Finger Puppet - Origami

Here's another fun way of spending time with your kids. A simple finger puppet, easy to make and amusing to play with. It can also be used as a story-telling prop.

Things we need -
1. Colourful craft paper
2. Glue
3. A pair of scissors
4. Some sketch pens

Take a square piece of paper 4" x 4" or 10cm x 10cm.

Fold it diagonally.

I have marked the lines for the other folds.

Fold the upper corner to make the head.

Now fold the left and right corners upwards along the lines to make the ears.

Turn it around. You can see the outline of a cat's face.

So, let's make some eyes and mouth using the black sketch pen or water colour pen.

Cut the eyes and paste them on the puppet's face like this,

Let's take a plain sheet of paper, 1" in width and 4" in length.

Roll it and secure with glue. Make sure that the roll fits the finger.

Apply some glue on the paper roll and paste it at the back of the puppet.

And there you go! Happy playtime!!

Hope you loved this one!

DIY Planter

Now this one is a fun activity to do with the kids. Making own platers and using it for decor gives a different sense of satisfaction than buying a ready made one.

For this one we need -

1. White cement
2. Some plastic cover
3. A plastic container
4. Paint and brush
5. Fevicryl Shilpkar (optional)
6. Some pebbles for decoration and also to use as weight

To start with, take white cement in a container and mix adequate amount of water to make a smooth free flowing paste. Make sure there are no lumps in the mixture. The quantity of white cement can vary depending on the size of the planter/vase you want to make.

Here, I have used a little less than 1kg of white cement for a 5" X 4.5" (Height X Width) planter. The thickness of the walls is 0.5".

Now pour this mixture in the plastic bag carefully.

 

 

Now take this plastic container and apply some oil/vaseline on the outside.

 Put some pebbles or stones or something heavy inside.

Gently lower it in the white cement mixture.

Let it dry in the sun outside for 24 hrs.

After it is dry, the next step is to remove the plastic cover. Do it gently and use scissors wherever necessary. The plastic should peel of easily.

 Now we can take out the inner container by gently detaching it from the inner wall of the planter. The grease applied before placing it inside helps in this process and makes the task easy.

 I have taken the Fevicryl Shilpkar white M-seal for pottery making. Follow the instructions to make the dough.

 The dough is ready.

 In order to make a rope like design roll the mixture into two elongated shapes like shown in the picture below-

 Entwine them together to form a twisted rope like shape.

 Decorate as you like. You can also make floral patterns.  Check for any cracks and cover them with industrial glue.

Paint the planter with acrylic colours.

 And here is the finished one!

 Use artificial plants or real ones and enjoy your creation and let is stand out!