Christmas Finger Puppet Set

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It is time for a little bit of Christmas in July! Every year I have so many ideas for things I want to make for Christmas, home decor, ornaments, gifts I want to make. And every year I get a fraction of it actually done. It seems like there is never enough time to get it all done, unless you get an early start, like in July. 

This week I have planned a few Christmas crafts to share to help get that head start. Or if you aren't quite ready to start thinking about Christmas crafts yet you can save them for a few months from now. I added this project to my calendar for this week a couple of months ago when I made my pet finger puppet set. As I was planning out that set I was also thinking ahead to Christmas in July and thought a Christmas themed finger puppet set would be fun. 

Like the barn animal set and the pets set I included a decorated drawstring bag and 4 finger puppets. This time making the bag look like a gingerbread house with Santa, an Elf, a Snowman, and a Reindeer for the 4 puppets. I stuck with a simple "white icing" design for the bag decoration, but I think it would also be cute to use colors to make the decorations or even sew on colorful shaped buttons. 

I tried to keep the finger puppets as simple as possible, while still making them look like the thing I was trying to make. Over all it is a pretty quick little project, the pieces themselves work up really fast, then some time sewing them together and adding the little bits of embroidery. And they would make a fun Christmas gift, or something to entertain kids throughout the Christmas season. 

How to Crochet a Christmas Finger Puppet Set

You will need:

• worsted weight yarn in desired colors, including red, white, brown, and tan, and green (this is a great pattern for using up small scraps in your stash,  I used mostly Red Heart Super Saver for this set)
• G crochet hook (4.25mm)
• H crochet hook (5mm)
• yarn needle
• scissors
• embroidery floss in desired colors 
• embroidery needle

Instructions:

The finger puppets are worked in a spiral, starting with a magic ring. 

Each one starts with the same base body, then other pieces (hats, arms, antlers, etc.) are sewn on at the end.

The bag is worked in the round, joining each round. Surface crochet and embroidery is added to the bag at the end to decorate it. 

Finger puppets are worked with G hook, bag is worked with H hook.

Finger Puppet Body

With G hook, begin with magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)
Round 2: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)
Round 3-10: 1 sc in each stitch (12 sc)


sl st to next stitch, finish off, weave in end

Santa

Make body working rows 1-5 in tan, then switch to red for rows 6-10

Hat:

begin with white yarn, start with a magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 4 sc (4 sc)

Round 2: switch to red yarn, 1 sc in each stitch (4 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st] repeat (6 sc)

Round 4: 1 sc in each st (6 sc)

Round 5: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 6: 1 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 7: switch to white yarn, 1 sc in each st (12 sc)

finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tail for sewing

Beard:

Make 1 with white yarn

ch 5

Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch to the end (4 sc)

Row 2: sc2tog twice (2 sc)

finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tail for sewing

Neck Trim:

Make 1 with white yarn

ch 14, finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Front Trim:

Make 1 with white yarn

ch 5

1 sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch to the end (4 sc)

finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Assembly:

Stitch the hat to the top of the head

Wrap the trim around the neck at the color change and stitch in place

Stitch the front trim to the front of the body

Stitch the beard to the front of the face

Stitch eyes to the face with black embroidery floss

Elf

Make body working rows 1-5 in tan, then switch to green (or desired color) for rows 6-10

Hat:

begin with white yarn, start with a magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 4 sc (4 sc)

Round 2: switch to green yarn, 1 sc in each stitch (4 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next st] repeat (6 sc)

Round 4: 1 sc in each st (6 sc)

Round 5: 2 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 6: 1 sc in each st (12 sc)

Round 7: switch to red yarn, 1 sc in each st (12 sc)

finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tail for sewing

Neck Trim:

Make 1 with red yarn

ch 14, finish off and cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Assembly:

Stitch the hat to the top of the head

Wrap the trim around the neck at the color change and stitch in place

Stitch eyes to the face with black embroidery floss and stitch mouth with pink or red embroidery floss, stitch buttons on front of body with any color of embroidery floss (I used yellow)

Snowman

Make body in white

Arms:

Make 2 with brown yarn

ch 4, sl st in first 2 ch, ch 2, sl st in last 4 ch

finish off, cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Assembly:

Stitch arms to the side of the body, about halfway down

Stitch eyes and mouth with black embroidery floss

Stitch a triangle nose with orange embroidery floss

Stitch buttons to the front of the body in whatever color you would like

Reindeer

Make body in brown yarn

Muzzle:

Round 1: in mr, ch 1, 6 sc (6 sc)
Round 2: [2 sc in first st, 1 sc in next 2 sts] repeat (8 sc)

finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tail for sewing

Make 2 ears:

ch 2, sl st in first ch, sc in 2nd ch

Finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tail for sewing

Antlers:

ch 6, turn, sl st in first 2 ch from the hook, ch 2, sl st in 4 ch (the 2 you just made plus the middle 2 from the original ch), ch 1, sl st in 3 ch (the one you just made, plus the last 2 from the original ch)

finish off and cut yarn, leaving long tails for sewing

Assembly:

Stitch muzzle to the front of the head

Stitch ears and antlers to top of the head

Stitch eyes with black embroidery floss just above muzzle, stitch nose in red or black on the muzzle

Gingerbread House Bag

The bag is made with an H hook, it is worked in the round by working along both sides of your starting chain, you will join at the end of each round

 

The bag is made in one piece, with the drawstring added at the end. Decoration is added to the bag using a combination of surface crochet and embroidery. 

Bag:

Begin with the main color of the house (I used a light brown)

ch 21
Round 1: sc in second ch from hook, sc in each of next 18 ch, work 3 sc in last ch turning so you can work down the other side, sc in next 18 ch, 2 sc in last stitch, join to first sc with a sl st (42 sc)
Round 2-16: ch 1, sc in each stitch around, join to first sc with sl st (42 sc)

switch to roof/icing color (I used white)

Round 17: ch 1, sc in each stitch around, join to first sc with sl st (42 sc)
Round 18: ch 3 (counts as first dc), dc in next stitch, ch 1, skip next stitch, [dc in next 2 stitches, ch 1, skip next stitch] repeat around, join with sl st to first dc (28 dc, 14 ch spaces)
Round 19: ch 1, sc in each stitch, join with sl st to first sc (42 sc)

finish off, weave in ends

Drawstring:

with house color (light brown)

ch 60, or long enough to fit around the top of the bag with a little extra, weave one end through the ch spaces from round 18, join ends to make a loop, finish off, weave in ends (or you can just knot the ends and trim)

Decoration:

use white yarn (or a variety of colors for a more colorful gingerbread house) to stitch the decorations to the front of the bag to make it look like a gingerbread house. 

I used surface slip stitch to create the outline of the house and door, then added extra details with embroidery, including the windows, swirls, and a heart above the door. You can add any decorations you want to make it look like a gingerbread house.