Hi there! This is Tiger. Look! He's waving at you. He might eat yo though, one tiny bite at a time.

He's a fingerpuppet, resting on two fingers. The jaw is operated by a cord that goes around the thumb.

You like sculpting? Good, then you can make a Tiger yourself. Or any other creature.

Step 1: To Start With

Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway: The better your sculptingskills, the better the result.

You'll need the following:

- Different colours of clay, the kind you bake in the oven. (I use FIMO) Also, you'll need an oven.
- A marker
- Aluminium Foil
- A thick needle

for the body:
- yarn
- a Crochetneedle ( size 0,3)

Begin by covering the tip of a marker with foil.
You can use something else, as long as it's about the same size as your finger.
Work the clay around this model and shape it roughly.
Better not add to much detail at this point!

Step 2: Jaws!!!

Sculpt the jaw first.
Take a piece of clay and sculpt it in a triangular form with rounded edges.

Make sure that it's not too big by putting it against the head. Gently! It won't be there to stay! yet.
Once you're satisfied with the shape, pierce the part where it will be connected to the head, Like the picture indicates.
Be careful not to break the clay!

Sculpt the jaw the way you like. A tiger needs teeth, so I gave him some.
After that, pierce the middle of the jaw.

Put it aside.

Note: for an even fit you can do this step later, after you baked the head. It makes sculpting the jaw easier but it takes longer because you need to bake twice.
I'm impatient so I didn't. ;)

Step 3: Pierce

On with the head.
I gave him curled lips. I like the Inca-like touch but it's functional too: The holes connect the jaw to the head.

Pierce the snout -yes, there's a lot of piercing to be done, luckily he doesn't feel pain- and the head.
The picture shows the direction of the headshot. I cut the foil for better visibillity but I advice you leave it there fot better solidity.

Alse pierce the front, underneath the jaw. I did this after it was baked, but it's easier to do it now.

Now you can sculpt the rest of the head. make sure the holes don't close in the process though!

Step 4: Claw

You can leave out the claw for a one-fingerpuppet, but I wanted my tiger to have a claw.

Sculpt it! Pierce it.

Step 5: Bake 'n Body

Sculpt a yellow pearl: a little ball with a hole.

Ready for the oven!

Meanwhile you can make the body.
I crocheted but you can use any other technique as well.

I Started with two slipstiches, increasing by eight in the first slipstich to form a circle, then just worked around to the desired length.
Repeated this for the second finger and then crotheted around both fingers.

If this sounds like some kind of horrible magic to you, knit, sew, fold, glue, do something else!

Step 6: Assemble

Time to assemble!

Put a piece of string through the jaw and tie it losely to holes in the lips. Don't tie it to tight or it won't move.

Then put a piece of string through the 'pearl' and then put both ends throught the hole in the jaw, the hole in the snout, the hole in the head and finaly through the hole in the front. Tie a knot.

Glue the head on the body, careful not to glue the string.
Sew on the claw and that's it!

Smile and wave!