Puppet Theater created from an old cabinet. Total cost $15.00
Our little granddaughters loved to play with puppets, so for a special Christmas gift we decided to make them one. We were very busy just like everyone else and we didn’t have the woodworking tools. To make this as easy, less time consuming, and inexpensive as possible, we took stock of what we did have. We had an old double door cabinet, white latex paint, sticky foam letters in various colors, and fabric. We decided to turn the cabinet around making the front double doors the back and the back the front of the theater. This became the storage place for the puppets and the puppeteer as well. What we needed was an easy way to move this heavy cabinet, raise it to the proper height, and a way to hang the theater curtain. To solve this problem my husband bought a 4’x4″ wooden post and cut the lengths we needed. Next we decided to attach handles at the four corners, on the side of the cabinet. The legs were attached with deep wood screws to the bottom of the cabinet. The posts came next, he measured the height that he wanted for the stage and for the curtains to be hung. The posts were cut to the proper height and then before attaching the posts, he drilled holes into the posts to slide the towels through for the curtain rod. Once this was done, he secured the posts to the top of the cabinet by screwing them into the underside of the top and into the posts. The post was secured to the back corners of the cabinet, then covered with caps to protect the children from any injury. The construction was complete, the next step was to sand and paint the posts and cabinet. As he was painting, I selected fabric to make the curtains. I made a header so the curtains would have a ruffle at the top. The main curtain was tied back, and the second set of curtains was to be kept closed to hide the puppeteer. Once the paint was dry and the curtains were pressed, we slid the towels through the curtain pocket and placed the towel rod into the holes previously drilled into the posts. For the final touch, we selected letters to spell out the girls names to stick on the front of the theater. On Christmas, they were delighted to have a personalized puppet theater of their very own! We were treated to many puppet shows over the years. They spent hours in their theater that we made for under $15.00. As the girls grew too old for the puppet theater it found a great new home at a center for abused children.
grammiesgoodies 