(horn music)
(funky music)
- Hello everybody, my name is Tommy,
and today we'll be learning how to make
a hand puppet base.
With moving arms and a jaw.
So without further ado, let's get started.
Measure an 18 by five and a half and cut it out.
My father always says measure twice, cut once.
It's okay to overlap the cardboard,
to make your hand fit.
Now tape the cardboard together.
Now try it on.
Your pinky and thumb should easily go outside of the tube
and the other three fingers are in the middle of the tube.
Now glue a three and a half by nine inch cardboard
on the inside of the tube.
(light music)
Remember, glue guns are very hot.
You will burn and blister yourself if you are not careful.
Now I'm going to try it on again, just to be sure.
Now crumble a newspaper ball.
(light music)
Now attach the newspaper ball on top
of the three and a half by nine.
This will be the head of the puppet.
Now glue some cardboard underneath the newspaper ball.
When you're using hot glue, it is a very good idea
to be wearing gloves.
(light music)
Make another cardboard cutout exactly the same
as the one we attached to the head.
Now crumple some newspaper on top of the cutout.
Now you want to make sure you have lots of room
to move the jaw.
To make the jaw moveable, you'll need a key ring.
Now cut a slit in the middle of the jaw.
And cut away from yourself please.
Now insert the key ring.
Hot glue the ring into place.
Do not throw out your toilet paper spools,
we will be needing them.
Now it is time for the paper mache.
Glue on the surface area, then crumble newspaper
on top of the cardboard to form a belly.
This will also cover up the overlap.
(light music)
And now it is time to add the toilet paper.
You can use tissue or toilet paper for this job.
You will need to mix one part water
and one part white glue together,
and brush it on to the surface area.
Apply the toilet paper and brush on another layer of glue.
Do this until the area is covered.
(light music)
Now crumple and flatten a newspaper ball.
Make another one.
When you're finished and happy with them
cover them up.
Now take two toilet paper spools
and cover them with a couple layers of toilet paper.
(light music)
Alright we should have all the pieces,
so two arms, two hands, a jaw
and a body with the head attached.
Now to make the moving jaw,
you'll need some stretchy fabric.
And you'll need some foam tubing,
which you can get very cheap for under a dollar
at any plumbing department.
We will be using this to attach the arms
and allowing us to move it due to it's flexibility.
But if you cannot find foam tubing,
you can roll up newspaper instead.
It will not work as good as the foam does
and it doesn't last very long.
I will demonstrate how to do this.
(light music)
Now I want you to glue the hands on top
of the toilet paper spool.
The glue is very hot so wear gloves
to protect yourself from burns.
(light music)
And now you can see how the jaw is going to work.
Your finger is going to push down on the ring
which opens up the jaw.
Cut two strips of stretchy fabric.
Put some hot glue to one side of the jaw
and attach the stretchy fabric.
Now put some hot glue on top of the stretchy fabric.
And then put a small piece of cardboard on top.
Repeat the same process on the other side of the jaw.
(light music)
To attach the arms, you will need to cut some holes
on the body.
Draw where you want to cut the holes
on each side of the body.
Then cut them out.
Remember always to cut away from yourself,
that incudes your fingers.
(light music)
Now try on the puppet.
The thumb and pinky should be fully exposed
from the holes you just cut.
If you are going to be attaching with newspaper,
roll two newspaper strips and place it
inside the arm.
The newspaper should have a perfect fit inside.
Then tape the newspaper together.
(light music)
Now glue the newspaper to the inside of the arm.
Now place the newspaper inside the hole
that you just cut out.
Glue or tape it into place.
Repeat the same process for the other arm.
(light music)
And you should have something that looks like that.
Now I'm going to be using foam,
because it works a lot better than newspaper
and lasts a lot longer.
All you have to do is insert the tube into the arm.
Trim off the excess.
Insert the tube into the hole you cut out.
Now try it, notice it works a lot better,
and also, make sure it is comfortable.
Comfort is key.
If it is not comfortable, remove the puppet
and make any adjustments before moving on to the next step.
(light music)
The best way to glue foam to cardboard
is to hot glue the surface area first,
for the glue to slightly cool.
While the glue is still very warm,
it will not melt the foam while you attach it.
(light music)
To attach the jaw, glue a piece of cardboard
to the end of the stretchy fabric.
Then put glue on the other side of the fabric
and attach another strip of cardboard.
Kind of like a sandwich.
Repeat the same process for the other side.
Now glue the cardboard tab and attach it to the head.
Do the same thing to the other strap.
(light music)
Now you'll want to make a support for the back.
I glued two dowels on.
Now I'm going to glue a strip of cardboard
on top of the two dowels.
Now completely cover the back,
with three or four layers of toilet paper.
Let the entire puppet dry before using.
To use the puppet, pull down on the ring
to make the jaw move.
Put your thumb and pinky inside the tubes
to make them move.
Just like that, you now have a functional hand puppet.
Now if you don't want your fingers to be visible
in the puppet, glue a cardboard half moon
on top of the belly and cover it up in paper mache.
Well, that looks pretty good.
So with this you can make any character you want.
Anything you like.
So there you now have a hand puppet base,
and have fun crafting.
Let your imagination go wild.
I'll see you all next time.
Thanks for watching.
(upbeat music)