Day #11: A Love Story!

Remember Joe? Joe-Petto?

They meet...

Well, as it is Valentine's Day, I thought he needed someone special. So today we have: A Love Story.

His name's Joe. Her name is Tea-na. Could they possibly find love?

A teapot, a red hand kitchen towel, an apron, two furniture sliders...

Yes -- of course! -- they found love. And they had a fabulous Valentine's Day replete with a romantic pizza dinner...

 ...and pancakes for breakfast! (Awwww....)

So even though she likes tea, and he is strictly a coffee man...these differences can be overcome in the name of love!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Day #10: A "Hole" Lot of Fun

Remember those board books where you stick your fingers inside and they make little feet for a person? Or arms?

At the mini-puppet festival where we performed in McLean, there were several workshops where children could make some simple puppets. My girls had fun and made all kinds of stuff. I joined in the fun, and the elephant below was my creation. I have to confess that my ten-year old's elephant was much, much cooler than mine. She added wings to her elephant! (I should have photographed that one.)

Kids have the best imaginations.
 
Puppets like this are great for younger children. Great for car rides (something I am always, always on the lookout for!), too. Fun for finger play additions. Also an appropriate activity for an older child to do with a younger one.

Day #9: "Marshmallow" Baby Robins

Model Magic Marshmallow

Today was a traveling day! We had sold-out performances at the McLean Community Center for their "Day of Puppetry." There were puppetmaking workshops and TWO puppet shows. We performed "African Trickster Tales" and Drew Allison of Grey Seal Puppets performed "Tangle of Tales."

It's always a treat for us to be able to see other puppeteers perform and catch up. Drew is a great puppeteer and puppet builder -- super nice guy!

Of course, there was still the need to build a puppet...and I had a plan!

It evolved this morning. I heard birds chirping out the window. Thoughts of Spring danced in my head. Before going to bed, I had packed a little bit of Model Magic as a special treat for the girls. Model Magic is very portable and non-messy; it is on our list of "car-safe" activities. As I thought about the birds, I imagined little baby robins with their mouths open wide...and how it would be fun to recreate them as little finger puppets from the model magic.

Our younger daughter

We left the house shortly after 9AM for our afternoon performances. The girls were thrilled with the model magic and began making all sorts of stuff. The material reminds me of slightly stale marshmallows in terms of consistency -- but it's not sticky and doesn't get all over everything like real marshmallow would. (My older daughter decided to make a few marshmallows to demonstrate the similarity.)

I made two baby robins and a plump, juicy worm. My older daughter made a little nest for them.

You CAN do art anywhere!

Photographing this in a moving vehicle was tricky. Well, making this in a moving vehicle was also tricky! But it's also a really strange snapshot into what life is like as puppeteers on the road with children. I like how you can see Sam driving, the scenery whirring by, our younger daughter's feet propped up, and little fingers at work in the background!

The worm did not survive the truck...

Worm!!!

The surprising side note regarding today's puppet is that it has influenced my new show, "Little by Little." I just added on a short bit (that I really, really like) about a robin and a worm thanks to today's puppet.

Day #8: Mini Mouse

Mini-mouse on a spool of thread.

I spent today finalizing some adjustments to the stage for our new show, Little by Little. We  have a 1/6 scale model of the stage right now and need to begin building the full-size version. So I really needed to make sure the design and the proportions were correct.

Some days, you need to work on a particular aspect of a show. I really, really, really wanted to work on my mouse puppet...so for today's puppet, I whipped up a mini-mouse that was proportioned for our mini-stage!

Mouse sitting in my palm.

I have several sheets of felt "swatches" that I've made from various breeds of sheep. The mouse was made from some of the felt. The gray topside is from a Jacob; the white underbelly (zoom in!) comes from a Navajo-Churro. The rod is from some scrap wire, and the only other material used is thread.

Mouse on top of a stump.

I'm feeling inspired...maybe someday I will build a toy theatre show!

OK, I took a lot of photos.

Day #7: Mr. Debonair

Watch out, Zoolander!

Today's puppet was a fun collaboration with some friends. We were having a lovely evening -- Indian food, good tea, and great conversation. It's difficult to describe the exact chain of events that led us to creating the debonair gentleman to the right.

It started with my friend "Kat" being texted by her husband, "Bobby." Bobby had committed to doing a radical dietary change the following day. He was at home with the baby and had no pizza. Not a single slice. He was texting all the possible places that Kat could pick up a slice -- or burrito, or something, anything! -- for him on the way home.

We ended up talking about husbands a bit, and, well, that led to the creation of this puppet. All the materials were gathered from my friend "Linda's" house.

Thanks for the supplies, Liz, er, Linda!

 

 

 

Materials: Broom, white gloves, a plastic pitcher, a cloak, a wig (from her girls' dress-up stuff), and a scarf.

The body was supported by the broom, which I had to balance precariously as my hands were doing double-duty inside the gloves.  Kim -- I mean, Kat -- took the photos from her new fancy i-Phone. (The one that Bill, I mean, Bob, was texting.)

The cutest couple!

Is it a sign that we are growing up? (I did not say: Getting old.) We drank tea, ate great food, talked and talked...and made a puppet.

We were all home before midnight.

Yep. It was a wild and crazy night.

Day #6: A "Phony" Little Pup

Always time for puppets -- even with two performances today, a sick child, and a very overdue girls' night out.

A piece of red felt (with a pencil marking). A scrap of black fabric. A bit of white cardstock. A marker. My phone...Oh, and some duct tape. Ta-dah!

Is it a black lab mix?

(Rey: This is why I could not answer the phone when you called!)

Day #5: Cardstock Theatre

Perfect idea for a rainy day. Take a deck of cards that's a few cards short and make your own toy theatre. I had some playing cards lying around the studio. Literally -- I think my children left them out. Voila -- instant King and Queen! Cut out the characters you want; tape on some extra bits (a skirt, a cape, a bigger crown); attach a rod -- chopsticks are great for this. Then find some cardboard to make your own castle tower (I always wanted to live in a tower).

You can add bits and pieces to your characters using scrap materials.

Our valiant King will allow no harm to befall his Queen!

Or is it his Queen? (He might be on the lookout for the King of Clubs...)