Phew! Can't believe I made it through Christmas...The boys birthdays are around Christmas and it makes Christmas time extra crazy. So in the spirit of Christmas and to make it a little extra crazy I decided to make a puppet theatre as a present for my niece and nephew.
This actually took me a lot longer than I thought it would. However,I got a little carried away with it as I really wanted it to be magical and be able to capture my niece and nephews imaginations.
I pretty much used one cardboard box to make the whole thing. It was important to keep the shade of cardboard the same (you can actually see the parts that I had to source out from other boxes). I made it so it can be stored/folded as a triangular prism however, it can also be stored flat under a bed.
The whole inspiration for the puppet theatre was because I fell in love with these crocheted little amigurumi finger puppets that you can see. I bought them on Etsy but I hope that one day I can crochet things just like this. Actually, my New Years resolution is to join a knitting and crocheting group and I'd like to try and learn how to make amigurumi toys.
I love this lady's work and I am quickly becoming obsessed with amigurumi because of her. Here's where I bought them from on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/crochAndi?ref=seller_info_count
Materials used:
Large cardboard box
Glue gun
Red material
Red cotton
Material Fringe/Trim
Needle
Craft blade
Scissors
How I Made It:
Columns
On two long strips of cardboard I slit down every cardboard ripple column so as the cardboard could curve, used the glue gun to stick it down making sure to create a curved affect. Peeled back the top layer of cardboard of part of it to give the rippled effect on the columns. To create the square parts I just used strips of cardboard folded them to create the squared affect. I glued the plyons to either sides of the cardboard box so when you open it and close it, it flexes with the angles.
Stage
When cutting out the shape of the stage I didn't sever the bottom joint, I actually folded it in on its self and filling it with strips of cardboard to make it solid then glued it down. (It's really hard to describe so I hope the pics help. P.S. I also used alot of glue gun around the edges to hold it in place).
Ornates
Found some ornates via a Google search , printed them out, stuck them onto the cardboard, cut them out with the scissors. Turned them over and peeled back some the of the cardboard to create a shaded effect. Glued them on.
Curtains
Stitched some material fringe/trim onto the bottom of some red material and then lay it out on the floor, moving it around, folding it twisting it into something that looked like stage curtains. I then pinned it down and stitched them together so they would hold shape. I then used a rod to hang the curtains and literally made some cardboard fashioned hooks. (there is also a red rope tassel behind it but you can't really see it in the photo's.)
Balconies
Cut out the shape of the bottom of the balcony, and wrapped the cardboard around (making sure the cardboard columns were going vertical) the edge of the balcony slitting down the columns of cardboard where the balcony needed to curve. I used the same material fringe/trim for the balconies as for the curtains. I sewed some red thread through the top trim so as to tie in with the red curtains on stage and then used PVA glue to stick it on.
