Memorable Mail: From Card to Puppet

For Landon's first birthday, we had a small farm-themed birthday party planned. We began by making handmade invitations, and at first, Ava and I made the animal face on the front of the card and the tail on the back just to be cute. But then I thought it would be much more fun if they became puppets instead of cards. So we came up with the idea of making the card/invitation become a puppet when the young recipient glued on an enclosed popsicle stick...

Materials:
- blank card and envelope
- popsicle stick
- crayons or markers
- glue & fun materials (googly eyes, felt, yarn...)

1) Create your animal. Decide on an animal and then color the card (front and back) the same color or pattern as is appropriate for that animal. Add googly eyes, felt, feathers, paper, and other materials to create the face on the front and the tail on the back. If ears are needed, open the card flat and use the edge of your scissors like a box cutter to cut the tops of the ears so they will lay down for mailing and stand up for viewing.

2) Write your message. Your child can include his message or party details inside the card (either on the card itself or on a removable piece of paper attached to the inside).

3) Make it a puppet. Now add a small message on the inside left of the card instructing the recipient to glue the popsicle stick to the inside of the card and then to glue the card closed to make a puppet. Enclose a popsicle stick loosely in the envelope with the card, and you are done! (The popsicle stick will fit in a standard card-sized envelope without any trouble and no additional postage will be needed.)

The card can now become a cute puppet with a front and back side. How fun for a little one to find this cute card in the mailbox or with a birthday gift! It's an added touch that will turn the mail your child sent into a small memorable gift.