Pop-up Princesses and a Rambling Foreword

One of the drawbacks of giving DIY manuals to children 

is them wanting to make the stuff in them. All well and good, 

if your children are independent 8-year olds who are safe 

around scissors and glue tubes. Emily is good with scissors 

and glue but her enthusiastic sidekicks (Jenna and Kate) 

aren't yet. Craft time nowadays is a sort of race to finish 

a haphazard project before Kate can grab all the sharp 

and sticky things and eat them. We sneak in crafting when 

Kate naps and the older two don't, but that does 

not happen as often as we'd like.

I found this book on the cheap shelf at Barnes and Noble. 

I thought I'd give it to Emily for a Big Sister gift when Kate 

was born. 14 months later, I found it in a closet wrapped 

but unbestowed, so I sprang it on her earlier this week 

to make up for my tardiness.  

Wonderfully, she retired to a quiet corner to absorb its 

contents, then dragged Jenna to the craft station in their 

basement playroom to try out some of the ideas. 

Yes! Without mama! 

She made a little tiara for Kate's next birthday 

and declared the book "great".

Today at naptime, she asked to make some of the 

other things in it with me.  So we picked these pop-up 

princesses and Emily and Jenna each made 

one in their favorite color.

These cheeky little misses hide in their castle tower 

paper cups and spring out when you push the dowels up

like so.

Kate had to be stopped from sucking on marker nibs, 

eating foam stickies and stick-on gems and autographing 

the Princess Craft Manual while we were making this. 

A lot of shouting. Very exciting crafting experience. 

All that to say that I didn't think adding a camera to 

the circus was a good idea. So no tutorial - you'll all have 

to imagine there are photos to go along with 

these sketchy instructions following.

What you need:

• 1 paper cup
  
• 1 sturdy straw or short dowel
  
• Short piece of chenille/pipe cleaner
  
• Random fabric scraps for the dress
  
• Random cardstock or construction paper or foam for the face and battlements
  
• Craft glue
  

 

How to:

1. Poke a hole in the bottom of the cup for the straw/dowel.
   
2. Cut a 1" circle of card/paper/craft foam for the face. Embellish with hair, eyes, nose, mouth, crown etc.
   
3. Stick the face on one end of the straw/dowel. 
   
4. Cut a cone-shaped piece of fabric wide enough to go around the rim of the paper cup.
   
5. Glue the curved edge of the cone around the rim of the papercup. Overlap the straight edges of the cone and glue shut. Don't forget to leave a little hole at the top of the cone to insert the straw/dowel!
   
6. Insert the straw/dowel from the top of the cone and ensure the other end of the straw/dowel emerges through the hole in the base of the cup. Glue the top end of the fabric cone at the base of the face, pressing the fabric against the straw/dowel to ensure it adheres.
   
7. Add extra layers of fabric if you want.
   
8. Wind the pipe-cleaner around the "waist" of the princess and twist behind her back to secure. Pull the ends out to the sides to form her arms.
   
9. Cut battlements and stick them on the rim of the paper cup, covering the mess you made (if you are anything like me) gluing the fabric onto the rim earlier.
   
10. Decorate the castle/cup.
    
11. Push the dowel up and play peekaboo with your princess!