Calling all Puppeteers!

Until 2 weeks ago, we owned this puppet theater.  It was being stored in our attic while we finished our basement.  It is plastic and takes up too much space in our home.  I like the idea of having a puppet theater, but I didn't want this one.  I originally bought in on Craigslist for $25.  I listed it for $30 on Craigslist and sold it within 2 weeks for my full asking price.  Happy Day!  I decided to take the money I made on the sale of this guy and make a new puppet theater.  Any leftover funds go to Lucky's Room Fund.

Making Our New Puppet Theater:

 

Supplies:

• Fabric to fit a table (more on table below) $7.20 for 2 yards, but I only used half
• Heat n Bond (Sew-Free Fabric Adhesion) $2.09 with 40% off coupon at Joann's
• 3M Velcro (we ended up using 3M picture hangers because they are removable.  The item pictured above is permanent and we wanted the option to remove the velcro from the table in the future if we choose.)  We had the picture hanging strips on hand already, and I believe they are about $4 or so with a coupon.
• Kids Table like this one from IKEA.  We had this table in our playroom already:

It is our cash register table for our grocery store.

I measured the fabric to fit the table, and applied the Heat N Bond according to the directions, with an iron.  Next, we applied the 3M picture hanging strips to the table on each of the four legs like so:

We weren't sure if the picture hanging strips would stick and stay to the fabric, but we took the sticky backing off the back of the velcro hangers and pushed the fabric to the hangers so they'd adhere in the right positions.  We carefully removed the half of the picture hanging strip that was attached to the fabric and found that they held onto the fabric nicely.

 We hand-sewed the top of each of the hangers to the fabric like so, just in case.

I love the look of hand stitching.  We applied the fabric to the table after sewing the tops of the strips.

Let the Show Begin:

We set the puppet theater up in front of the kiddos theater we made earlier this year using a tension shower curtain and fabric that we turned into theater curtains using Heat N Bond.

Cost for the Project (Since we already owned the table):
Fabric: $3.60
Heat N Bond: $2.09
3M Picture Hanging Strips: $4 roughly (we already had these on hand too)

Total: $9.69

(Even including the cost of the table ($24), the overall project would be $34...still less than a brand new plastic puppet theater and you'd have a super versatile kids table for building blocks, drawing, grocery store check outs, etc.)

Our total cost of $10 (roughly) means $20 more goes to Lucky's Room Fund!  ($30 plastic theater sale price minus $10 replacement cost.)  I love that we used a table that we already owned, and that the table has many functions in the same room.  Some days the table will be our grocery store check out stand.  Some days it will be a puppet theater.  Some days it will be used for building blocks.  We can remove the fabric if we choose and easily store it when we aren't using the table as a theater. 

Keeping our kiddos environment fresh and exciting stimulates their learning and development.  I can't wait for today's show!