Hand-Painting Puppets: Techniques and Styles

Painting puppets by hand is exciting, relaxing, and a wonderful experience all at the same time. Children love it, but this delicate does require a measure of skill, patience, and practice. It’s not as easy as picking up a paintbrush and painting whatever first comes into your head. If you want to master the techniques and styles used to created hand-painted puppets, you’ll have to be prepared to take your time.

The hardest part about hand-painting puppets is not starting right away. You have to form an image in your mind, visualize the end goal as clearly as you can. You might want to sketch your ideas first just so you know what you’re hoping for. This will give you a final goal to work towards. This is particularly helpful for children.

Once you know what you want, prepare the tools you’ll need for your work. Pick your paint carefully. Acrylic is usually your best choice. It dries quickly and resembles oil paint, but it doesn’t stink quite as much. It’s also less toxic, though you should still work in a well-ventilated area. Acrylic also works on most mediums, including wood and paper machete.

Your paint will often determine the type of paintbrush you select. Check each paintbrush you’d like to purchase carefully, ensuring it is meant for the paint you’re using. Make sure you purchase many different sizes and styles, especially the smaller brushes. You don’t want to be mostly done and then realize you can’t paint the eyes because you didn’t buy a small enough brush.

You’ll also need somewhere to mix your paint. You could use a professional palette, large piece of plastic, or even cardboard. What you use doesn’t really matter, as long as you can mix the colors you desire. Also consider having an assortment of other items on hand such as sponges, rags, and anything you’d like to use for texturing. These items can usually be found around the house.

Once you have all your materials, you can begin to explore the techniques and styles for hand-painting puppets. How you do this will be based primarily upon what material you’re painting. Most puppets are built using wood or paper machete. Whichever material your puppet is made of, take the time to create the image of your choosing. Use the techniques and styles that appeal to you and will give you the results you desire.

One of the best ways to paint a puppet is to use layers. Start by using your sponge to create your base layer. Use the color of your choosing (or mix a unique color) and dab it onto the surface of the puppet. You can add additional colors to create something truly unique. From there, you can use your paintbrushes or other items to create the face and other details necessary to finish your puppet. Pay attention to the small details and don’t be afraid to be creative. A paintbrush may be your primary tool, but don’t limit yourself to that. Try toothpicks to paint freckles, a sponge to create texture, and a rag to smooth out rough areas.

The exact nature of your puppet will determine the specific styles and techniques you will employ. Out of necessity, painting a marionette will be far different than painting a hand puppet. Feel free to explore both established techniques and create some of your own. With time and practice, you will master the art of creating hand-painted puppets.

How to Attach Gloves to a Child's Jacket

Children are notorious for loosing things. Their minds are moving so quickly from one thing to another that they simply cannot keep track of all their own possessions. This seems especially true of mitts and gloves. As a parent, you will have to find some way of helping your child to not loose his or her mitts, or you’ll be replacing them throughout the winter.

Luckily, there are several ways in which you can simply attach your child’s gloves or mitts to their jacket without much fuss. Usually, the age of your child will determine which method you use. For babies and toddlers, a permanent solution might be the best idea. You can actually sew a pair of mitts onto the child’s jacket. This method allows you to not only ensure your little one doesn’t lose their mitts, but that they cannot even take them off. This is particularly useful for children who often remove their mitts even in the coldest weather.

You can sew the gloves onto the sleeves of the coat by hand or by machine. Most sewing machines can handle heavier fabrics, including those used to make jackets and mitts. Alternatively, you can take the gloves and jacket to a seamstress or tailor and have them attached for you. Most shops will be more than happy to do so.

As your child grows older, you’ll want them to be able to remove their mitts, but still keep them attached to the jacket. An easy option is to sew the mitts onto strings which can be threaded through the sleeves and across the shoulders. This simple method allows the mitts to be removed completely from the jacket when necessary, and if you don’t like to sew, mitts can be purchased that already have a string attached.

However, keep in mind that a busy child may pull the string out of the back of their jacket and possibly wrap it around their own neck, presenting a strangulation hazard. When using this method, supervise your child constantly to ensure this does not happen.

For children of all ages, consider glove or mitt clips. These are inexpensive and sold at most retailers, usually alongside children’s gloves and mitts. Directions for attaching these items are usually included, but they are rather self-explanatory, even without instruction. They function very much like safely pins, opening and clipping onto the jacket at one end, the glove at the other. However, they are much safer than safety pins, and so are a better option. As they come in many different styles, you can allow older children to choose which style appeals to them.

When choosing a method for attaching mitts to a jacket, keep in mind both the age and needs of your child. While mitt clips may be the best option for many families, they are not appropriate for everyone. Use your own judgment when deciding which method to use for your own family.

Crafty Recycling: Turning an Infant Costume into a Halloween Loot Bag

If you're like me, you hate to waste anything. I never want to throw out anything that might be useful, but I can't always think of an immediate use. One of the items I can never seem to get rid of in any way are those old infant costumes. Specifically those one-piece infant costumes that aren't wrecked but aren't in good enough condition to give away. usually an arm or a leg is frayed to the point where the local thrift shops don't want them. My children are both too old for the costumes, I'm not have any more kids, and I don't know anyone pregnant or planning to get pregnant.

But I did eventually find a way to use them. Turn them into bags. The first one, a little turtle costume, I used for a Halloween loot bag for my oldest son, but others soon turned into all kinds of bags. One is a Lego bag, another holds coloring books and crayons, and I use one to carry my laptop. With only basic sewing skills, you can turn an old costume into a cute little bag. You will need the following supplies

• one-piece infant costume
• scissors
• ribbon at least 1 inch thick
• needle
• thread
• sewing machine (optional)

Start by cutting off the legs and arms of the costume (if applicable). You want to be left with just the torso. But don't cut down the sides or across the crotch. You want to leave as much of the costume intact as possible to cut down on your own sewing. You should cut the shoulders of the costume to enlarge the opening of the bag.

Sew up the leg holes of the costume. You can do this by hand or by using a sewing machine. Hem the opening at the top of the bag, again either by hand or with a machine. I prefer a machine because it's faster, but you might like sewing by hand. If the costume has a zipper or other fastener, stitch it closed so it doesn't open while you're using the bag. I like to actually remove zippers and sew it up like a seam, but you can simply secure the top of the zipper with a little thread.

Cut two 18 inch lengths of ribbon. You can cut longer ribbon if you want longer handles for the bag, but I prefer to keep them short.

Stitch the ribbon to the costume where the shoulders used to be. Attach one ribbon to the right front and back, the other to the left front and back. Make sure both ribbons are equal or you'll have a lopsided bag.

That's it. You now have a bag that can be used for anything. You can decorate it with self-adhesive sequins (found at your local dollar store), but only do this if the bag will be used by kids three years of age and older. Younger children might peel the sequins off and eat them. It happens.

Halloween Costumes for Infants in Car Seats

As Halloween rushes toward us, parents are starting to look for costumes for their children. There are many costumes available, some costing only a few dollars, others costing much more. You could spend hundreds of dollars on a single costume. But when it comes to costumes for infants and toddlers who are still getting strapped into car seats, the problem is less a matter of cost and more a matter of safety. So many costumes for infants have a tail or something else that will interfere with the safety of being strapped into a car seat. If you don't want to take the costume off every time you get in the car, your options are rather limited.

My children were tiny once, so when I got an e-mail addressing this particular problem, I thought I'd offer a solution that I myself employed. Pet costumes. No, I'm not kidding. Look at the costumes for pets. Many of them have Velcro closures around the neck or around the middle, allowing the costume to be removed at a moment's notice. I thought this might work for my own children. Tails or cloaks or even skirts were easy enough to remove when necessary. It worked for me, and the selection for pet costumes these days is enough to satisfy even the pickiest parent. You can find clowns, rabbits, princesses, pirates, and many other costumes that can be adapted to fit your child.

The flip side: I often find that toddler costumes are easily adapted for your pets, so mix and match to get the costume you want.