Googly-eye frog, zero pattern

What you'll need

• Green felt
• Extra-large googly eyes (2)
• Fabric glue
• Red felt scrap for the mouth

Fits

Any finger, any age — this is the fastest pattern on the site.

Steps

1. Cut one green felt circle roughly the size of your fingertip, and one slightly larger rectangle for the body tube.
2. Glue the rectangle into a tube sized to fit your finger.
3. Glue the circle to the top of the tube as the head.
4. Add a curved strip of red felt as a wide, low mouth.
5. Glue on both googly eyes, overlapping the top of the head slightly for extra personality.
6. Skip the pattern paper entirely — this one's meant to be improvised.

Common mistakes

• Using eyes so large they outweigh the felt and tip the puppet forward when it dries.
• Making the mouth too thin — a wide, low mouth is what gives this pattern its personality.
• Waiting for full dry time before testing the fit, when this pattern is sturdy enough to test almost immediately.

Variations to try

• Skip the frog entirely and just call it a 'blob' — the technique works for any googly-eyed creature.
• Use two different greens for a two-tone poison-dart-frog look.
• Make a whole pond's worth in five minutes each once you've done your first one.