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Picture Pals

Total Time Needed:: 1 Hour

This unique double photo frame is easy to make and kids will love moving the figures of themselves into different poses.

Materials

6 pipe cleaners
Close-up photographs of each pal's face (approximately the same size)
Pencil
Scissors
Colored craft foam sheets and (optional) Mylar

Polymer clay such as Sculpey (you'll need about 3 oz.)
Strip of either basswood (available at craft and hardware stores), balsa wood, or cardboard, measuring 3 1/2 to 4 inches wide by 1/4 inch thick and 9 inches long
Sandpaper
Acrylic or tempera paint and brushes
Hot-glue gun (best option) or white tacky glue

Instructions

For each body, place 3 pipe cleaners as shown, then fold down legs.
Wind the legs 2 or 3 times below the head and arm pieces to secure them.
Lift the head pieces upward and twist them tightly 3 to 5 times to create a neck.
Keeping the face sizes of your photos in mind, create a head. Fold down the pipe cleaner ends.
Place the head on the photo, adjusting the pipe cleaners if necessary, and trace around the outside. Cut out the face.
Draw and cut out hair and clothing from craft foam. We also had fun making clothes out of Mylar (buy it or recycle a balloon).
To make shoes, form the polymer clay into 4 balls, each 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and flatten the bottoms. Press the tips of each leg into the shoes until they nearly reach the bottom. Slip out the legs and bake the shoes according to package instructions.
Prepare the base by sanding, if necessary, then apply a coat of acrylic or tempera paint to the top and sides. Let it dry. We don't recommend painting cardboard bases since the paint warps the cardboard.
Glue the photo face to the head. Glue on hair and clothes. (If you like, back pieces of hair and clothes can be glued to matching front pieces.) Again, hot glue (a parent's job) is our preference since it's easier and dries faster, but tacky glue works too.
Form arms into loops for hands. Slide the legs into the shoes and position the shoes on the base. Using a pencil, mark the shoe positions and remove the figures. Glue only the shoes to the board; let them dry, then insert figures. If needed, apply a dot of glue in each shoe hole.