When it comes to the holidays we love to have as many of our decorations handmade as we possibly can. so naturally with Halloween right around the corner we’ve been trying to come up with as many fun creepy crawly themed crafts as possible. I’d seen some really cute Popsicle stick spiderwebs online where the Popsicle sticks are glued into a star shape but when we actually came to make them my 4yo son found it too tricky to twist the yarn around the sticks. He was pretty disappointed as he really wanted to make a spiderweb after seeing them online so we decided to come up with our own easier version. After a good amount of time (and a little frustration) playing around with the Popsicle sticks we eventually came up with this cute diamond shaped Popsicle stick spider web craft. My little guy found them really easy to make and had tons of fun with them too!
Here’s what we used
Popsicle sticks
Yarn
Black Pom pom
Black paper
Googly eyes
Glue
Scissors
Here’s how we made our popsicle stick spider web craft
Take four popsickle sticks and glue them together into a diamond shape, ensure that the two points at the widest part overlap slightly as you can see above. Then take one end of your yarn and tie it on to one of the sticks.
Wrap the yarn all around the outside of the stick frame. Little ones may need some help to ensure that the yarn is pulled tout.
When your happy with your web, take your yarn and wrap it around the longest part of your diamond 2-3 times. It should sit nicely between the lollipop sticks that you overlapped. Once finished chop your yarn and then tie the loose end to your stick frame. Next it’s time to make your little spider! To make ours we cut out four long paper strips and glued them together in the centre to make 8 legs. We then added some googly eyes to a pom pom before sticking it down onto the legs.
Glue your spider on to the front of your string web. Tie a loop through under the string between the overlapped Popsicle sticks and your decoration is ready to hang!
*please note this post may contain amazon affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase via any of the links provided i may make a commission. This comes at no extra cost to you and helps me keep this site up and running
I’m back again with another wooden spoon puppet craft that we made to go with our cardboard puppet theatre! Today’s puppet is this awesome wooden spoon pirate captain puppet that my son dreamed up and I helped him make. We have had so much fun on this project and I think this might be one of my favourite puppets that we have made so far. We’ve made up several different stories around him and my little lad is already coming up with loads of ideas for accessories that we can make to go with him too!
Self adhesive felt(we prefer to use self adhesive rather than felt and felt glue as it means that my son can do the sticking rather than just watch me doing it all. We just only peel off the bits we want to stick).
Scissors
Glue gun
How to make our wooden spoon pirate captain puppet
Start off by taking your lollipop stick and gluing it centrally across the neck of your wooden spoon, this will make the pirate’s arm. Then you’ll need to give your pirate a face. We started off by cutting out and sticking down a beard, we then added the hat on top before sticking on two grumpy eyes and a mouth.
To make the t-shirt, place your captain on to the back of your felt and draw your shirt shape around it on to the paper backing before cutting it out. Remember your shirt will need to be wider than your puppet frame in all places.
To save felt you could just stick one shirt piece to the front. However, we’re planning on using our puppets long term so wanted to make them sturdy as possible. We drew around our shirt shape and cut out a second identical piece to make the back. If you decide to cut out a back piece too remember to draw around the shirt with both felt sides facing outwards as they will be on the spoon, otherwise your pieces might not match up!
To attach your pirate shirt, peel off the backing paper and attach one to the front of your spoon and one to the back. Pinch the two sides together to meet and secure in the middle. Repeat the same process to make a little pair of trousers.
Finish off your pirate by adding some decoration. We cut out some yellow felt strips for the sleeves and the bottom of his shirt and we also added some yellow buttons. Finally we gave our pirate a sword by cutting out a white blade with a black hilt and sticking them together on one of our lollipop stick hands
*please note this post may contain amazon affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase via any of the links provided i may make a commission. This comes at no extra cost to you and helps me keep this site up and running*
Here is yet another wooden spoon puppet craft that we made to go with our cardboard puppet theatre project. This is my son’s wicked wooden spoon witch puppet and doesn’t she look great! I’ve really enjoyed making these with him the last few days. They’re a bit tricky for him to make alone so we’ve spent a lot of time doing them together which has been so lovely.
When they announced that schools were going to be shut, i did wonder how he would get on being home so much with just his parents and little sister. I am so blessed to say that he has been absolutely brilliant and every day has been a pleasure. He does of course miss seeing his friends and cousins but these little ones are just so resilient. He’s made the best of every day and we’ve been finding whatever we can to do to make the days a bit easier. There’s no denying he’s probably watched a little bit too much paw patrol, but we have also had loads of fun outdoors and plenty of crafting and educational fun indoors and let’s be honest all that really matters is that they’re happy and that they get through this the best they possibly can until we regain a bit of normality.
Start off by taking your lollipop stick and gluing it centrally across the top of your wooden spoon handle – just below the head, this will make the arms. Then, take your puppet and coat it in green paint before putting it aside to dry.
Now it’s time to give your witch some hair, to make ours we glued some wool scraps around the edge of the wooden spoon head. Then add two eyes, a nose and a mouth to make your witch’s face.
Cut out a witches hat and stick it down in place at the top of your spoon head.
Place your witch puppet on to the back of your felt and draw your dress shape around it. You will need to make sure your dress Is a bit bigger than your spoon all the way around.
To save felt you could just stick one dress piece to the front. However we’re planning on using our puppets long term and wanted to make them sturdy as possible. We drew around our dress shape and cut out a second identical piece to make the back. If you decide to cut out a back piece too remember to draw around the dress with both felt sides facing outwards as they will be on the spoon, otherwise your pieces might not match up!
To attach your witches dress lightly stick one side to the front of your spoon and the other to the back. Pinch the two pieces together to meet and stick in the middle. Finish off you wooden spoon witch puppet by adding a magic wand. My son also added some snips in to the bottom of his witches dress too which i think looks fab!
*please note this post may contain amazon affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase via any of the links provided i may make a commission. This comes at no extra cost to you and helps me keep this site up and running*
Here I am again with another puppet craft that we made to use with our cardboard puppet theatre! I absolutely love this one. My son decided he wanted to make this after reading the night pirates – a story about a little boy and a gang of rough, tough girl pirates. Both my son and I both found this one the most fun to make just because it was a bit different with plaiting the hair and adding some fun stripy decoration. Our cute wooden spoon girl pirate puppet makes the perfect addition to the crew of our pirate captain puppet!
Self adhesive felt(Felt and flet glue also works but we prefer to use self adhesive felt as it means my son can do the sticking rather than just watching me glue it – we just remove the backing paper from the parts we want to stick).
First take your lollipop stick and glue it centrally across the top of your wooden spoon neck to make the arms. Next, give your pirate some hair. To make our hair we glued wool scraps around the curve of the spoon head, then plaited each side before fastening with a coloured wool scrap.
Next give your puppet two eyes and a mouth. Cut out a bandanna and add some stripes to it before sticking it down on the top of your puppet’s head. Once you have done that, place your puppet on the back of your felt and draw her shirt shape around her before cutting it out. Remember, your shirt will need to be wider in all places than your puppet.
To save felt you could just stick one shirt piece to the front of your puppet. However we’re planning on using our puppets long term so wanted to make them sturdy as possible. We drew around our shirt shape and cut out a second identical piece to make the back. If you decide to cut out a back piece too remember to draw around the dress with both felt sides facing outwards as they will be on the spoon, otherwise your pieces might not match up!
Once you’ve finished cutting out your pirate shirt, add some stripes to your front one so it matches your pirate bandanna. To attach your shirt to your puppet lightly stick one to the front of your wooden spoon handle and one to the back of it. Then, pinch the two together so that they meet and secure in the middle.
Repeat the same process to give your tough girl pirate some black pirate trousers. Then, cut out a white sword blade and a black hilt and stick them down in place together on one of your lollipop stick hands. You’ll notice my little lad also made some snips to the pirate’s trousers too – apparently it makes them more pirate-y!
*please note this post may contain amazon affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase via any of the links provided i may make a commission. This comes at no extra cost to you and helps me keep this site up and running*
For the last few days we’ve been working on a new crafty project. With all the time we have had on our hands it has been so lovely having a big project for us to work on. If you haven’t guessed already, what we have been making is our very own DIY puppet theatre and some wooden spoon puppets to go with it. We’ve had so much fun both making our puppets and playing with them and today I’m really excited to be sharing the first of out new creations with you – our wooden spoon princess puppet!
Isn’t she just adorable? Shes been the centre of many of my sons stories, sometimes she is a princess who needs saving and other times she is the one who saves everyone. One thing I have definitely noticed since playing with the puppets is how much it’s helped strengthen my little guys ability to create a story, it’s also helped with his confidence too.
Self adhesive felt (you could of course use regular felt and felt glue but we like to use self adhesive and just peel off the bits we want to stick, this way my son can stick them himself rather than just watching me glue!)
Lollipop stick
Scissors
Glue gun
How to make our wooden spoon princess puppet
To start off glue your lollipop stick centrally across the top of your spoon to make two arms. Next, give your princess some hair, to do this we glued some wool scraps around the curve of the spoon. Add two eyes and a mouth to make her face.
To make the dress, place your puppet onto the back of your felt and draw your dress shape around it on the backing paper. You’ll need to make sure your dress is wider than your puppet in all places.
To save felt you could just stick one dress piece to the front. However we’re planning on using our puppets long term and wanted to make them sturdy as possible. We drew around our dress shape and cut out a second identical piece to make the back. If you decide to cut out a back piece too remember to draw around the dress with both felt sides facing outwards as they will be on the spoon, otherwise your pieces might not match up!
To make our princesses’ cape we cut out a white cape shape with an elongated v shaped collar. The collar might look a bit odd now but it’s how you’ll fold your cape around your spoon.
To attach the dress, stick your first dress piece on to the front and your second on the back. Then pinch them together to meet and stick in the middle. To add the cape place the puppet centrally on it (felt side facing forward). Remove the backing from just a square at the end of each side of your collar and fold the collar over the arms before securing them together at the chest. My little guy then added a cute little bow to look like a fastener.
Finish off your awesome wooden spoon princess puppet by giving her a felt crown and adding any optional decorations. isn’t she just adorable!
