! Easy FHE lesson! Not nearly as cool as having your own personalized family in puppet form, but a lot easier.
Becky, that info is gold. I am looking up nativity hand puppets on Oriental Trader right now. Who knows if I'll ever get to making my own set.
I'm dying laughing at your description and Jana's commentary! I was playing that scene in my mind from What about Bob while reading this- when Dr. Marvin whips out his puppet to confront Anna, his daughter. "Anna? Anna?" (Holds up bald self-puppet)
"Dad! Not HERE!"
"I can see you, but I can't hear you!" (Hands her the puppet who even has her exact same bangs)
I am in love with this idea! I'm going to be thinking how certain people will look in puppet form...
Darling puppets. I would have loved to see photos of re-enactments.
Imagining the pranks that could be pulled with these, thanks to Jana.
So I just went to oriental trading to look for nativity hand puppets. I guess you probably already know that all they have now is nativity finger puppets. Not as satisfying, by a long shot. But they would be easier to haul in a church bag to entertain kids during sacrament meeting.... And maybe they'll get the hand puppets closer to Christmas??
Post a Comment