I’ve been thinking a LOT about the new Muppet Movie lately… When I’m going to go see it, who I’ll be going with, and WHAT I’m going to wear. After assessing my options for attire, I decided to craft up a Kermit the Frog neck bunting (a sort of… collar/necklace) AND needle-felt some Muppet-y eye barrettes. Perfectly normal behavior and accessories for a woman in her thirties. Right?
The bunting collar came to me while admiring the felt selection at the Urban Craft Center. Their Kelly green wool felt was EXACTLY the color I was looking for. I measured out a quarter of a yard, folded it in half, and measured out 3-inch sections that I marked with a white crayon. Once the length of my felt was measured out, I took my clear plastic fabric ruler, and cut diagonal pieces from the top of one mark to the bottom of the next. Working on a gridded cutting mat helped keep my pieces from moving around while I cut them with my rolling blade.
I ended up with about 25 triangles (after cutting my folded diamond-shaped pieces in half) which was enough for five froggy collars. I took a length of cord (I also used green ribbon for the subsequent collars which worked well!) and then I pinned my triangles to the cord, making sure that any visible crayon marks would lie against my skin, and not be visible.
I stitched up the mini neck-buntings, and voilà! As soon as I tied my collar on, I was practically Kermit the Frog in the flesh! The mini bunting was so cute, soft and warm, but I needed something more to really close the deal on my Muppet-inspired accessories.
And that’s when I needled felted two white eyeballs, with the trademark street sign-shaped pupils and hot glued them to two barrettes I had lying around.
Needless to say, my husband was at a loss for words when he walked in on me trying on my feted eyeballs, and wearing my bright green Kermit collar.
But despite my husbands judging looks, I present these ideas to you proudly and without shame. I grew up L-O-V-I-N-G the Muppets (as you might have guessed from my recent needle-felted Kermit, Beaker and Swedish Chef) and I’m so in awe of Jim Henson. After all these years, his passion and hard work are still inspiring people of all ages. If that isn’t something to celebrate, I don’t know what is!
Are you going to be seeing the new Muppet Movie? Let me know if you need a Kermit collar or eye barrettes to accompany you!
Gosh you’re adorable (with or without Kermit accesories.) I am 51 and love the Muppets. My kids were Muppet Educated and I miss the Muppet Show greatly. I need to get my grandsons Muppet Educated, so we HAVE to go see the new movie! Thanks for the link to the trailer, I hadn’t known it existed until now. That would have been tragic. One more thing just got added to the Thanksgiving ‘Things I Am Grateful For’ list!
I need a Kermit collar and barrette eyeballs! This is one of the CUTEST ideas I have ever seen. Thanks for being awesome. I am definitely not gifted when it comes to making crafts, but I am going to try my best to recreate this in time for the movie. It definitely won’t be anything like yours but I can only hope it looks presentable. I think everyone should be dressed up as a muppet character to wear when they go see it!
I’m 13 so I didn’t really grow up watching the Muppets but I am excited for the movie. My favorite Muppet is Beaker!
Thanks so much for your comments you guys! I love hearing from fellow Muppet fans!
FYI I put these on etsy
http://www.etsy.com/listing/86471118/kermit-the-frog-collar-and-eye-barrettes?ref=pr_shop
Thanks so much for your comments!
xoxo
radmegan
This is ridiculously genius! Would it be weird to just wear it all the time?
This is actually pretty darn adorable-doable!
Thank you for sharing.
he he…ohmygoodness, this is sooo cute!
The eyes are my favorite part!
Gorgeous aunt of mine, I just love seeing your face on craftgawker 😉
This is too darn cute! Found you via craftgawker!
Loved the idea but I needed a more subtle tribute so inspired by your collar I made this http://www.bearbahoochie.co.uk/2012/02/07/muppet-mayhem/
I would love to buy these but I don’t see them on Etsy anymore. How much to make me a set? Please??
what an adorable creation! i hope you don’t mind but this is too irresistible for me, i’m inspired to make a copycat kermit with some variations due to limited resources at hand. you are a craft genius!