Starting Over

I took a long hiatus from puppetry. Now that my daughters are grown, I'm just not around kids that much. And then just over a year ago I moved out to the Mojave Desert and there are no kids anywhere near me at all! But now I have grandchildren far away and they are just getting old enough to appreciate puppets. So maybe that will be motivation for me to start again. Plus I always wanted to do puppet shows on YouTube. So I'll add that to the list of 1000 things I want to do. Puppets. Yeah.

Puppet Vendor at SCA event yesterday.

At an SCA event we were vending at there was a puppet booth. I saw the same booth at the Irvine Lake Ren. Faire. Here are some photos I got with permission of the vendor.

Found Art Puppets

Before you run to the store to buy even more parts for making puppets, check your home stash first. Here is a list of things that can be converted to use as a puppet or puppet theater.

1. Margarine and yogurt containers.
2. Coffee can lids.
3. Egg cartons.
4. Foam trays from veggies.
5. Pipe cleaners
6. Bits of ribbon, lace and trim left from other projects
7. Quilt scraps that are too small for quilts
8. Hair bows, ties, bobby pins
9. Zip ties
10. Wire twist ties from trash bag cartons.
11. Gourds
12. Balls
13. Feathers
14. Thread, yarn, artificial sinew scraps
15. Old spools
16. Telephone wire leftovers
17. Any wire
18. Paints
19. Beeswax
20. Hot melt glue
21. Gesso
22. Flour, salt, water (bread dough art)
23. Dried flowers, herbs, leaves
24. Tiddly winks, dice, random game pieces
25. Driftwood
26. Onion skins, tea, coffee (for dyeing)
27. Lids off of bottles
28. Socks
29. T-shirts
30. Rags
31. Hankerchiefs
32. Old screens
33. Dryer vent hose scraps
34. Buttons
35. Sleeves from sweaters, long sleeved t-shirts
36. Drapes
37. Bamboo (chopsticks, skewers, placemats)
38. Barettes
39. Rubber bands or elastic hair ties
40. Seeds
41. Tights
42. Rubber stamps
43. Wool roving
44. Stain or shoe polish
45. Shoe parts
46. Eyelets or snaps
47. Leather scraps
48. Broken toys
49. Unwanted holiday ornaments
50. Dryer lint
51. Paper scraps
52. Dowels, broom handles, broom bristles.
53. Soda bottles

And this is just the beginning. Most of us throw away tons of stuff that can be put to use in the world of puppets. Young children will need to be supervised. Remember, temporary puppets for a few days of fun can be made of things that might fall apart over time, like moss and sticks. For more permanent puppets use plastic, metal washers, and so on to give it more durability.

Puppets Rule

I have puppets on my mind today. I have a puppet Twitter here: http://twitter.com/TippythePuppet I want to make some new puppets for my Etsy Shop now that that stupid law has been put on hold for a year for further study. You know the one that wants every single toy checked for lead even if it's made out of yarn and could easily put starving artists out of business.

So, what kind of puppets should I make? Now that I've done some wood carving I'd love to carve a puppet head. And I really haven't explored gourd puppets all that much. And big mouth puppets might be fun. Do you have a puppet opinion?

Four friends

I just listed 4 new finger puppets in my Etsy Shop this morning. Work before pleasure eh? I hope someone likes them as much as I do. I think I like the frog the best. I wonder why I made 3 birds instead of 3 frogs. Maybe I think of birds being in flocks and frogs being alone. Who can figure out the artistic mind?

Hug a Puppet

I made a puppet treasury on Etsy just now because I'm in such a puppety mood. It expires in a few days, but the photo will stay on my blog. Or come see it live on Etsy while it's still up: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=30929

More puppets I've made

I had to snatch my puppet photos off of my Flickr Account. Sometimes that is easier than finding them on my hard drive.

These represent 3 types of puppets: finger puppets, hand puppets, and big mouth puppets.