The Chipmunk Theater

Hello! My grandson, Jacob, is here visiting and we enjoyed doing a craft project today. We're going to show you pictures and show you that you can have fun, too! First, we want you to see what Jacob made last spring when we were crafting............

...........lots of fun finger puppets!!!! Jacob would draw the designs and cut most of the shapes. I helped with some shapes that were small but he did most of the work. Aren't they neat?!! When we finished making them, we thought how fun it would be to have a puppet theater but we ran out of time. Then the next time he visited, the weather was nicer and we weren't doing as many crafts. But it's winter again and so.............

..........we took one large pizza box...........

then between the two of us we took some embossed felt scraps and glued them over the front of the pizza box (double click on the picture and you can see that we had to piece the fabric). To make the theater stand up "easel style", I cut and glued a felt strip from the lid to the bottom of the box. I did it before I hung the curtains but it would be better to do this step last!!!

Next Jacob chose blue for the curtains and because I've been doing so much crazy quilting, I had just the fabric for theater curtains. I cut two rectangles and folded over the edge of each side and machine stitched the edges. I did long running stitches at the top and gathered the pieces for curtains. I didn't bother to hem them as I knew it wouldn't show. While I glued the curtains to the inside of the box lid, Jacob was cutting out letters that he wants to use at the top of the Puppet Theater.

Here is cutting out an "E" from lady bug felt because his mom loves ladybugs. His first letter choice, though, is a "W" for Webkinz and there was a "W" already cut in the felt scraps I gave him to use. :-) And so................



............ here is the completed "Chipmunk Theater", complete with a new finger puppet that Jacob made .......... and it's a Chipmunk!! That's He designed the little guy and cut and glued him. My part was to sew the two pieces together. We work well as a team. :-)

Here is the back of the chipmunk as he peeks into the theater.....................





And here he is getting ready to run!!!

As you can see, we had a lot of fun making "The Chipmunk Theater". You can make one, too. Just get a pizza box (or any other box), felt and fabric scraps, glue, and scissors. And if you are making finger puppets, don't forget the wiggle eyes!!

We also had a good time last night when we went out to eat. I gave Jacob a choice of going to the grocery store for TV dinners or going to the Hogwild Eatery on Mainstreet. He thought about it and then chose the restaurant. When we got there, he chose a booth first and then decided we should take the window table which was nice because we could watch the traffic and other guests coming into the Hogwild. Then he ordered up the grilled cheese from the "Piglet" (kids) menu and I ordered the "All you can eat fish special". When the waitress brought our food, we couldn't believe how much there was on our plates. And so I took a picture..................

Of course, we had to get a box to take home left-overs which we ate a lunch. Then we made a quick stop at the library for books and videos. Watched a movie and then got out a puzzle and did that. We started another puzzle tonight but it may not get done before I have to take him home tomorrow. So, that's what we've up to. Time now to get some sleep.

Jacob and Grandma Skeeter