Do you celebrate Chinese New Year? Whether it’s your favorite holiday or you just look forward to an opportunity to eat delicious food, this horse puppet from Red Ted Art is fun for everyone! That’s right, this year is the year of the horse. Get into a horsey spirit bay making this easy no-sew puppet with or for your kids. [how to make a no-sew horse sock puppet]

Project estimate:

• Black sock, on hand or 2 for $1
• Yarn, on hand or $1 and up
• Googly eyes, on hand or $1 and up
• Felt scraps, on hand or $1 and up
• Hot glue gun and glue, on hand or $1 and up
• Plate, on hand

Total: Free and up!

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Growing up with a mother who was a preschool teacher, I became accustomed to reading time involving props like felt board shapes or  puppets.   I was reminded of this when I saw these turkey finger puppet gloves by Lorie from Reading  Confetti.  She made them to go with the book “10 Fat Turkeys” by Tony Johnston, but they would also be fun just for play!  I mean, what kid doesn’t love finger puppets?  [how to make turkey finger puppet gloves]

Project estimate:

• Gloves, $1
• Pipe cleaners, on hand or $1
• Craft foam or felt,  on hand or $1
• Googly eyes, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

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I hate washing the car, but I love car wash mitts.  There’s just something super fun about their nubby, fuzzy, crazily-spiked surface that makes me giddy.  (Okay, so maybe I’m a bit of a freak.)  So what can you do with them besides give your vehicle a bath?  Over at Two Girls Being Crafty, Tristin used one to make a super-simple Jack-o-lantern puppet for Halloween!  Grab a few mitts and let the kids design their own silly faces!  [how to make a Jack-o-lantern puppet]

Project estimate:

• Car wash mitt, $1
• Sharpie, on hand

Total:  $1

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DSC Readers help! I have a million little baby washcloths from my kids, who have outgrown them. I hate to throw them out. What can I do with them?? I thought of beanbags but that’s boring. I want something cute! Ideas?? Thanks!!

My quick baby washcloth craft ideas:

Washcloth Duckies at Martha Stewart: these are made from baby washcloths and stuffed with sponges to make them bath-friendly toys.

Washcloth Bibs at Gracious Rain: These are made from baby washcloths and recycled t-shirts.

Washcloth puppets at Martha: another great idea from Martha’s clever crafts team.

So readers, what can you come up with? What can you make with baby washcloths?

The post Question: What to do with Baby Washcloths? appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Plastic Easter eggs are fun, but what do you do with them once they’ve all been hunted down and the treats inside have been consumed?  Over at Dollar Store Mom, Heather shared a fun idea that will keep the kids entertained until long  after the Easter Bunny has come and gone.  She used an egg as the base to create a fun little marionette puppet!  If you haven’t checked out Dollar Store Mom yet, this is a perfect excuse to head over there!   [how to make a plastic Easter egg marionette]

Project estimate:

• Plastic Easter eggs, on hand or $1
• Popsicle sticks, on hand or $1
• Pom poms, on hand or $1
• Googly eyes, on hand or $1
• Fishing line, on hand or $2 and up
• Hot glue, on hand

Total:  Free and up

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Does anyone else have a bag or two of dollar store pipecleaners on hand just in case? I love pipecleaners. They’re so versatile, cheap, and they come in tons of colors. They’re great for open-ended kid activities because they allow kids to be creative.

This free-standing dino wasn’t very stable

My three year-old son is just starting to discover dinosaurs (his favorite: the T-Rex. How do boys learn this stuff? Is it just part of their DNA?), so we decided to make dinosaur toys out of pipecleaners, inspired by a Family Fun magazine activity. The Family Fun version is a brontosaurus (brachiosaurus?)-type dino with legs, and a long neck and tail. When we tried to make a dinosaur using their instructions, it wasn’t very stable, so I thought I would reinterpret the activity into my favorite type of toy: a finger puppet! [check my blog over at Make & Takes today for the companion red T-Rex instructions]

This is a great make-anytime activity that you can do with minimal preparation. Pull this one out next time your kid says she’s bored, or on a rainy day.

Project Estimate:

• Pipecleaners, $1 or on hand
• Googly eyes, on hand
• Pen, on hand
• Glue, optional

Total cost: Free and up

Time Needed: 15 minutes

Ages: 3 and up. Your 3 year-old will need help, but will probably really enjoy the end result! She’ll like to coil pipecleaners around a pen, so be sure to let her do it along with you as you make one. Also, pipecleaners are easy to bend, so these toys won’t last for long with younger kids, but it’s still a fun activity.

To Make:

• Connect three pipecleaners end-to-end, and wrap around your finger to create the body.

• Connect two pipecleaners end-to-end, and wrap half around a pen or pencil, overlapping the pipecleaner onto itself to create the head, and then coil the rest around to form the neck.

• Attach neck to body, by bending pipecleaner, or using glue if desired.

• Coil one pipecleaner around pen or pencil to form tail, leaving about an inch straight for attaching to body.

• For arms, bend one pipecleaner into a V-shape, and coil each half around pen. Attach to body.
• If desired, create legs in a similar way and attach to body (we didn’t make legs).
• Attach googly eyes with glue. I used “quick dry” craft glue, and honestly, it didn’t work that well with the pipecleaner fuzz. You might be better off with hot glue (although, this is a job for you, not your kids. I know you already know that.)

The post Make Pipecleaner Dinosaur Finger Puppets appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Today I will show you a very simple and inexpensive way to make some puppets to help encourage your little ones’ imaginations, using — of course! — items found at the dollar store.  [Go to tutorial]

Project Estimate:

• Stuffed Animal, $1
• “One Size” type glove, $1/pair
• One sheet black felt or fleece scraps, 35 cents or on hand
• Needle and thread

Total Cost: $2 and up

Caroline Sanchez (Care) has been sewing since her mom taught her the basics at around six years old.  She has always been driven to CREATE, even from a very young age.  She is mommy to two little boys and one baby girl, and almost every spare moment she has is spent in her sewing room or working on her blog, Obsessively Stitching.

The post Turn a Stuffed Animal into a Puppet! appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This is my last Star Wars post… for now! If you are hungry for more Star Wars crafts, be sure to visit the Star Wars Crafts community. I made some simple Star Wars finger puppets from craft felt (one of the best crafty bargains around – at about a quarter a sheet!).

You can make finger puppets in any shape or theme you want to. You can construct them from simple shapes, you can add googly eyes (or not), or button eyes. You can basically embellish them any way you want to. Great summer craft for kids!

Tips: If you have specific characters in mind (like these Star Wars guys), I recommend doing a quick sketch in your sketchbook so you know what pieces to cut out. I glued additional pieces to the backs of the heads to reinforce the puppets, since regular craft felt is not very stiff.

Project Estimate:

• 3 or more sheets of felt, about $1
• Craft glue (I used Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue), on hand
• (optional) Googly eyes, on hand or a huge pack for $1

Total: $1 and up

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