DIY Ink Stamp Popsicle Stick Puppets

Lately I've been doing a lot of online searching for ideas on ink stamp crafts and homemade greeting cards, and I've been astounded at the wealth of creativity out there in the blogosphere. By far, my absolute favorite of all the posts I've seen is from Prairie Paper & Ink, by Amy Rysavy. This is another of those ideas that I never in a million years could have come up with myself, but once I saw it, I thought "But of course!"

The idea is do-it-yourself popsicle stick puppets made from ink stamps. Talk about an inexpensive but fun stocking stuffer! Amy used "Anya" stamps from The Greeting Farm company, but naturally you could use all manner of ink stamps for these puppets, or even just draw your own if you felt so inclined. Myself, I fell in love with the Anya stamps immediately, and ordered a few of my own to play with. As you can see from Amy's beautiful "puppet bouquet" above, Anya can take the form of a mermaid, a rock star, an angel, a fairy, a princess, and a schoolteacher. But those are only the ones Amy used -- Anya also comes as a nurse, cheerleader, ballerina, "Wild West" cowgirl, and more! Can you imagine the fun your kids would have making up stories to go with their puppet characters?

And never fear, The Greeting Farm isn't just all about girls. There's a boy character named Ian who comes as a football player, sheriff, surfer, fireman, astronaut, and more. So you can make puppets for girls or boys. And these little puppets would encourage just the kind of creative, imaginative play that I think is so important for children.

Amy's post about the puppets gives a lot more detail on just how she made them. And once you've arrived at her blog, spend some time exploring it to find amazing tutorials on ink stamping techniques. For instance, when I first started looking at ink stamp blogs, I was perplexed by all the references to "Copics", which are apparently the crème de la crème of markers. Amy not only has a post about her favorite paper and inks for working with Copics, she also has a video on her blog demonstrating how she shades and blends with them!

And if you are feeling the pinch of the economy and you can't buy Anya or other ink stamps just now, improvise: if you have some stamps already, see what might be suitable for puppets. Or ask your crafty friends if you can borrow some of their ink stamps, or get together for a popsicle-stick-puppet-making session. I have two ink stamps of spaceships that have to be at least 40 years old, but they could make a neat little popsicle stick spaceships that puppets could interact with.... (And don't worry if all your stamped images are not to scale with each other. Trust me, the kids won't care!)

Many thanks to Amy Rysavy of Prairie Paper & Ink for allowing me to post about her puppets!