Fabric gloves can be found at many gardening stores. It is better to pick up a larger size to give you more room to decorate the puppets. The felt will be used to help decorate the puppet. Buy fairly large squares of felt to ensure you have plenty in case of a mistake. The decorations can be anything from googly eyes to sparkles. You might also want to pick up pipe cleaners to help make the puppet come alive.
Try to cut the fingers off so that the puppet will fit your finger. If you have a smaller hand, cut farther up on the glove finger.
This will help the puppet last longer through continued use
You can glue on googly eyes or cut out small circles from the felt. It may be best to use an exacto-blade for this task. Glue on a nose made from felt, sequins, tiny buttons etc. Create a mouth. Glitter sticks are great for this, or cut a felt smile and glue on. Add the hair. Use yarn, wool, string for hair. If you are making a puppet that resembles a person, add the hair to the top of the puppet, around where the seam is. If you are making an animal puppet, glue short pieces of string around the entire body. Add anything else you would like to the puppet. If you are making a man, use pipe cleaners or cut out pieces of paper to add a hat! You can decorate the puppet with anything you would like.
The color of the felt should match the color of the fur or skin of your creation. Be sure to purchase plenty of felt. It is easy to make mistakes so give yourself some room.
If you traced your finger on the edge of the felt, you will not need to cut a straight line because the edge serves as a straight line.
If you are unable to sew, or do not have a lot of time, use a hot glue gun. Remove the top layer of felt and carefully apply the glue in a thin line around the puppet. Make sure the glue is close to the edge of the felt, and that none gets in the middle of the finger puppet. Press the top layer of felt back onto the bottom layer. The felt should be aligned and not crooked; the finger puppet could easily get messed up if this step is done incorrectly. Let the puppet sit for a while after this step.
If you have decided to create a person, create clothing out of the felt and hot glue it on to the puppet. The correct size for the clothing can be determined by tracing the body of the puppet and cutting the felt. If you have decided to create an animal, glue fur from string or light wool onto the animal. Use any other materials you think would help with the puppet such as sparkles or pipe cleaners.
