How would you like to be able to send your best friend a Kowakian Monkey Lizard?
This card is based on the old 'peeping chick' card design with the moving beak that I'm sure we all made in school at one time!
There are a couple of tricky bits for younglings, but I am sure that with the guiding hand of their masters, this card should be quite straight-forward.
First of all, you will need a piece of white (or any other color) standard letter size card (I use 65lb card stock which can be printed on). You also need a peice of black card, the same weight, but cut a little smaller so that it is 2/8 inch smaller all the way round.
Next, fold the black card like a greeting card and measure 3 1/2 inches from the bottom of the spine - cut a 1 inch slit and fold the corners back and forth (see below)
Now open the black card and fold the 'mouth' inward - it should look like this.
Next, you need to draw and cut out your Salacious Crumb template - here is mine (along with the beak which you will need later)
Again, feel free to contact me if you want the PDF of this template - sadly I can't link them on this blog.
I drew this template onto paper and cut it out - note that I have left a diamond shape in the middle for his beak.
Next up, draw around the template onto some light brown felt and cut it out. You'll notice I had to do the neck separately - I was using an old felt scrap I found that wasn't quite big enough - thrifty, eh?
Using the beak template, cut the shape out of black card and glue the 'hook' sides together - see below.
Before you go any further, you need to place the black card on top of the white card and figure out how much of the inside of Salacious' mouth you are going to see. Draw a pencil outline of the interior, then draw the tongue, insides and (most importantly for comedy) his uvula.
In the pictures below, you can see my faint pencil outline, then the drawn details and finally the colored version. I used pencil crayons, but you could use anything - how about a piece of pink felt for a tongue?
Now you need to glue the beak onto the top part of the mouth, like so...
... and then glue the black card, complete with beak, onto the white card.
Now you are in the final stages! Hurrah!
Glue the felt Monkey Lizard head onto the black card, making sure the beak fits inside the gap just right (you might want to trim the edges of the felt for a snug fit).
Next, you want to add some eyes.You could use beads or buttons, or even those crazy googly eyes that you can buy - I'm trying to show how you can save money, so I made his eyes out of black card and white paper and glued them on - they look just as groovy I think!
The final touches include drawing on his smile and adding his hair. I went to a dollar store and found a toy monkey that had the perfect fur. The poor monkey sacrificed his tail to help me...
I stuck the fur on top and around his neck to add the finishing flourish.
And here he is!
You could personalise the front of the card to give to someone for a present, or add a quote, or even draw a picture on it - then, when your friend opens the card, they will get a Monkey Lizard surprise!
I hope you enjoy making these - I have a couple more cards based on this design coming soon - they are a little more difficult and ideal for older children.
See you later!
