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For another Craftsmanship story, “The Puppeteer,” I profiled an unusual puppet-maker and performer named Michael Montenegro. As it turns out, the puppet and toy theatre worlds share a lot of common ground—sometimes performing at the same festivals, and being active in the same organizations. Here, then, are some resources for both endeavors: The National Puppetry…

Welcome to Craftsmanship’s inaugural gift guide, where we list the best (or at least the most unusual) items that we could find during our first year exploring the artisan world. Our discoveries include fine kitchen knives, cooking pottery, guitars, harmonicas, alcoholic drinks, and, of course, some real children’s toys.

Michael Montenegro is driven to put the products of his imagination into tangible, active forms. After he builds them—often in life-size form, with a rag-tag collage of materials—he becomes them, lives inside them, then delivers them to us with a zany vigor.