This amazing little leprechaun is made from a paper cup! He talks, he walks, he dances. Sure he doesn’t have arms… but he’s an Irish dancer so that doesn’t stop him having some mighty craic. Make your own leprechaun puppet for some St Patrick’s Day fun.
THINGS YOU NEED
Paper cup, A4 coloured paper (green, pink, orange, black), scrap of gold cardboard, scissors, glue stick, two plastic bottle tops, pair of googly eyes, cord (I used rainbow paracord from the dollar store), sticky tape, Lotta leprechaun template
HOW TO MAKE
1. Cut your paper cup down evenly down the sides and fold the bottom in half.
2. Now it’s time to turn this base into a leprechaun by decorating him with coloured paper. Paper cups come in different sizes so we can’t give you a complete template. Instead, use this template (Lotta leprechaun template) to help you get your paper to wrap nicely around the cup. Measure your cup and either add or subtract from the template so it fits your cup. To start with, he needs a pink face, a green hat and clothes.
3. Cut strips from the orange paper. Glue one end onto the cup to create hair and a beard. Once the glue is dry, curl the ends with a pencil so they sit up nicely.
4. Add the finishing touches — googly eyes with orange eyebrows, a golden buckled belt and a four leaf clover on his hat.
5. Poke a hole in the middle of your bottle caps. Thread a piece of cord through the holes, tying a knot in each end to secure it. Find the middle of your cord and tape it onto the back of your puppet.
Now your puppet is ready. To operate him, just place your hand on the ‘mouth’ at the back of the cup.
Love this guy and want to make more puppets? Check out my ebook Lotta Fun With Puppets for heaps of puppet projects (with complete templates and photo instructions).
