Ostrich
Marionettes (the name means "little Mary" in French) are jointed figures operated from above by strings or wires. Commercially available wood and plaster marionettes are complex, heavy and complicated to operate, are expensive to own, and require careful maintenance. You can make simple, inexpensive marionettes. A fanciful and graceful ostrich marionette made of feathery marabou and polystyrene foam is lightweight enough to make it easy for even small children to manipulate the head and legs.
Instructions
1. Form a plus-sign shape with the two paint stir sticks, and glue them together where they overlap.
2. Cut a yellow triangle beak from the craft foam. Glue it to the narrow end of the egg-shaped polystyrene using white glue. You can secure it in place while the glue dries with a couple of straight pins thrust through the foam and into the polystyrene foam
3. Glue the googly eyes just above and on either side of the beak, using the white glue.
4. Glue one eyelash above each googly eye with white glue. Trim the eyelashes if they are too long.
5. Cover the 3-inch polystyrene ball with black marabou: Apply white glue to the ball, and wind the the marabou around the ball.
6. Glue two black and one white feather to each side of the marabou-covered polystyrene ball. The feather ends should face the back of the ball; they represent the ostrich's tiny wings.
7. Slice the 1-inch polystyrene ball in half. Cut two 9-inch lengths of white marabou, and glue one end of each to the top (rounded side) of each half of the polystyrene ball. (These are the ostrich feet.) Spread white glue along the length of two straight pins, then drive them through each glued section of marabou and into the polystyrene, leaving the pin head protruding above the marabou by 1/8 inch.
8. Cut one 8-inch length of white marabou. Glue it to the front top of the marabou-covered polystyrene ball. Reinforce the glued area with a glue-covered straight pin, as above. Attach the other end of the white marabou section to the bottom of the egg-shaped polystyrene, and reinforce with a glued straight pin, as well.
9. Apply glue along a straight pin, then thrust the pin into the center top of the marabou-covered polystyrene ball. In the same way, glue a straight pin to the top of the egg-shaped polystyrene ball. Allow all the glued areas to dry thoroughly.
10. Cut a 2-foot length of the nylon fishing line. Tie one end to the pin-head protruding from the center of the marabou-covered polystyrene ball. This is the body of the ostrich. Wrap the other end over the center area of the crossed wooden paint sticks. Adjust the length of the nylon fishing line so that the ostrich legs just touch the ground when the paint sticks are held at waist height. Tie the line tightly to the crossed center of the sticks. Cut off the excess line.
11. Cut two 3-foot lengths of the fishing line. Tie one end of each to the protruding pin head in each halved section of the polystyrene balls that are the ostrich feet. Wrap the other end of one length to the corresponding arm of the crossed wooden sticks. Adjust it so that it is taut when the sticks are held at waist height, then tie securely in place. Repeat this process with other side. Cut off excess line.
12. Cut a section of line, and tie one end to the pinhead protruding from the top of the egg-shaped polystyrene (the head). Wrap the other end over the corresponding area on the crossed paint sticks. Adjust the line so that, when the sticks are held at waist height and the front is angled slightly upward, the neck section loops gracefully to the head.
13. Operate the marionette by pivoting the crossed sticks slightly in a see-saw motion to simulate walking motion in the feet.
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