What is a puppet spokesperson? A puppet spokesperson can be a representative for a company or product. It can be a greeter, welcoming visitors to a webpage. It can be a tour guide, leading viewers through a video presentation.
A video spokesperson can be everything a human spokesperson is. Just as Flo, or the Geico Gecko have helped companies create memorable ads to build their brand, your puppet can do the same thing for your brand or for a company.
On the other hand, your puppet may do short funny videos for people to share with one another. They can act like a video greeting card sending birthday, anniversary or holiday wishes.
Professor Hans Von Puppet
You can make money with your puppet as a puppet spokesperson. Professor Hans Von Puppet has made over 8,500 videos for people on Fiverr. Although his beginning rate is $10, he has $50 and $150 packages as well as other add-ons. Quite frankly, this guy has made thousands of dollars making simple, short videos for companies and individuals with his puppet and his funny voice.
Hans Von Puppet has made videos for all kinds of companies, including this video for the Salt Lake City Law Firm Schmidt & Gladstone. You can see this commercial HERE.
Videos with puppets are fun, engaging and effective. People like to but them to send a personalized greeting to a friend. Imagine getting a video in your email of a cute puppet wishing you happy birthday. Fun, right.
Companies have used puppets for years. Selling pet supplies, cars and even divorces. Despite all the advances in computer animation, people still like live-action puppets.
Whether you use a puppet you made yourself, or buy a nice puppet, you can promote and sell spokes-puppet videos. Fiverr is loaded with individuals promoting this service. They all seem to be doing well, if you look at the number of gigs they sell. Why so many different ones? because sometimes people want a specific look or voice. Some folks even offer the spokes puppets speaking in different languages.
Here is a video promoting using a spokes puppet for pediatric doctors. VIDEO
HOW TO GET STARTED To succeed in this market, you will need 4 things:
The ability to produce a quality video
An appealing puppet
An engaging character for your puppet
A marketing strategy
PRODUCE A QUALITY VIDEO To get started, you will need the ability to record a nice video. You can video with your phone. This will work great for inexpensive videos for birthday greetings or low budget videos, but for working with companies, you will want a better camcorder. You will want a nice background when you film. If you can do green-screen, this will allow you to provide a variety of backgrounds. Proper lighting, a good microphone and simple editing skills will also be necessary. For professional commercials, you may want to hire someone to help you. College kids can come cheap and have all the skills you need.
HAVE AN APPEALING PUPPET You will want to have a puppet that is appealing to the eye. One that creates interest just from its appearance. It doesn’t need to be expensive or extravagant, but it does need to be likable. A simple sock puppet is fine, but it must catch and hold the eye. Pets.com used a simple sock puppet dog to brand their company.
If you are a puppet builder, you can build the character you want. You ca also offer to build a custom puppet for a company, if that is within your skill set. Do not use a common off the rack puppet, like a Melissa & Doug character or worse yet, a trademarked character. Do not use Kermit. Your puppet needs to be unique.
Having a variety of puppets can allow you to offer more choices for your customer.
CREATE ENGAGING CHARACTERS FOR YOUR PUPPET If you watched the Professor Hans Von Puppet video above, you see how he has a unique and likable character. His accent draws and holds your attention while his friendly demeanor makes him likable.
You can create character for your puppet with different voices, different accents and different motions. The clothing and accessories you use with the puppet will also add to or take away from the character. These things should compliment the character you are trying to present. With motion, your puppet can be excitable or calm and deliberate. You can create the character to meet your customer’s needs.
YOU WILL NEED A MARKETING STRATEGY You need to determine who your customer will be. Are you going after commercial accounts? If so, a professional website like will be necessary. It should have sample videos and introduce your services and puppets to potential clients. See a great example here: http://www.spokespuppets.com/ If you are looking for simpler jobs, like birthday greetings and simple introduction videos, Fiverr.com is the way to go. With gigs as low as $5 for a 30-second video on up to literally hundreds of dollars, you can make money on Fiverr with your puppets.
In additional to the simple videos, you will also find yourself getting commercial gigs here. It does take a while to build up a following on Fiverr, so have some friends buy some gigs and give you reviews right away.
YouTube will be another place to advertise your business, creating your own commercials and also posting sample videos.
HOW TO CREATE VOICES FOR YOUR PUPPET You will need to voice your puppet. Certainly, your regular voice will suffice for a puppet, especially with enthusiasm and action. Your puppet can be quite the character. But you will likely want a more cartoonish or exaggerated voice for your character. Certainly, a voice and accent that reflects the character you want to portray.
A doctor puppet would have a solemn voice, maybe deeper than your regular voice while a salesman might have a southern drawl or a manic, excited, fast talking voice. Your voice needs to match the character you are creating. To come up with most of my voices, I think of cartoon characters and TV characters. My possum puppet speaks a bit like Mr. Haney on Green Acres. Whether it be a character from Sesame Street, from Warner Brothers or from any of the old cartoons that you remember, start to develop those voices, try to mimic them, and then change them just a little. Pretty soon you’re going to come up with your own voices for your puppets.
Some voices are going to be a little bit harder to learn. Certain accents can be hard for you. Also, your vocal range will differ from others. Some voices will hurt your throat when you do them. If so, avoid them.
When developing your puppet’s voice, look at the puppet. See what character is coming through their appearance. Does your puppet look like a sophisticated lady? She may sound snooty when she speaks, maybe even a little nasal. Maybe she sounds like Zsa Zsa Gabor, with an accent. Does your puppet look like a teenaged girl? Then the voice would be very different. Young, enthusiastic and she would speak using a lot of slang and teen lingo. Is your puppet a country bumpkin? Maybe he will sound like Mortimer Snerd. Perhaps he will act educated by using big words, but using them wrong.
Just adding an accent, or just raising or lowering your voice one octave will give you brand new voices. Once you have a voice you like, try to develop a catchphrase that will easily lead you into that voice. When I do my possum, I like to remember how Mr. Haney would say, “Mister Douglas.” Saying it the same as Mr. Haney leads me right into the voice, then I can stay there. If I want a southern gentleman’s voice, I mimic FogHorn Leghorn and how he would say, “Boy, I say boy….” That little bit gets me right into character. You can create the character to meet your customer’s needs.
There are a lot of ways to cover a puppet. You can use spray coatings, latex, electrostatic flocking, and hand painting. You can even dye the foam, but for durability and convenience, it’s hard to beat fabric.
Let’s take a moment to talk about fabric. There are three things you want to look for in choosing fabric to cover a puppet.
The first is stretch. Stretch materials are much easier to pattern and fit the non-stretch materials.
The second is a solid or random color pattern. Dizzy prints and bold patterns can overpower the look of a puppet.
Third is texture. Synthetic fibers and fabrics offer a variety of textures.
The most common fabric option is polar fleece. Polar fleece is a knit fabric used in blankets and outerwear. It’s available primarily as a double sided fabric, but there are single sided fleeces. Polar fleece has good stretch and the better fleeces are tightly knit without visible lines.
Lycra fabrics more commonly called Spandex offer vivid color options and amazing stretch. Many types of lycra can stretch two or three times their width. Lycras are also UV reactive sometimes so they’re useful for black light puppetry.
This blacklight puppet demonstrates the stretchability and form-fitting quality of LYCRA.
Stretch furs and synthetic novelty furs are increasingly common options for puppets. These fabrics come in a variety of styles. Look for the ones with stretch and a minimum of shedding fo furs offer a variety of styles and finishes as well. Some furs do come on a stretch knit backing, but most do not. One key to working with furs is choosing the right pile. Pile height is the length of the fur itself.
Antron Fleece aka Muppet Fleece
Antron fleece is a very expensive fleece. It is often called Muppet fleece. Most polar fleeces can’t be died easily, but Antron can. Antron fleece is available only in white, but you can purchase it dyed from a couple sources. The price of the fleece is roughly double, but can save you a lot of time, trial and work.
How do you dye fabric and fleece? To dye fabric you’ll need a heat source. A common kitchen burner set works great. You’ll also need some stock pots used only for dying. A set of measuring spoons, heavy rubber gloves, and a sink. Know how much water your pot will hold. It does make a difference when measuring and adding dyes.
It’s helpful to have some metal tongs and a good wooden stir stick. Look for dyes made for synthetic materials. Rit Dye comes in powder and liquid, but there’s also a few other retail brands. You’ll also want some salt. Salt is a fixative for dye. While your water’s heating up, you want to pre rinse the fleece you’re planning on using. Pre rinsing ensures a good even dye job without dark patches are blotchiness.
Take notes and keep samples of the dyes you’re using. You can mix and experiment with dye to achieve a rainbow of colors. Once the water reaches the boiling point, it’s time to add the dye. Knowing how much dye to add is a lot of trial and error. That’s where the notes help. The best tip is to start with less and add more until the desired color comes up. You can also test dye small pieces of fleece to avoid wasting a lot of good fabric. Be sure to add plenty of salt and stir the pot until all the dye is dissolved.
Add the fleece. Once the fabric is in the pot, start to stir and keep the fabric moving, the color should come up immediately. If it’s still too light, after a few minutes, you’ll probably need more dye. Fabric looks darker when wet, so be sure to go a little darker than your desired color. Use the tongs to get the fabric out and make sure that you rinse it thoroughly. Now it’s ready to be air dried, and thrown into a dryer.
Dyed Antron fleece has a fuzziness to it and over time the fleece will pill even more. Some people like that fuzzy look, but what you do if you want a fleece finish without the pilling. The only option is to shave the fleece with scissors or a set of electric clippers. You will need high quality clippers to cut the fiber. Make sure to the clippers oiled. You will also want a pet comb to brush the fibers out before trimming.
Shaving fleece is a tedious process. Begin by combing the fleece in all four directions. Raising the pile height as high as you can. Begin by holding the clippers at a consistent angle. Cutting into the pile of the fleece steadily as you can.
Once you’re done with your first pass, comb the fleece in all four directions again and repeat the shaving process. Comb and shave as many times as you feel it necessary to get the desired finish. You can also use the clippers to shave fur to achieve a number of different effects. The other option with fur is to wait and trim the fur on the puppet.
Now that we have our material, it’s time to start making the fabric patterns. The easiest patterns to make are the ones without darts such as the fabric pattern for the ear. We can trace the ear shape, adding a bit around the edges. The stretch of the fabric will do the rest.
If the puppet has halves that are symmetrical, then we can make the fabric patterns symmetrical, meaning we create one pattern for one side that will then be mirrored on the other side. To do this, we’ll need a patterning fabric that’s similar in stretch to our actual fabric. Try to find a fabric that’s thin enough to see the seams of the foam through. If nothing else, an old white t-shirt is fine.
Making fabric patterns is a six step process.
You start by draping the fabric over the shape to be patterned.
Next, you pin the fabric to the shape, trying to create as few seems as possible.
Next comes darting where you cut the scenes you’ve pinned to create darts that will be sown to conform to the shape.
After that you clean up the seams in lines you’ve created, making sure there are no wrinkles are excess fabric.
The fifth step is transferring the pattern prototype to paper.
Finally the sixth step is to label and make notes on your paper pattern for future reference.
In the draping process, you’re just trying to get a feel for which way the fabric lies best and for which direction the stretch works best in. Usually that’s horizontal across the width of the shape.
In the pinning process you’ve gotten an idea of where the fabric lies best and now you’re using the pins to hold the fabric as you determine the best places to actually cut the seams.
Once you’re sure of your seam location, you can begin to cut the darts. Do this by trimming away the excess fabric that folds above your seam area.
Try to make as few seams as possible. If you’re not happy with the seams you’ve cut, this is the time to get a new piece of material and start again.
The cleanup stage is where you trim the fabric along all the seam lines and along the front and back, cut away any fabric that isn’t necessary. Repin and stretch out wrinkles if you need to.
It’s a good idea to rough cut the seams with large scissors and then go back using finer scissors to cut the actual edge.
Once you have the fabric prototype, it’s time for step five. Transfer the pattern to paper. By pinning the prototype over paper and tracing with a pencil, you can further clean up the lines of the pattern during this tracing.
The final step is to label the paper pattern and to make any notes that you might need later. You can then cut out the pattern. Repeat this process for the body and for the arms.
Now you’re ready to cut out and sew the fabric pieces together. There are two ways to sew the pieces together by hand or by machine. Both ways have their advantages.
Machine sewing is the fastest and strongest way to sew fabric together, but you need a machine and you need to know how to use it.
Hand stitching is the best way to create a seamless look with fleece, especially Antron fleece, but it’s slow.
You begin by transferring the patterns to the fabric. Be sure to reverse your patterns. You’re going to need two sides to cover the entire puppet. It’s best not to cut out the arm pieces before sewing. Double over enough fabric for both arms.
This way you can machine sew the arm pieces and then cut them out. Be sure to add some seam allowance around every edge. You can always cut it off if you decide to hand stitch a particular area.
Make sure all your pieces are cut out before sewing. You can cut the seam allowance away from the edge if you are hand stitching since you’re sewing the seems directly to each other.
Remember the mouth never has a seam allowance since it’s going to be glued down to the mouth edge. Pin the pieces flat against each other as best you can. You’re going to want to use the smallest stitch possible.
Sew in right on the edge of the fabric. The less material your needle grabs, the flatter the seam will be. Be sure to tie off the thread every two or three stitches.
Sew the darts as flat as possible, pulling the edges of the fabric together. Machine sewing is much faster and much stronger. Sew the rest of the body, neck and head seams together using the machine.
Be sure to trim the threads and the seam allowance as closely as possible without cutting your stitches. Sewing machines can walk over pins, meaning they can sew without hitting the pin.
Now it’s time to sew the arms. The toughest part is stitching in between the fingers. A good approach for this area is to walk the machine over two or three stitches right in between the fingers. This gives allowance for cutting the fingers apart later.
The best way to sew the head and the neck pieces together is to turn the neck piece inside out and place it inside the head. Make sure that the fabric is good side to good side. Always pin seams together to make sure they line up correctly.
Now it’s time to turn the fabric pieces right side out and cover the puppet.
We’ll start with the arms. Begin by turning each finger just enough to start it over the foam. This is a delicate process. Take your time and make sure the fingers are lining up correctly.
Carefully work the fabric up and onto the fingers, squeezing them together and turning the fabric as you go. Once the fabric is on the arm, you can reposition the fingers and pull out any wrinkles you might have.
If you have a lot of excess fabric, you may have patterned too loosely. You can pull the fabric off and sew it smaller.
Doll joints for arms & legs
If you are using doll joints to connect your arms to the body, hot glue the doll joint to the top of the foam arm piece. After you have placed the fleece over the arm, use the hot glue gun to seal the end of the fabric around the doll joint carefully.
On many constructions, you will place a snap or other connector in the hands of your puppet to attach arm rods. If this is the case, you will need to provide access through the fleece to the connector.
Locate the arm rod access hole under the hand fabric, if you have one, and cut a slit for it in the fleece. You can then lightly hot glue the fabric to the edges of the opening. Don’t use too much glue here. Test fit the rod connection and repeat the process for the other arm.
Covering the body is much easier.
Collapse and compress the foam body and place it inside the fabric bag. The goal is to line up the front and back seams of the foam with the front and back seams of the fabric.
Once this is done, you can glue down the top and bottom of the fabric using hot glue or contact cement. Hot glue tends to be a bit faster. Again, foam is an insulator so make sure the glue has cooled before moving on to another section.
Take some time to find the best arm placement for the puppet arms. Mark the spot with a pin and then measure the spot so you can find the mirror location on the other side. Be sure to take notes of your measurements for future reference.
If using doll joints, cut the access hole using sharp scissors, and then insert the arm through the hole. Make sure this placement is where you want it. Once the doll joint grommet is attached, it’s very difficult to take off. You can also glue to sew your arms in place.
Now we have a completed body and arms.
To cover the head, begin by turning the fabric right side out. Pull the head fabric up onto the neck sleeve and onto the foam head through the fabric mouth. This may seem odd, but the mouth is the widest opening in the fabric. Take your time and work the fabric until the seams are even. Be sure there aren’t any wrinkles.
You can glue the fabric to the head with hot glue, our contact cement, whichever you choose. Start with the center marks top and bottom, and then do the corners.
Use only as much glue as you need and do this in small increments. Attach the fabric as closely to the mouth lining as possible. Don’t use too much glue in the corners or it may spill out and onto the mouth.
Be sure to press and hold the fabric into the corner until the glue has cooled. Then you can attach the rest of the edges.
Once you have covered head, you will need to slow down the neck edge. A free arm sewing machine is the best tool for this. Otherwise, you’ll have to hand stitch or glue the neck sleeve down.
You should now have completed covering your puppet with fleece or other fabric and it is time to add the facial features and hair. It is easiest to add ears, nose and hair after the puppet is covered with fabric.
I will have articles on these techniques soon. Be sure to check out my article on the wide variety of options available to you for covering your puppet HERE.
Over the past few years I have come across many tips and shortcuts to building quality puppets. I have learned these tips from experience, (the cruelest teacher), and from videos of great puppet builders like Drew Allison, Barry Gordemer, Adam Kreutinger and BJ Guyer.
I do not claim all of these tips as original, but they are things I have gathered and use.
1 WHEN ATTACHING FLEECE TO YOUR PUPPET, MAKE SURE THE STRETCH GOES HORIZONTAL Fleece has a stretch. If you put the fleece stretch vertical in a puppet neck, you may end up with a “giraffe neck,” stretching out and looking unnatural. Puppets have weight. If the face or body fleece is vertical, over time, your puppet fleece may start to sag.
2 DON’T WORRY ABOUT SYMMETRY Nothing in nature, by my observation, is perfectly symmetrical. Look in the mirror – your nose is probably a little crooked, your ears aren’t perfect matches and other features also are a little nonsymmetrical. if you have two sides of a puppet head and they are close, but not identical, that is fine. If you get too wrapped up in trying to make everything exactly identical, you will destroy the joy of building. As Drew Allison says “What is symetry?”
3 ON A FOAM PUPPET, COVER FEATURES THAT MAY BE A LITTLE ROUGH WITH 1/4″ OR 1/8″ FOAM TO SMOOTH OUT THE FACE Often cheeks, wrinkles and other features are a little rough. Covering them with a thin layer of foam can smooth it out, but remember, this will increase the head size.
4 CHANGING THE MOUTH PATTERN ON A PUPPET CAN CHANGE THE WIDTH OF A PUPPET HEAD WITHOUT HAVING TO MAKE AN ENTIRE NEW PATTERN You can make your mouthplate a little wider for a wider head and a little narrower for a narrow head. You can make the top or bottom of your mouthplate larger than the other to crcreaten overbite or underbite. All these changes will change the appearance and character of your puppet without changing the head pattern.
5 ADD FOAM ON THIS EDGES WHERE YOU WILL BE GLUING THE EDGE TO THE PUPPET When you are attaching a thin edge to a puppet, make it thicker for added strength. On mothplates which will be inside the lip, always glue a strip of foam to the outside of the mouthplate to give me a wider place to glue to the puppet. On the top of the mouthplate, this piece would be on the same surface as the finger tubes, around the edge. me on the side where the thumb tube is. On puppet eyes made from plastic spoons, I will glue a piece of foam inside the spoon and trim it level. This gives me somewhere to glue the eye to the puppet head as well as the thin edge.
6 WHEN USING A HOT GLUE GUN, KEEP A BOWL OF WATER ON HAND You can dip your fingers in the water if you get hot glue on them, (ouch). You can also dip your fingers in the water and then use the water to set hot glue quicker.
7 MAKING FINGER TUBES OUT OF 2″ ELASTIC ALLOWS YOUR PUPPET TO FIT SNUGLY ON HANDS OF VARYING SIZES
8 FOR STRONGER ELASTIC FINGER TUBES, SEW THEM ON RATHER THAN GLUING Thank you Adam Kreutinger for this tip. To sew on your elastic finger and thumb tubes, drill small holes in the mouthplate and then sew through the elastic and through the holes in the plate. Use a double stitch, going through all the holes once, then repeat on the very same holes.
9 WHEN USING BARGE CEMENT, ALWAYS HAVE A WELL VENTILATED WORK AREA DAPP Contact Cement is a nonflammable, low odor alternative for areas not as well ventilated.
10 USE A CONDIMENT BOTTLE TO DISPENSE CONTACT CEMENT You can easily apply a small ampount of cement toour work (which is all you need) and spread it with the nozzle.
11 USE FOAM SCRAPS TO APPLY CONTACT CEMENT Do not brush the contact cement onto your puppet. You can apply a thin line with a squeeze bottle and spread it with the bottle nozzle. I often use asmall foam scrap and just dab the cement on. It allows me to apply a very light thin coat, which is all that is needed.
12 DON’T APPLY CONTACT CEMENT HEAVILY You do not need a lot of contact cement to bond foam or cloth. A very thin coat on the pieces to be attached is sufficient. If you feel you need extra glue for extra strength, apply a thin coat, let it dry and then apply a second coat.
13 PLASTIC SPOONS MAKE GREAT PUPPET EYES When using spoons to make puppet eyes, you will need to cut off the handle. This can be done with scissors, but you will crack a few. I use my dremel tool to cut, then a sanding attachment to sand and shape.
14 USE CLOTHESPINS AS CLAMPS Clothespins are great for holding pieces together before you glue and after you glue. While waiting for hot glue to set, you can pinch the foam, or foam and fabric, together. The clothespins will put small dents in your foam, but the dents come back out on their own. They are not permanent. Clothespins are also great when using the Nip & Tuck method to shape facial features. You can pinch and shape the foam and use the clothespins to hold the foam wwhile you work on other areas.
15 USING A BAND SAW TO CUT FOAM CAN ENSURE YOUR EDGES ARE PERPENDICULAR. It is so important to have straight, perpendicular edges when building foam puppets. On thicker foam, it can sometimes be difficult to get that straight up and down line. A band saw can help you get that edge. You can also use the band saw to make a perfectly beveled edge where needed by tilting the table or making a jig to creat our angle.
16 ATTACH PUPPET ARMS WITH DOLL JOINTS Doll joints are plastic connectors used to attach doll arms and legs. You place one section through the puppet body and one from inside of the arm to the outside. The two pieces lock together to form a permanent connection that will allow the arm to move up and down.
17 LARGE SNAPS CAN BE USED TO MAKE PUPPET ARMS THAT ARE DETACHABLE Why would you want detachable arms? Changing clothes on a puppet can be a challenge, especially if your puppet has permanent arm rods built in. Removing the arms can make costume changes much easier. If you have permanent arm rods built into your puppet hands, you may want to be able to switch in arms without the arm rods.
18 ATTACH PUPPET NECK SLEEVES TO THE BODY WITH SNAPS Being able to change bodies for your puppet may be handy at times. Or perhaps for a performance you want to switch heads on your puppet for different expressions. Building two heads for the same character but only needing one set of clothing can be handy.
Armature
19 USE PLASTIC BEAR BUILDING ARMATURE FOR POSABLE PUPPET ARMS AND LEGS Plastic armature can be used to make your puppet arms or legs posable. This is great for photographing your puppets and also for puppets where you want to be able to get specific poses with the puppet.
20 ATTACH YOUR PUPPET ARM TO YOUR PUPPET’S EAR WITH BRAIDED FISHING LINE FOR MOVEMENT If you are only using one arm rod on your puppet, attach the loose arm to your puppet’s ear with braided fishing line. Adjust the length to where you want the arm to hang. When your puppet moves its head, the arm will move, adding life to your puppet. If filming or working under lights, monofilament is not recommended as it has a shiny surface and may cause glare. Monofilament could also be used and be darkened with a magic marker to prevent glare.
Boning
21 BONING CAN BE USED TO HELP YOU PUPPET RETAIN ITS SHAPE You can slit the top and bottom edges of your puppet bodies and slip the boning in. Resealing with contact cement. You can also sew it into the body fabric. Boning is a thin cloth covered plastic strip. It will give areas of your puppet rigidity where needed without adding weight. You can aslo use plastic aquarium tubing, but you will not be able to sew it.
22 TO CUT PERFECT ROUND EYE PUPILS, USE A LEATHER PUNCH Leather punches are great for punching out puppet eyes. With a rubber mallet you just whack the punch and it cuts right through vinyl or velvet for eyes. Put a piece of leather below your material to prevent damaging your table when cutting out the eyes. The punches come in a variety of sizes.
23 ADD ON EXTRA FOAM TO GIVE DIMENSION AND CHARACTER TO YOUR PUPPET If you have a simple round or oval head puppet pattern, much character can be created by adding on more foam after you put the head together, but before adding the fleece. Carve out cheekbones or larger chins from foam. Attach to the puppet and then trim down to blend them in.
24 ADD FEATURES TO YOUR PUPPET HEAD AFTER YOU COVER IT WITH FLEECE Attach noses, eyes, ears, etc after you cover the head with fleece or fur. I discovered that if I added these first, it made it much more difficult to drape and cover the puppet. Features should beadded last. Attach with glue,then sew them on.
25 USE ROPE TO CREATE LIPS, WRINKLES AND OTHER CHARACTER LINES ON YOUR PUPPET Before covering with fleece, you can add sections of rope to the forehead and brow to make wrinkles, or onto the top or lower lip to create more prominent lips. You can also place it on the outside edge of puppet ars to create a more realistic ear. Glue it onto the foam, then trim the edges down to blend them in.
I started making rod and arm puppets just a couple years ago. During that time, I have discovered many tips to make puppet building easier, more fun and to get a better-finished product. I have learned these tips from experience, (the harshest teacher), and from videos of great puppet builders like Drew Allison, Barry Gordemer, Adam Kreutinger, and BJ Guyer. I do not claim all of these tips as original, but they are things I have gathered and use.
1 USE SHARPIES FOR SHADING AND TO COLOR LIPS AND EYELIDS Sharpies are great for coloring the edge of the eyelid to create contrast and create a mascara look. Sharpies can also be used to color lips and to provide shading on your puppet’s face. Rubbing alcohol can be used to spread and blend the Sharpie ink and soften the color.
2 USE PAPER TOWEL TO PATTERN MUSTACHES AND SIDEBURNS Pin a piece of paper towel on your puppet and draw the shape you want. This gives a really good idea of what your finished piece will look like. Use a disappearing ink pen for drawing on the paper towel. This will prevent bleed through from a more permanent ink. Cut out your drawing and trace onto your fur or other material. Cut out your mustache and you are ready to attach it to the puppet.
3 WHEN DRAPING FLEECE ONTO A PUPPET HEAD, LEAVE 1/4″ GAP BETWEEN THE PIECES. By making your pieces slightly smaller than the head, you will get a tighter finish on your fleece. Fleece has a natural stretch and when you are sewing, you can draw the pieces tight.
4 USE A RAZOR BLADE TO CUT FLEECE OR FUR Using a Persona razor blade will give you a nice even edge when cutting material. Scissors leave a more uneven edge. When cutting fur, cut on the backside.
5 FOR A FLEXIBLE MOUTHPLATE, USE GASKET RUBBER Gasket rubber is available at your local auto parts store. When you want a soft flexible mouthplate, the rubber is strong and allows great expression when manipulating the puppet. Kermit the Frog’s mouth is very flexible and allows the puppeteer to give him great facial expressions.
6 USE AN ELECTRIC MEAT CUTTING KNIFE TO CUT LARGE BLOCKS OF FOAM When carving a puppet head or other items out of a thick block of polyfoam, use an electric knife. It will cut clean and quick to get the desired shape. Once you have roughed out your shape, you can then trim it up with scissors.
7 KEEP A LOT OF EXACTO OR SINGLE EDGE RAZOR BLADES ON HAND Foam will dull a razor blade very quickly. Always use a sharp blade. When discarding blades, cover the edge with some duct or gaffer’s tape to prevent accidents.
8 KEEP MAGNETS AVAILABLE TO HOLD PINS, NEEDLES AND RAZOR BLADES. In my office, I have two small magnets stuck to my metal bookshelf. On one I keep a razor blade and on the other, sewing needles. In my workshop, I have a couple of magnets on my table to hold pins. Above the workbench, about eye level, I have an 18 inch magnet bar attached to a shelf. I keep razor blades, needles, and even my pliers stuck to it for easy access.
Magnetic Knife Holder
9 CUT MOUTHPLATES OUT OF PLASTIC STORAGE TUB LIDS OR PLASTIC COFFEE CANS. The plastic used in storage tubs and coffee cans is strong and will create a thin strong mouthplate. When gluing material to the plastic, first rough the plastic up with a little sandpaper. Your adhesives will not stick well to a smooth shiny surface. A little roughing up solves this and will give you good adhesion.
10 WHEN IN DOUBT, REINFORCE Build a strong, durable puppet. It will slow down building, but save on repairs later. Cover the side of your mouthplates that will be inside of your puppet with a strong fabric, including around the joint. T-Shirt material is great for this. Reinforce where arms are connected to the puppet. If you are using doll joints that push through the foam, cover each side of the hole with cloth. Reinforcing your foam with cloth is a great idea anywhere there is the possibility of stress on the puppet.
11 MAKE A LONG-LASTING MOUTHPLATE WITH SCULPT OR COAT® To make a long-lasting mouthplate for your puppet, cover the finger tubes and entire mouthplate with a stretchy fabric. T-Shirts work great for this. THEN apply a thin layer of Sculpt or Coat®. Make sure the Sculpt or Coat® soaks into the fabric. This will triple its strength for a long lasting mouth mechanism.
12 DO NOT ATTACH THE NECK OF THE PUPPET TO THE TOP OF THE BODY For more movement, attach the neck of your puppet to the bottom of the puppet.
13 BIG TIP FOR MOUNTING EYES ON YOUR PUPPET If you are mounting eyes on your puppet while it is laying on the workbench, attach the eyes temporarily at first. Raise the puppet up in front of a mirror and see what the puppet is looking at. Are the eyes focused on itself or are they looking in another direction? Eye focus is very important when building puppets.
14 ALWAYS WASH FLEECE BEFORE DYING If you are dying your own fleece, always wash it first. This will remove the sizing in the material and prevent little white spots from showing up on your finished work. Washing fur, even if you are not dying, will remove the sizing from the fur and make it easier to work with.
15 NOSES AND OTHER FEATURES CAN BE SCULPTED WITH PRO POXY 20 Hercules Pro Poxy 20 sets up in about 20 minutes. You can use it to sculpt noses and such. When set, cover with fleece or other fabric or paint. You can also use Crayola Model Magic (https://amzn.to/2EpFxyV), but it will need to set overnight.
16 FOR A MORE DURABLE HEAD, LINE THE INSIDE OF THE FOAM WITH CLOTH BEFORE CUTTING OUT YOUR PATTERN Attach cloth to the foam with 3M Super 77 Spray Adhesive. This will give a much stronger puppet. Foam can tear easily, with the cloth backing, you eliminate that risk. The lining will also protect the foam from the sweat of your hand. This adds to the life of the puppet. Thank you Barry Gordemer for this tip.
17 USE A HIGH-TEMPERATURE HOT GLUE APPLICATOR When using hot glue, use a high-temperature hot glue tool. The cheap little blue glue tools you can get for $1 at the dollar store will not give you a strong connection. Low-temperature glue tools like this will give you a connection that can come apart if left in a hot car or otherwise exposed to heat. A high-temperature glue applicator will give you a strong bond.
18 CONTACT CEMENT SECRETS When using contact cement like Barge, a hair dryer can be used to dry the glue for attaching quickly. To separate pieces glued together with Barge or other contact cements, you can heat the glue with the hairdryer and they will separate easily.
19 USE DETACHOL TO REMOVE GLUE FROM YOUR FINGER If you are like me, sometimes, you just want to glue a couple pieces quick, and you neglect to put on your rubber gloves. Glue on the fingers, especially contact cement, can be a real nuisance. To remove it easily, use Detachol Adhesive Remover. This solvent is gentle on your skin. It is used by theater performers to remove make-up and features glued on for performance like fake scars. It is also used in hospitals to remove adhesive left from bandages.
20 USE A SILICON PAD WITH YOUR HOT GLUE GUN Hot glue will not stick to the silicone pad and can be removed easily after the glue drippings dry.
Catchlights
21 DIP A ROUND HEAD PIN IN WHITE PAINT TO CREATE CATCHLIGHTS ON YOUR PUPPET EYES Catchlights are the little white dot you see on cartoon eyes. Dip the head of a round head pin in white acrylic paint and dot your puppet eyes for perfect little circles. Make sure you put the spots on the same place on each eye, usually at about 1 o’clock. Your eyes will look like mirror images, not identical.
Hackle Pads apply quickly
22 TO COVER A PUPPET QUICKLY WITH FEATHERS, USE HACKLE PADS. Hackle pads are little pads with feathers already attached. They go on a puppet much quicker than gluing individual feathers. They can be used on birds or as hair on a person puppet. They come in a variety of colors from white to hot pink, plus natural browns, black and much more.
23 SELF-ADHESIVE VINYL MAKES GREAT PUPPET EYES You can buy it in black, blue or many other colors. Punch out perfect circles with a scrapbooking paper punch. Peel off the backing and they will stick to your white background. Self-adhesive velvet also works great. The vinyl will have more shine, which is great for on-stage performing. For filming, the velvet will not have the glare from the lights.
24 USE A STRAIGHT PIN WHEN ATTACHING EYE PUPILS TO YOUR PUPPET Put your eye pupil on the end of a straight pin or sewing needle when applying to your puppet. Apply the yes lightly and make sure they are in the position you want. When the pupils are in the perfect position, slide out the pin and press down your pupil.
25 MAKE PUPPET FEATURES PRONOUNCED Pronounced features on your puppets will cast small shadows, making them more visible to your audience. A little shading where the shadows would naturally fall also helps to create more visibility.
26 SHADE YOUR PUPPET’S FEATURES WITH PASTEL PENCILS Dip your pastel pencils in water, then apply to shade your puppet. With a cloth you can blend the colors into each other and naturally onto the puppet. You can also create a powder by rubbing your pastels on sandpaper. This can then be applied with a brush, spreading and blending it onto the puppet with a toothbrush.
27 USE CHALK TO APPLY “MAKE-UP” YOUR PUPPET Create a chalk powder by rubbing your chalk on sandpaper. Apply with a brush on the eyelids, cheeks and other arareasUse a toothbrush to work the chalk into the fleece. A light spray of hairspray will make the chalk permanent.
28 USE HOT GLUE WHERE YOU WANT STIFF LINES ON YOUR PUPPET Hot glue can be used on your puppet where you want a stiff line, such as a lip line or wrinkles in the brow. Do not use hot glue where you want soft lines. Use Fabri-Tac or contact cement.
29 USE VELCRO® TO HIDE SEAMS IN THE FLEECE It is common practice to pick the fleece out of the seams of your puppet with a needle in order to hide them. This works great but is very time-consuming. Use the hook part of Velcro® to pull the fleece out of the seams. Just rub it gently across the fleece and it will pull the ends right out.
30 TRY TO PUT SEAMS IN THE CENTER OF YOUR PUPPET When placing seams on your puppet, try to place them in areas where they will be covered by facial features, clothing, etc. A seam down the middle of the puppet’s face will be more visible than two smaller seams on the sides of the face and jaw. Also, try to curve your seams. Our eyes naturally follow a straight line, so a curved seam is less visible.
30 PUT WIRE IN YOUR EYELIDS Okay, not your eyelids. Your puppet’s eyelids. An 18 gauge wire along the edge of your puppet’s eyelid will allow you to bend it, shape, change expressions and more. The advantage of a shapeable eyelid makes an incredible difference in your puppet. Also, put wire along the outside edge of your puppet’s ears to allow you to shape them.
32 BE SURE YOUR PUPPET LOOKS GOOD IN PROFILE When performing, audiences seldom see your puppet head-on. They will be sitting off center and seeing the side of the puppet. Do not have your puppet’s ears stick straight out to the side of your puppet. From the side, your audience would only see the edge and it would look unnatural. Flatten them a bit against the side of the head so they are clearly visible from the side. Be sure your eyes, nose and other features are prominent and easily seen from the side. Your puppet’s profile is very important to its appearance to the audience.
33 FREQUENT THE THRIFT STORES The Goodwill, Salvation Army and other stores are your source for puppet clothes (children’s clothing makes great puppet clothes.), puppet hair (wigs, furry hats, and more), puppet eyes (eyes from stuffed animals), and much more.
Be sure to check out my TOOLS & MATERIALS page for where to find items mentioned in this article.
There are many ways to cover a foam puppet. In puppet building, it is important to get a solid foundation, a well-constructed foam head and body and then we need to cover the foam to create character.
One of the easiest ways to finish your puppet build is to spray paint the foam. You will not want to use automobile spray paint, but rather you will want to use florist paint. Florist paint is made for painting dried flowers. Design Master spray paint is such a paint. It is perfect for painting over a foam puppet head.
This is a painted foam puppet.
Using spray paint you will have many color choices you can even feather colors together to create a multi-colored puppet.
To make a more Muppet-style puppet you will want to cover your puppet with fleece. There are a wide variety of fleece colors available at fabric stores. you will want a nonpill fleece that has stretch. The stretch will go in one direction. You will need to be aware of this when placing the fleece on your puppet. You always want the stretch to be horizontal on a puppet head. this will prevent the police from sagging.
Rockywoods.com has a four-way stretch fleece fabric. I have a sample and it looks really great for draping fleece on an unsymmetrical puppet head. I would not want use it for a puppet neck as the neck would stretch up and down and could create the dreaded giraffe neck.
Pastel chalk is great for adding shading and make-up effects to a fleece puppet. Use a grater or sandpaper to create chalk dust, then brush it on with a paint brush. You cannot use chalk for coloring a puppet, but to add shading and bring attention to areas, it is great. A little pink on the cheeks, or maybe a little blue on the eyelids will really bring out the character in your puppet.
To set the chalk, spray it with hairspray. The cheaper hairsprays tend to be better for this.
Imitation Fur is a common puppet covering when making animals and monsters. In some ways, fur is great because you can use simple sewing stitches and the fur will naturally cover the seams. On the other hand, unlike fleece, fur usually has little or no stretch. Because of this, your patterns will need to be a little more precise.
When I first started making puppets my preferred covering for the foam was latex. You can buy Mask Makers latex and cover your puppet with this. The latex is white but you can get any color you want for your puppet by adding in acrylic paint. just mixing the paint until you get the color you want and you are good to go.
It is easy to put the latex on the puppet, just brush it on with a foam brush or even a piece of scrap foam. You will want to put on three or four layers to get a good strong finish. You can use the latex to cover puppet heads, puppet hands, puppet feet. It is easy to use and spills clean up easy since they harden into a soft rubber you can peel oh way if it drips.
Larry is a latex over foam puppet.
Sculpt Or Coat is an amazing product for puppet makers it’s used in the construction of scenery and props in the theater. When you cover foam with it, it creates a tough outside coating and has many uses in puppet building.
Sculpt Or Coat is a thick paste. It can be used for sculpting but in puppet making, we will mostly use it as a coating. It can be thinned with water if needed, for easy brushing.
The great thing with Sculpt Or Coat, is you can mix in acrylic paints to give it color.
If you make a foam head that you’re not covering with cloth or feathers, just mix a little paint with a little bit of Sculpt Or Coat and you get a nice hard shell like shield over the foam. It goes on white but it will turn clear, if you do not color it.
By covering foam pieces you have shaped, you can make horns for a devil or a cow, maybe a turtle shell. You can just go thicker to get that hard shell. Additionally, you can fashion other shapes out of foam and cover them with Antron Fleece or other materials and then coat that with a very thick layer of Sculpt Or Coat. It will dry into a nice, hard glossy shine but it will still be light so it won’t add a lot of weight to your puppet.
Another great use for Sculpt Or Coat is to coat the inside of your puppet mouth. After you put together the puppet mouth and you have the finger tubes in place, cover the mouthplate with cloth over the tubes. Use a nice stretchy open weave fabric, maybe a t-shirt, over the mouth plate. The Sculpt Or Coat will soak into the fabric and hold everything together giving you a nice strong mouth that will last a long, long time.
Antron or Muppet fleece and sculpture coat are a great combination. You finish out your design in foam covered with the fleece. Get a nice tight fleece covering and then you can add some color and a nice hard shell. Maybe for a bird beak for a chicken or toucan. Make it with foam covered with fleece. Then you cover it with Sculpt Or Coat. You may want to dilute the Sculpt Or Coat with water so it will paint on little bit easier with a bruh. You can add a little acrylic paint in if you need some color, otherwise it will go on white but then it clears. So it’s kind of scary at first. You get this white coat on your on your fleece, but it will be dry. When it dries becomes clear.
You can even add a second or third coat to make it stronger. You just keep applying coats of Sculpt Or Coat until you get the look you’re after. The more coats you add, the more hard and shiny it will be. The fleece makes the foam durable and adds strength to the Sculpt Or Coat. The Sculpt Or Coat will mat down the fleece, adding to the smooth shiny look. Just keep adding until you get that nice look that you want.
DeoArt MagiKote
If you’re making accessories for your puppet out of Styrofoam or poly polystyrene, perhaps you’re making eyes out of Styrofoam balls, a great product is DecoArt MagiKote. It will create a hard paintable surface on styrofoam. You may want a carve a nose out of Styrofoam and again you can cover it with the MagiKote and then you can actually paint the styrofoam.
When you’re making things out of Styrofoam for your puppet, MagiKote is a great cover to allow you to paint it. You can make other props out of Styrofoam. Carve whatever prop you need for your puppet and cover that with the MagiKote. Then you can paint it. Iit’s an excellent product for making lightweight accessories for your puppet.
You may also want to consider polyurethane. It provides a hard, hard durable finish that shouldn’t chip or crack. Unlike the MagiKote, you can sand the Roscoe FoamCoat to smooth out any rough edges on your puppet.
Rosco Foamcoat
You can also use Roscoe FoamCoat on paper mache if you want to make something out of paper mache that you can’t make out of foam. So Roscoe FoamCoat is another excellent product. You just paint it on and you’re ready to go.
Another product that works like Roscoe FoamCoat Is All Purpose Foam Coat from the “Hot Wire Foam Factory.” It will also go on with a brush and you can sand it and then paint it. So you can go with Roscoe FoamCoat or you can go with All PurposeFoam Coat. Both are excellent products for covering foam for your puppet.
For an inexpensive and quick covering for your puppet, you can cover your foam puppet with muslin strips. Dip muslin strips in glue and cover the puppet head or other prop with the muslin strips. When the strips dry, it will create a very hard outer shell. This can be painted. You can also, if you want, change the texture with the strips, adding wrinkles or otherwise building character into your puppet.
I hope this article has helped you and started the fires of your imagination. You can find links to the products mentioned in the article on my RESOURCE PAGE.
Please subscribe to our newsletter to get notices of new articles and videos when they are posted. We will never sell your information. When you subscribe, I will also send you my free report, “Puppet Building For Fun & Profit.”
The author, Dennis having some fun with latex and fur puppets.
What are the parts of a puppet?
When you decide to build a rod-arm (Muppet style) puppet, you will need to design it. To build a good house, you need a blueprint. To build a quality puppet, you need a plan. You need to know what the parts are, the materials you need for those parts and how they will go together.
A PATTERN The first thing you will need is a pattern. You can buy a pattern online or you can make your own. Before making or buying a pattern, it is a good idea to sketch out how you want your puppet to look.
One way to make a pattern is to take apart a stuffed toy and use the cloth of the different body parts as guides for your own puppet. You can get a large stuffed toy cheap at Goodwill or Salvation Army stores. Rip out the seams and lay the pieces out flat on a brown paper bag or craft paper. You will trace the pieces to get your patterns for the head, hands, legs, arms, etc. You can also get some good doll eyes off used stuffed animals.
Once you trace out the pieces, you will need to make adjustments to the pattern. You will need to modify the head pieces to allow for a mouthplate. You may want to make other alterations to make the parts become what you want.
Another easy way to make a pattern is to take apart a ball cap and use the pieces to pattern a round head. Picture two ball caps place together to make a spherical shape – that is a round puppet head, so to speak. So taking apart the hats, you can create a pattern to make a round head. Again, you can modify it to get the shape you want.
Patterns can also be made by sculpting your idea out of clay and covering the sculpture with masking tape. The tape is removed and darts or cuts are made to cause the tape to lie flat on a piece of paper. This becomes your pattern.
Some puppet builders do not use patterns. There is a method called “nip and tuck” where a mouthplate is made and then the foam is added to the plate and trimmed and tucked to get a desired shape. I have other articles and videos coming on how to make patterns.
FOAM FOR HEAD AND BODY PARTS For a “Muppet style” puppet, you will need foam to create the head and body. JoAnn Fabrics ( https://www.joann.com/sewing/foam-and-fiber/foam/ ) and other fabric shops will have polyurethane foam, (also known as poly foam), that you can use. This is the foam used for seat cushions. You will want to buy 1/2 inch foam for the head, arms and hands of your puppet. For the body you may use 1/2″ foam, but for some puppets, 1″ foam gives more strength.
Many puppet builders prefer reticulated foam. This is the foam used in ventilation systems. It has large holes and is very lightweight. It can be hard to find, but some puppeteers swear by it.
Dr Teeth made of dyed reticulated foam.
The original Dr. Teeth of the Muppets was made with painted reticulated foam.
Exercise mats and floor mats are made of a harder foam called Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate or EVA foam. EVA is a closed cell foam. It is used in making cosplay props and armor, but can also be used in puppet making. It will give a very strong framework. You may also decide to not use foam and just go with a cloth puppet filled with doll stuffing. This type of puppet will be more like a stuffed animal with a moving mouth.
Colored Fleece
FLEECE OR OTHER COVERING MATERIAL Most hand and rod puppets are covered with fleece. Fleece is a 100% synthetic material made from plastic. Often, it is made from recycled water bottles and the like. Fleece is not felt. One of the qualities of fleece that makes it so desirable for puppet building is the stretch.
Fleece will have a stretch to it in one direction. Felt will not stretch. The stretch will help you to cover your puppet without wrinkles. Fleece also has a slightly fuzzy texture. This fuzz allows for sewing seams to be hidden on the finished puppet.
Puppet makers often look for Antron fleece. This is also known as “Muppet fleece,” since it was used in making the Muppets. Antron fleece only comes in white and will need to be dyed to the colors you want. Fabric stores will offer a wide variety of colored fleece. These fleece fabrics work just as well as Muppet fleece for most puppet projects.
You may use other fabrics of your choice depending on the puppet you are designing and building. Go to the fabric store and browse. I call the fabric store the “idea store.”
Fur is also used on puppets. By fur, I mean artificial fur. Again this is available at your fabric store and comes in a wide variety of colors and textures. White fur can also be dyed if you are looking for a specific color in a specific texture that isn’t available.
I often cover my puppets with latex instead of fleece. For my earliest puppet endeavors, I found the latex was great since it required no sewing of cloth. My sewing skills have improved with practice, but I still like the latex for certain puppets.
Puppet head “painted” with yellow latex.
The latex I use is Mask Making latex. It is white, but I color it with acrylic paint. You can also paint the latex after it is on the puppet. After the foam puppet head is constructed, the latex is painted on with a foam brush. It takes several coats to get a nice strong finish. Don’t want to sew fleece or use latex? Some puppets are simply made of foam and spray painted, or the foam is dyed before assembly to get the desired color. As mentioned above, the original Dr. Teeth was painted reticulated foam. Any spray paint can be used, but the spray paint made for florists seems to be preferred by builders.
HAIR MATERIAL Your puppet may need hair. A variety of materials can be used and a trip to the fabric store will certainly get your ideas flowing. Yet, I see puppet hair everywhere. I have bought used fur hats to make hair. Some knit hats can be taken apart to make hair. I am currently looking at turning a microduster into puppet hair.
Fur is a common material for puppet hair. It can be trimmed short or left shaggy. Feathers are terrific for giving life to your puppets. Feathers, especially maribou, move very naturally with just the regular motion of a puppet. Feather boas can make wispy hair. Feathers from a feather duster can be used to make a few small feathers on a birds’ head, or shaped to make the hair of a human puppet. I also use pieces of feather to make eyelashes.
You could make your hair out of fleece for a short cut hair. Of course you could just stick a ball cap on a bald puppet if that’s the look you want. I have even seen painted hair. Painted hair is very common on hardwood ventriloquist puppets, but there is no reason you couldn’t do it with your latex covered puppets or even on uncovered foam. Puppet building is an exercise in imagination and creativity.
MOUTH PLATE MATERIAL Your puppet will require a strong, sturdy mouth plate. The mouth of a rod/arm puppet gets the most work and needs to be made to last. The first step in building your mouth plate will be to pick a sturdy base. Do not use cardboard for your mouth plate. Cardboard will weaken and wear very quickly. It is also very susceptible to sweaty hands.
I like to use foam-core poster board for my mouth plates. It is easy to cut with a razor blade and is lightweight. Hobby and craft wood is used for a lot of professional puppets. The mouth plate pieces are cut with a saw. They often have finger loops attached with rivets. It is time-consuming to make a heavy duty mouth plate, but id your puppet will be seeing a lot of work in a professional capacity, it can be worth the effort.
Signboard, (like real estate signs), is a common mouth plate material. It is a corrugated plastic and is lightweight and sturdy. You can also cut your mouth plate pieces out of a plastic bin lid or sides. Use tine snips to cut the plastic.
For a strong, but flexible mouth plate, gasket rubber works great and is very popular. You can buy sheets of this very inexpensively at your local auto parts store. You can also line the mouth plate where your fingers and thumb will be to prebvnt them from slipping when performing.
Mouthplates are generally made in two pieces. Imaging 2 half circles. There will be a gap of about 1/16″ between the pieces to allow for movement. The pieces can be joined with duct tape, gaffers tape (which I use), cloth or leather. I have found denim to be great for connecting the pieces and it’s always available free from worn out jeans.
You will probably want finger tubes or a band to help you grip the puppet mouth. Finger tubes can be made out of polyfoam and glued to the mouth piece. You may also choose to use waistband elastic to make straps across the mouth plate for your fingers and thumb. I have made foam arches across the mouth plate that my fingers slide in.
Some builders just put a little “speed bump” on the top piece of the mouth plate. This will just a little block of EV200 foam about 3/4″ by 1.” This allows the fingers to grip the mouth plate and not slip.
THIN GAUGE WIRE TO ARTICULATE FINGERS If you want your puppet to be able to hold things, you will need some wire to put in the fingers. Florist wire or any thin gauge wire will work.
EYES Eyes are one of the most important parts of your puppet. The eyes give much of the character to your puppet. I have a short video on various puppet eyes. Eyes can be made from a variety of materials. Something as simple as foam circles on white foam ovals can be used quite effectively for cartoonish characters. Doll eyes from the hobby shop or from used stuff animals (thank you again Goodwill), will also work.
One of my favorite puppets that we use in puppet shows has googly eyes. I am not a big fan of googly eyes since they have no focus, but on our puppet Elmer they work great and the kids love him.
A lot of puppet builders, myself included, use plastic spoons for puppet eyes. They come in a variety of shapes. To use a spoon, cut the handle off with scissors or a Dremel tool. Sand the rough edge and you have the foundation for an eye. You can make a pupil out of a felt circle, Velcro adhesive dots, or even add a teddy bear eye to the spoon. A fleece eyelid will finish it off nicely and can be used to create character and expression. You can also buy puppet eyes or cast your own.
Another great choice for eyes is ping-pong balls. Either the whole ball or half a ball can be used in the same way you would use a plastic spoon. Wooden balls are also used by some builders. These can be purchased at hobby stores and painted white.
ARM RODS Arm rods are attached to a puppet’s wrist or hand to allow the puppeteer to move the arms. Welding rods or coathangers can be used to fashion arm rods. They can be bent to the appropriate shapes and if desired, spray painted black or the color of the puppet to reduce visibility.
When making a wire arm rod, you will want a short piece of wooden dowel or other material to make a handle on the end. Some puppeteers paint wooden dowels and use them as puppet arm rods. Some puppets, especially those used by ventriloquists have a short wooden dowel, 8-10″ attached to the puppet’s elbow to allow movement.
Arm rod puppets can have rods on one or both arms. It takes some practice to get used to manipulating them, but once you do, they add a lot of life to your puppet.
CLOTHING You will want to dress your puppet if it is a huamn puppet and possibly if it is an animal puppet. A simple 1T t-shirt will work fine for a quick puppet cover. I have used bay cloths my little girls out grew. A trip to a yard sale can get you toddler clothes for pennies and quarters. Costume shops are another great place to get puppet clothes. If you want a pirate or a doctor, you can get toddler costumes. If you are good at sewing, you can also design and sew your own clothes.
ADHESIVES There are a wide variety of adhesives used in puppet making. Hot glue guns are commonly used, contact cement, such as Barge, is very common. I cannot picture building a puppet without it. It is the perfect glue for joining foam pieces, gluing mouth plate pieces together and attaching hair. There are spray adhesives like 3M 74 and 77 that are used. For gluing fabric to fabric and even fabric to foam, Beacon’s Fabric-Tac is excellent. I always have some on hand.
MISCELLANEOUS There are some other miscellaneous items you may want to use. Doll joints are great for connecting arms and legs to the puppet. They can also be used to provide an axle for arm rods to swivel on. They are available at hobby shops. Additionally, you may want to use eyeglasses on your puppet and other props to creat character. You can buy cheap sunglasses and take out the shded lenses to create puppet glasses. The can be spray-painted to a desired color if need be. Poly-fill pillow stuffing can be handy to have. Hands, legs and arms can be stuffed with poly-fill if you do not want to make foam appendeges.
As you prepare to make your first puppet, these are the parts you will be making and a quick look at some of the materials you will be working with. I am posting instructions on the webpage for making the various parts and will be posting short videos on YouTube, too. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when new articles and videos are posted.
