Teacher Tammy requested a growing plant puppet. So, after checking the internet and not finding what I wanted, I went to the store and purchased an inexpensive plastic planter ($2.50), a pair of garden gloves ($1.00), fabric paint ($.97), and a quarter yard of green vinyl fabric ($1.41). I decided to make an aloe vera plant.
I removed the drip tray and my husband sawed off the bottom of the planter.
On the fabric side of the vinyl, I traced long triangle pairs. One of each pair I made about a half inch wider at the bottom, but tapered to be almost the same size at the top.
Using a hot glue gun, I applied glue to one long edge of a triangle.
I pressed the second triangle along the glue line, matching the point and edges.
Then I glued the other side of the triangle.
The resulting leaf had a "D" shape opening at the bottom.
I sometimes had to trim off some excess glue or fabric. Then I used dimensional fabric paint to apply little points along the edges. This camouflaged the fabric edges and mimicked the little stickers on aloe vera leaves.
When the dimensional fabric paint had dried, I glued the leaves to the fingers of the gloves. Two extra leaves I glued to the palm. After some experimenting, I put large markers in the fingers of the gloves and used hot glue to attach the leaves.
To make the plant grow, gradually raise the tips of the leaves through the opening in the pot. A black sleeve may be glued around the bottom of the puppet to hide the glove.
The quarter yard of fabric was too much for just the aloe vera puppet. An eighth of an yard would have been enough. So, here are some projects made from the leftovers.
The maple key has finger openings in the back. The wings are stiffened with a wire clothes hanger, cut to size.
Here is a milkweed pod finger puppet. The inside is made of long fake fur and sequins.
