I made a live-hand puppet for the first time!

Hi there! I’m pretty excited this week because not only did I make a live-hand puppet for the first time a couple of weeks ago, but I also filmed the process and put together a video all about it!

Walnut has been on my & Gus’s minds for well over a year now, maybe even two? We would sit around and brainstorm all the different things we could do with him and Gus has had his voice down since the beginning. I’ve loved this little guy since before he was even born! And now that he’s here, I love him even more! I actually put off making him for a very long time because truthfully - I was intimated and afraid. Sewing isn’t my favorite thing in the world (I pretty much loathe it) and I knew there’d be a lot of sewing involved, so it always seemed like a chore. I finally decided to just bite the bullet and do it because I knew the outcome would be worth it and I really felt like we could benefit from having Walnut in our lives.

Walnut is a maker! He likes building and crafting and even aspires to have his own How-To-DIY show, so it was important for him to have some functional fingers! That’s what sets apart a Live-Hand Puppet from a Hand-Rod Puppet. Live-Hand Puppets basically have two fuzzy gloves" for the puppeteers to wear and use to bring a puppet to life. This style of puppet typically requires two puppeteers to operate - the lead puppeteer will do the voice, lip-syncing, and operate one hand, and the second puppeteer will operate the other hand.

As mentioned in the video, Walnut is still in the middle of some surgery as we’ve yet to find the right color fabric for his nose & horns! The shelter-in-place restrictions have made that a little bit challenging, but we couldn’t wait any longer to finally introduce this guy to you all!

Stay tuned for more videos featuring our new crafty friend!

Materials used:

• Faux Fur

• X-Acto

• Knife Scissors

• Hot Glue

• Velcro Dots

• Felt

• Sewing Machine (Brother XL 2600i)

• Needle & Thread

• Foam

• Plastic eyes from www.glasseyesonline.com
  

I used the Big Mack pattern from Adam Kruetinger! Big shout out to him because he's an incredible puppet maker and I've learned a lot from his videos. Check out his website and his channel for more info on puppet making! https://www.adamkreutinger.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJJ8...