The Ringmaster's Son

This is the latest puppet for the new Swazzle puppet show, The River Otter Circus. I built him based on Patrick's design. The River Otter Circus will begin it's Northern California tour on June 16, 2009, it moves to San Diego on July 20, 2009. Check out Swazzle.com for a complete tour schedule.

Bobberheads

This is Jimmy from the Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan by Snapdragon Puppet Productions. This cleverly designed rod puppet stands just under 10 inches tall. Puppet builder Roger Mara called these puppets "Bobberheads" because the heads are made from fishing floats or bobbers. The Spring 2007 edition of The Puppetry Journal includes detailed instructions that show how to make a Bobberhead. The puppet making guide is complete with a parts list, labeled illustrations, written instructions, and close up photos.

Swazzle Workshop Episode 7

Episode 7 of the Swazzle Workshop is now online. In this episode Mayor Mole stops by to show Tiger and Mousedeer how to make a Garbage Monster puppet. Please enjoy and pass it on to your friends.

Archie McPhee

Located in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Archie McPhee is a must visit store full to the brim of oddities and bazar collectable junk. It's like shopping in Pee Wee's Playhouse!

The founder of Archie McPhee started in Los Angles by selling rubber lizards, rubber chickens, punching nuns and other crazy items out of his home. He discovered that there was a market for that stuff and in 1983 he moved his entire inventory to Seattle and set up shop. His first store was located in Fremont, an arts neighborhood in Seattle, and it stayed in that location for fourteen years. The shop was moved to its current location in Ballard in 1999. Archie McPhee's is a must see tourist destination and an outrageous shopping experience.

For the puppet builders out there you will find plastic bins full of taxidermy eyes, a wall of wigs, spools of wacky ribbons, colored wire, rubber tubing, industrial odds and ends and more.

Archie McPhee's also sells it's own line of toys through their toy label Accoutrements. Some of their most popular items include Devil Duckies, the Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure, and Bacon Bandages.

Neoprene Puppet Heads

These are neoprene puppet heads under construction. They are being made by Seattle Children's Theater head puppeteer Doug Paasch.

Neoprene casting compound is a great puppet building material. It's nontoxic and it comes ready to pour into plaster molds. Once it is removed from the mold it cures and the resulting product is both light weight and sturdy. Cured neoprene can be sanded, drilled, primed and painted. Neoprene is the preferred building material for puppeteers that make ventriloquist dummies and marionettes.

At Swazzle we use neoprene for special touches like horns or teeth. Neoprene can also be brushed onto foam with a chip brush. I used that technique to create the "bone heads" of Sid and Ed the Pachycepholauruses from Harry and the Tyrannosaurs Rex.

I get my Neoprene from Chicago Latex. They offer various compounds that range from rigid to flexible.

Dino Pop Up Puppet

This dinosaur puppet is yet another Pop Up Puppet by Rob D'Arc. Back in 1999 Rob wrote an article for the Puppetry Journal showing how to make a Pop Up Puppet in four easy steps - complete with a simple pattern. If you want to buy a Pop Up Puppet check out www.planetofthePuppets.com.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 49

Glue the puppet's nose on with Barge cement, and it's done!

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 48

Lady Fromage's whiskers are made from sturdy white thread. To attach them, simply stick a threaded needle all the way through the puppet's muzzle. Cut the whisker to the right length, and dab a bit of glue at the base to keep them secure.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 47

Lady Fromage's eye lashes are snipped from black fun foam.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 46

Using a mixture of liquid latex rubber and latex paint, paint the puppet's nose. The liquid latex rubber will preserve the foam and keep the nose from getting crunchy over time.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 45

Now the last final touches are being added to the puppet. Lady Fromage's nose is made from a quarter inch foam. Trace the pattern onto the foam, and cut the shape out with a blade. Dab a light coat of contact cement on to the edges of the nose, and pinch them together.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 44

Using a simple whip stitch and sturdy thread sew the puppet's ears on.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 43

Wrap the felt around the armature wire and glue it in place. Use small scissors to snip off the extra felt.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 42

Now it's time to make the puppet's ears. Many different materials can be used to make ears for a puppet like this: fun foam, felt etc. - I'm using felt. To get the ears to stand upright, glue in armature wire bent to the size of the ear. This will not only give the ears rigidity, but it will make them posable.

Lady Fromage Puppet, Part 41

Once you have found the proper placement for the puppet's eyes secure them in place. I'm using beads for Lady Fromage's eyes so they are stitched in place. Eyes can also be glued in place with hot glue, or pinned in so you can reposition them.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 40

The puppet is really coming along now. Because this blog isn't really focused on costumes, I didn't document that part of the process. I'm sure there are plenty of great blogs and web sites dedicated to costume design and creation - so check them out for more information. I've attached the felt hands to the nylon arm string, now it's time to add the facial features.

Lady Fromage's eyes are made from black beads. Before you glue the eyes in place, check the placement with pins. Once you have the placement, glue them in place with a dab of hot glue.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 39

Lady Fromage's hands are cut from quarter inch foam, and covered with white felt.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 37

Slip the puppet's foam body over the PVC pipe rod. Cut away enough foam from the top of the body to ensure that the string hole is clear.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 36

Drill a small hole about a half an inch down from the top of the PVC rod. Drill a second hole about an inch and a half from the finger trigger.

Sew a piece of sturdy fishing line to the puppet's bottom jaw. Thread the fishing line through the first hole, into the pipe, and out the second hole.

Using Barge Cement glue a piece of felt around the metal finger trigger.

Sew the fishing line to end of the finger trigger - the line should be taught when the finger trigger is horizontal. When you pull down on the trigger with your finger, the puppet's mouth will open, when you release, the puppet's mouth will spring closed.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 35

Using a clamp and pliers bend a length of piano wire into a rectangle. The two ends of the piano wire should come together at one of the narrow sides of the rectangle. Drill two holes on either side of the PVC pipe just below the thumb control. Insert the piano wire into the holes. This will become the finger trigger to control the puppet's mouth.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 30

Cut a short length of wooden dowel. The dowel should be wide enough to fit inside the pvc pipe control. Drill a small hole through the center of the dowel. This will be a collar that will keep the puppet's head rod centered in the handle.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 29

Measure about an inch or so from the bottom of the puppet's head rod, and make a mark. Using a clamp and pliers, make a ninety degree bend at the mark.

lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 28

Measure between five to six inches from the bottom of the PVC pipe and make a mark.

Using a fine toothed saw make a cut about half way through the pipe. Don't make the cut too deep, or the control will loose strength and break.

Measure about a quarter of an inch from the first cut. Use the saw to make a second parallel cut the same depth.

Using a utility knife carefully cut between the two incisions, and remove the quarter inch piece of plastic.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 26

Using Barge cement, glue the foam body leaves together. Once the bell shaped lower body and torso are constructed, glue them together. This will form the structure of the puppet's body.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 25

Lady Fromage will be wearing a formal gown that has a bell shape. I'm using five flattened triangles to achieve that shape.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 23

Lady Fromage's body will also be made from foam. Because she is such a small puppet, I'm using quarter inch foam. Just like the head, begin by planning your shapes out on paper. Create patterns of the desired foam shapes, and cut them out using a sharp blade. I find it helpful to put a small dot at the top of each shape, to insure that they are glued together the right way.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 21

Cut the white fleece for the puppet's bottom jaw and muzzle. It should be just large enough to cover the desired area, and lay flat next to the gray fleece.

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 20

Now that the gray fleece is sewn in place. It's time to add the white on the puppet's bottom jaw and muzzle.

Nice Note from Germany

Occasionally, I get e-mails from people that find my blog helpful. Here is one I just received from Thomas, a new puppet builder in Germany:

"First I'd like to thank you so much for sharing your puppet building "magic". Over here in Germany puppets are still quite often concerned as solely children's entertainment (or very rude entertainment in the comedy business) so there's not so much a puppet-building-society where you could learn how to build puppets.

Thanx to your blog I started building my first puppet and now I'm addicted :-). Just a few days ago I also set up a blog where I'm going to try to share my experiences for german (but not only german) puppet builders."

Lady Fromage Rod Puppet, Part 24

Using a small whip stitch, sew the fleece together. Because the Antron (or Muppet) fleece hides seams so well, it isn't necessary to use a fancy stitch.

Snowman Puppet Part 15

Meet The Snowman!

Check out Episode 12 of The Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 14

The snowman's hands, arms, and fingers are made from bamboo. Bamboo is perfect for a snowman puppet because it's strong, hollow, and has a natural stick look.



Cut the arms to the appropriate length. Thread string through each end so that a couple of inches hang out of either end. Use hot glue to glue the string in place.



Cut the fingers and glue strings inside, make sure a couple inches of string hang out so you can attach the fingers to the arm.



Glue foam and felt around the palm and elbow. Use scissors to poke a hole in the puppet's shoulders. Thread the excess string through the hole and use hot glue to attach the arms inside the body.

Check out Episode 11 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 13

Machine sew a tube from heavy cotton material for the neck sleeve. Make sure the sleeve is wide enough to accommodate the widest part of your arm. Using Barge Cement glue the neck sleeve to the inside of the puppet's head hole.

Check out Episode 10 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 12

Using Barge contact cement glue the puppet's eyes into the sockets.

Check out Episode 9 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 11

Using detail scissors snip a shallow hole in the fake snow, just deep enough to expose the foam. Make sure the hole is large enough to fit the coal eyes, and not any larger.

Check out Episode 8 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 10

The snowman's nose was very simple. I used a fake carrot that I got at the craft store. To attach it, cut a slit in the face with a razor blade. Apply a generous amount of contact cement to the carrot and insert into the hole, then glue fake snow around the base of the carrot.

Check out Episode 7 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 9

The snowman's coal eyes are snipped from foam. Use scissors and snip down until you get the right shape.



Paint the foam with a mixture of liquid latex rubber and latex paint. The latex rubber keeps the paint flexible, and prevents it from cracking.

Check out Episode 6 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 8

Now it's time to fabricate the puppet. I'll be covering the snowman with layers of fake snow. Luckily I was building this puppet during December so fake snow was easy to come by. To adhere the snow, I'm using two spray adhesives, Super 90 and Super 77.



Begin by spraying a liberal about of Super 90 over a small section of the body. Once the glue starts to set up, press the fake snow onto the body. It is best to wear rubber gloves so the glue and snow doesn't stick to your hands.



Once the whole body is covered with a layer of snow, spay a small section with Super 77 and sprinkle on glitter, or shinny snow flakes. Continue until the whole body is covered. Once the body is finished, do the same with the head.

Check out Episode 5 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast.

Snowman Puppet Part 7

Mark the puppets mouth with a pen, and cut it carefully with an electric knife.



Use detail scissors to refine the puppet's mouth shape.



Insert the mouth pallet and glue it in place. Check out this tutorial for more about hand grips and mouth pallets. Usually I like to make the mouth pallet red and the tongue pink, but since this is a snowman I thought it would be fun to use purple and blue.

Check out Episode 4 of The 12 Days of Christmas Podcast