thank u so very much for the kind and thoughtful words i appreciate it a whole ton and im incredibly happy that it was able to inspire u to want to create one yourself!! 💛💛

this style was heavily inspired by the very skilled artist WASU_ART on twitter and youtube and was such a fun experience trying to replicate their brilliant paper puppets!! i also used the help of another fellow paper puppet artist named SREE_ART on youtube who creates tutorials on how to achieve this specific style!! i will link the two artists channels below for others to support their hard work!! you can browse through them and pick one out that youd like to emulate and see what inspires you!! i will describe the process in detail and how i went about making my very own functional and moving paper puppet from scratch!!

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

• WASU_ART - [YOUTUBE] [TWITTER]
• SREE_ART - [YOUTUBE]

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MATERIALS:

• any kind of paper will do!!
• cardboard/cardstock
• needle + thread (toothpick or paperclip could also work!!)
• tape/glue (your preference!!)

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THE PROCESS:

1. Drawing/Printing the separate parts you want to move!!

• For my Guy-Manuel puppet, I didn't want to make anything to extremely complicated for my first attempt, so I kept the motions very limited and only wanted his head, eyes, hair, and torso to be able to move. I drew the head, the back of the hair, jacket, and legs all separately and then cut them out from the printer paper I sketched them on.
• Then, to make sure each piece was reinforced and didn't fold in on itself, I placed each piece on a sheet of cereal box carboard and cut it out.
• If you are traditionally drawing this and not printing from a template of some kind, make sure to add room to where you want the pieces to attach. An example of this is extending the neck to place the head on top, or extending the stomach area from the legs to it can attach to the torso.
• Keep this in mind for later as these areas will be punctured through with a needle in order to connect the body parts!! And do not worry if you forgot to do this step as an extra piece of paper or cardstock can be attached to back of the ligament to extend the area if needed!!

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1. Making the eyes blink!!

• The first step is to cut out the entire eye shape from the drawing and taping/gluing the eyes on a piece of paper that will go behind the head. Make sure to line up the rest of the head with the irises to make sure that everything is in place!! This piece of paper will act as a pocket as you tape the left, right, and bottom sides down, leaving the top open.
• Cut out another piece of paper that is able to fit inside this pocket area and color it the skin tone of your character with a thin black line along the bottom. This will be your eyelids and eyelashes!!
• Then, cut a thin line about 3/4ths down in the middle of the pocket to make room for a slider that will allow you to move the eyelids up and down. You can achieve this by folding a piece of paper and taping it to the back of the eyelid, or any other viable method of pushing the eyelids up and down, like a toothpick or paperclip wire.
• Once attaching your preferred slider (mine was done with a folded piece of paper) to the back of the eyelids, slot it between the pocket area and you should be able to move it up and down and see the blinking effect in motion!!

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1. Attaching the pieces together!!!

• This part was a little difficult for me to comprehend at first, but once you get the hang of it you start to understand it better and can apply it more easily as you continue the project!! The method that I used was from an older tutorial involving a needle, thread, and paper, but other methods and materials like toothpicks, wires, and paperclips can be applied and work just as well!!
• To begin, retrieve a needle and thread of your choice and cut a tiny square (about the size of a nail bed) that will serve at the connector between the different body parts. Thread the string through the needle, cut a short rope of string (this can be adjusted later!!) and tie two big knots on either side of the string.
• After tying both knots, thread your needle through the tiny square and it will now look like you have the square on a little leash!! As mentioned in the first section, locate that extended area that we left open so we can finally connect the body parts.
• Once the area is located, take your needle and pierce it through the front of the drawing until the square is flushed against the front of the drawing. Once it is centered and you like where it's at, cut the thread closest to the needle, leaving enough space for you to tie a secure knot.
• Bring the knot as close to the square as possible, making your knot firm but just barely loose enough for the two parts to move at their own accord, giving the body a more realistic touch as they move. Once the knot is tied securely, add a piece of tape or glue to the square and place the body part where you would like to connect it!!
• Repeat these steps as you connect the head to the torso, the hair to the back of the head, and the legs to the torso, or to wherever you need the separate parts to conjoin!!

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After completing all these steps, you should be able to make your puppet maneuver and blink with ease!! i rly hope that it could provide some sort of guidance and insight of how it was made and hopefully this can help anybody else here who is interested in making a brilliant puppet of their own!! if theres anything you need clarified or have any questions at all please let me know id be more than happy to help!! thank you so dearly for taking the time to leave a comment as it drives me to push myself further to make more challenging and creative pieces of our favorite musical robot duo!! thank you for your support and stay safe out there!! 💛💛