For our Feed publication, Bait, we caught up with the theatrical and downright daft Silly Boys. Inspired by their playful ethos, we thought it was about time we all let loose, shook off some seriousness and got down with the daftness. This is your guide to creating your own silly sidekick. If you’ve not yet had the chance to thumb through Bait, pluck a copy from the Stranger Collective shop and join in. If you’ve got your copy in front of you, find your puppet outline on page 6.
Now it’s time to get silly…
Set your phalanges free, cut out the origami outline and craft yourself a chatty companion, an over-opinionated colleague, an ego-inflating new friend or your conscience there to defy – the world is your playground.
Once you’ve cut out your outline, watch this video to see what you need to do next:
Get silly from Stranger Collective on Vimeo.
1. Fold square bottom to top – unfold
2. Fold square side to side – unfold
3. Fold square horizontally (point to point) – unfold
4. Repeat horizontal fold on other side – unfold
5. Fold top to bottom, hold down left small square, push top right hand corner into bottom centre. This should create what looks like a triangle laid over a square.
6. FLIP OVER
7. Repeat step 5. This should create a full triangle.
8. COMPLETELY UNFOLD AND FLIP OVER
9. Fold red corner into centre and repeat on opposite corner
10. Turn 45 degrees and lift paper
11. Fold on vertical line and pinch red strips and push inwards to create a cross when looked on from above.
12. Lay flat so you have 1 large triangle and 1 small triangle folded on top of it.
13. Fold right point of small triangle into centre line – unfold
14. Lift small triangle and open up, then fold centre point into the middle
15. FLIP AND REPEAT
16. Fold white triangles into the centre along the printed lines.
17. Repeat on opposite side
18. COMPLETELY OPEN UP and place pattern down.
19. On the red corners, fold in the tip above the red strip.
20. On other corners, fold down along vertical line, pinch into centre and push down.
21. Place flat and fold over previous lines
22. Fold over previous fold lines…and hopefully…
23. VOILA! You should have a pair of talking lips.
Now look at page 7 in Bait to see some suggestions of how you can bring your puppet to life – or simply go with wherever your finger-perched friend takes you. Enjoy!