Everyone loves puppets. I know. I asked.

Now you can have the fun and excitement of puppetry in your own home. Follow these simple instructions and you'll be able to make your own Darcy Tucker puppet!

Darcy Tucker Puppet

NEEDED SUPPLIES
* One small brown paper bag
* Crayons
* Needle and thread
* Two popcycle sticks
* Three buttons of varying sizes
* Scotch tape
* Glue
* One pint of human blood (optional)
* And an imagination!

DIRECTIONS
Step One: Darcy Tucker wouldn't be Darcy Tucker without a swell Tampa Bay Lightning jersey. Using your crayons, color in the jersey of your choice on the front of the brown paper bag. I chose the away sweater, since Tucker isn't scared to go into somebody else's barn and embarrass them in front of their family and friends. And it should really go without saying, but the bottom of the bag is the puppet's head. That way you can stick your hand up the puppet and move its head and say things like, "Hello, I'm a puppet."

Step Two: Choose the two buttons you want to use as eyes and glue them in place. I decided to go with one large button and one small button to help depict the crazed look Tucker often uses to his tactical advantage.

Step Three: Glue the remaining button in place for the nose.

Step Four: Once again using your crayons (is there anything they can't do?), draw in a mouth at the edge of the bag's overlapping flap. I was originally going to sketch a menacing snarl on my puppet to help bring Tucker's blazing intensity to life. But I instead elected to go with a cheerful smile, perhaps capturing the very moment Tucker heard about our tribute issue.

Step Five: Tape the popcycle sticks to the sides of the bag to give your puppet arms. After all, how could Tucker beat the opposition senseless without arms?

Step Six: Your puppet may look a little too nice at this stage of its construction. So we have to do something to make it look mean. Thread the aforementioned needle with the color of your choice, I would recommend basic black, and give your puppet a few well-earned stitches. You can place them anywhere on the face, but alongside the right eye is probably the most aesthetically pleasing.

Step Seven (optional): This step is optional, depending on how mean you want your puppet to look. But to capture the true spirit of Darcy Tucker, splash a healthy dose of blood all to and fro across the puppet's face and jersey. Make it fun.

Step Eight: Enjoy your Darcy Tucker puppet!

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