Handmade Puppet Craft

Make your own "Ugly Doll" out of a single mitten or glove.

Submitted by
Kayla Chong

Lost mittens and winter go together like Al Roker and the weather forecast. Which means you've got about a dozen right-handed mittens, while your kid only has one right hand. Next time he loses a mitten, don't get mad, get creative! Have your kid turn his spare mitten into a monster doll. Chances are, by the end of winter he'll have enough mitten monsters to give the Muppets a run for their money!

Master puppeteer:
Your kid.
A single mitten or glove that's missing its mate
Permanent markers
Pipe cleaners
Buttons and googly eyes
Fabric and yarn scraps
Fabric glue
A hot-glue gun and glue sticks:
Kids and hot glue don't mix, so make sure you do all the gluing.
Stuffing material:
Pick up some fiberfill or just raid the medicine cabinet for cotton balls.
Plastic sewing needle
Thread
Chopstick or knitting needle

Send your kid on a mission in the coat closet to find an old, mateless glove or mitten. Light-colored fabrics work best.
Then lay out the markers, buttons, googly eyes, yarn and fabric scraps and invite your kid to decorate the mitten like a monster. He can use yarn for hair, buttons for eyes or a nose, the fabric scraps for tentacles or pipe cleaners as antennae. Let his imagination go to work, while you get to work hot-gluing everything into place.
Next, help him fill the glove or mitten with stuffing. If he's using cotton balls, have him fluff them out before stuffing. To get the fill into glove fingers or a mitten thumb, push it up with chopstick or knitting needle.
Then show your kid how to thread a plastic needle and help him sew the bottom of the monster shut using a simple in-and-out stitch. And presto! He's got himself a scary, strange-looking new pal. Uglydoll's got nothin' on this guy!