A Friend Of Mine Once Told Me Jokingly
by Carol Pobanz
A friend of mine once told me jokingly, “If you’re Italian you don’t read the directions, you just look at the pictures.” Well, my ancestry is Italian. I really don’t know if that statement is true in general; however, it is true for me. My mom, who only went to the 4th grade never read the directions either, but she could make anything from nothing, and my dad, who made it to the 8th grade, always improved on the directions – he taught me to lay out a dress pattern the best way using half the amount of material the pattern called for. My parents were just practical people with common sense, which I believe I inherited and which I hope to impart to my grandchildren.
A couple of weeks ago my grandson, Charlie and I were looking online for puppets. I’ve always loved puppets, and puppet making. We saw a green bird marionette.
“I can do that,” I told him. Then, together, Charlie and I made a marionette. Marjorie Buessing suggested I share the directions with other grandparents but, like I said, “I don’t follow directions.” So, let me just share what we did – pictures included.
We bought these items:
· an 8” half sphere of Styrofoam
· 4” Styrofoam sphere
· a skein of cheap ½ - ¾” thick yarn
· a bottle of Tacky glue (fast drying glue)
· a ball of thin string
· 2 slats of wood
· Floral wire
Step 1. For the body – make a hole at the top of the large half-sphere. Fill the hole with glue and push the yard into the hole to secure it. Then begin to coil the yarn around itself. Best for gramma to control the glue while the child begins wrapping the coils. When the topside is dry, continue to coil on the bottom or flat side until the half-sphere is completely covered with yarn.
Step 2. For the head - Cut the 4” sphere in half and then cut one of the halves again, making 2 quarters that will be used for the feet. The pieces should also be covered with yarn, the same as for the body.
Step 3. For the neck and legs – braid three 12” strands of yarn for the neck, and two 10” braids for the legs.
Step 4. Now for the tricky part – connecting it all. I tried a couple of different things, i.e., glue with staples and eye screws, but nothing held well to the Styrofoam. Finally, I used thin floral wire – running a folded wire through the material I was trying to connect then through the Styrofoam securing it with a twist on the other side. (Glue face features to the head. I made the beak with construction paper, and I used stick-on eyes.)
Step 5. Connect the strings – Push a loop of floral wire through the Styrofoam, this time in 4 locations, twisting it in the back to secure it. Leave a bit of wire on the top to connect the strings. Then connect the other end of the string to the ends of the stick. Connect the 2 leg strings to each end of one stick and connect the head and back strings to each end of the other stick.
Now turn on the music and make it dance!
