Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Pumpkin Puppet Tutorial

 For our Mommy & Me Preschool Co-op
the number I was given to teach was #5.  
Seeing as it was October I thought it was fitting to incorporate
5 little pumpkins... 
which reminded my mom of a song that she shared with me.  (Thanks momma!)
I figured finger puppets just HAD to be made because... well... let's be honest,
the only thing cuter than pudgy little fingers are plumpy little pumpkins set on top of them.  :) With this adorable vision in mind, I began my 45 minute sewing venture to making my very own finger puppet pumpkin patch.

Before I began, I got fabric quarters ($1.50/ea) of varying prints of the same color: orange.  You can get these at JoAnn or Hobby Lobby.  You could probably get away with a lot less fabric though, depending on how many you're making.  I just happened to need 30, 6 of each fabric.
To get started, I drew and cut out various pumpkins shapes a little larger than my finger...
I traced them onto fabric... 
(with the pretty printed sides facing each other.)
As I neared the top. I stopped (with needle down to hold fabric placement) and added in the little stem, a piece of cute vine-looking green ribbon.
Sometimes a few seams would come apart since I didn't serge or zigzag... :) I did this in speed mode with less than an hour till my little preschooler's arrival :)  I can be such a procrastinator.  Eeeh.
So I just went with it and closed up the holes with some random straight-stitches. 
As you can see... I ran into this quite a few times.  Ha!
I think it gives them character. :)
I had a squirly stem fall out so I just sewed it right on.  Oh the joys of sewing for a preschooler and not a client.  :)
 I left a hole big enough to slip a finger through on the bottom and then turned them right-side out, tucking in the unsewn bottom.  Simple.  Easy.  Fast.  

 I just can't get enough of these little guys.
 The finished patch.
 I used our vinyl machine to cut the vinyl that I used as a stencil and painted on the 5 little pumpkins as well as the little gate on the opposite side.  I got these little purses for less than a dollar a piece and tied a myriad of autumn-esque ribbon onto one of the straps, (ie. orange ric rac, polka dots, gingham, as well as pumpkin patch & damask prints... in case you can't see the image very well.)  The polka-dots on the 5 are compliments of a sharpie.  Ha.



Haven loves that she can turn her pumpkin purse inside out and make the gate stand up as a prop to sing her little song.

So you can see how the song goes... I found this video of this cute little boy singing the 5 Little Pumpkins song.  I hope this helps!

E is for...

 eyes!
They had carrots and ranch.
 How ADORABLE is Bailey?


 There is never a dull moment with these guys around.  love them!


 Our lone soldier: Jacob.
 We also ate eclairs...
 and eyes made out of eggs.
 Unfortunately... they were pretty much the most repulsive 
deviled-egg eyes of all time.
  My bad.
Bailey's face here sums up my first deviled-egg making experience.  
Haaaaa.  (Luckily, she didn't make this face while eating an egg. :)


Leave it to these lively buddies to make our 
Mommy & Me Preschool Co-op this exciting! :)

11's Heaven...

...when you pair it with sweets!
We made the number 11 into Ski-poles for our Gingerbread Men.
 Play Time
These girls have so much fun together! 
 Creating their own masterpieces. 
 They each counted to 11!
 While Drake skipped the candy 
and went straight for momma's favorite frosting.
 You can't catch me... 
I'm the Gingerbread Man!

L is for...

Lots of Little Learning Ladies
 We had Licorice, Life, Lemon snaps, Lollipops and Lemonade.
 It is so much fun teaching these girls the alphabet through songs, 
pictures, and my personal favorite: food.


 Sarah, Marissa, Haven & Bailey

 They learned how to tell their right hand from their left with the old "L trick" (using the thumb and pointer finger.)  They loved it.
 Showing off their Left-handed L's!
 We read the Polar Express.
 I also used some connections to get bells from Santa's Sleigh.  
Let's just say... I know a guy.