Make an articulated paper puppet

I made a new puppet today--Jack and the beanstalk (and scary Giant too) and thought I would explain how I do it. This would be a fun project for you to do with the kids. These puppets are delightful because they can move.

I use a huge pad of drawing paper because it will shrink once I make a print of it and that way, the lines will be crisp and clean. I sketch my idea with pencil first. Any parts which will be moveable, have to have extra paper so they can be connected.

Then, I ink in everything. I like to use my trusty speedball pen with removeable nibs, depending on what kind of line I would like. You can also use a crowquill pen for a finer line. I use Higgins waterproof ink, very black and stable.

I take a picture of my illustration and upload it to my computer, keeping it at full size to keep it crisp. I proceed to color it in photshop. You can skip these steps if you want to just color your puppet by hand. You can use watercolor, acrylics, crayons, anything at all.
I print out my illustration of heavy photo matte paper, then cut it out, and add the metal brads which I purchased from etsy seller, schoollocker

When I am done, this puppet can be played with or mounted as art in a shadow box--voila!