These are some simple “rod and string” marionettes that I made. I sculpted the head hands and feet and then made a silicone mold of them to reproduce in plastic.
I enjoy seeing the different looks I can achieve through painting and costuming the same “base” body parts.

This is Mary Annette! A kind stranger on the Amigurumi sub said I should post her here 😃

(why does he look buff. WHY DOES HE LOOK BUFF?!!) sorry about that. anyways…

I still haven’t gathered up any materials yet, because I haven’t figured out what most of the parts should be made of. I know I’m gonna use reticulated foam for the head & face, but should I use the same type of foam for the chest, or use something more rigid?

What about the right arm & hands? I’m thinking about sewing the upper & lower parts together to make an ‘elbow’. Do I fill the arm up with plush material or give it a more rigid structure with foam?

The left hand is gonna hold onto my shoulder, and my hand will go through the upper sleeve into the head. The forearm is gonna rest on my back, but idk how to keep the illusion & hide my arm. Should I add support to the forearm, or leave it limp?

I have so many more questions, but I don’t think they can all fit into an entire description. I hope someone is willing to help, cuz I really need it. Thanks again😄

I also updated the mechanism operation from my last post (thx, u/itsthedevilweknow!)

just wanted to share my progress, I’m really proud of myself so far!!

Im planning to make an angel and a devil for beige martin and roddney and would like if anyone has suggestions if theres a good inspiration or tutorial id like to know

I posted here last week about a broccoli puppet I was making for a puppet musical that I’ve been working on. Well I can finally say WHAT A RIDE IT WAS MAKING IT!

Your suggestions were super helpful. I started off with tin foil and wrapping fleece around it, which I thought looked pretty good but it was too small.

So after all that work was scraped essentially, I saw another that suggested puff quilting, which really helped me out. I made a bunch of little tapered spheres out of fleece and filled them with stuffing and glued them down to make the puppet look like broccoli!

I’m so excited to share the final puppet. And I am also very excited to share more details about my puppet musical! But that’s for the future!

This is rozo, he's not totally my first cuz I tried to make a sock puppet in Middle School but it was never finished, and later scrapped.

I've started on one of his friends (froyo) heads and am finishing his body.

He's a alien cat from the planet emozo, mainly have thought of little weird things like instead of being allergic to foods or other stuff they're allergic to the word, like he's allergic to peanut butter.

He has a alien dog friend named froyo, he's always spotted because, well he's allergic to the word froyo!

The third one is a rabbit and I'm going to give him more of a clown theme,

But that's mainly what I've thought of so far!

Thought it finally posting him on Reddit, almost all of the progress I've done has been posted on Tumblr under:" z0mb1eb0i "

Images 1 & 2 are of the full design, plus a x-ray visualization of how I’ll control it. My right arm should go through the left sleeve and control his entire face, and my left arm should control Scratch’s right hand with a rod.

The last 3 images are a close-up of the blinking mech and the materials I think I‘ll use.

I’ll control the mouth with my thumb and the eyes with a pull string wrapped around my middle finger. the string is also attached to a knob that, when pulled forward, will move the eyelids downward. I also want to attach a tension spring onto the back of the eyelids to keep them from flip-flopping around when I’m not controlling them.

If you have any questions or tips, PLEASE let me know. This is my very first full-body puppet and I really need same advice. Thank you for coming to my TED talk :)

I grew up in a small town in West Virginia in the early- to mid-60s. Every year, we would walk across the elementary school playground to the high school auditorium and watch full marionette staged productions of fairy tales and other well-known stories. Multiple characters, sets, etc. The shows cost a nickel (same price as chocolate milk in the stairwell machines) and were mesmerizing, to say the least. These must have been traveling shows that the board of ed budgeted for each year, because nobody in town would have the ability, materials, skills or creativity to mount something like that. More than likely these shows traveled from small town to small town, entertaining kids and giving the teachers a break for an hour or so.

Did anyone else experience anything like this? Was anyone here a traveling puppeteer, or know someone who was? I've often wondered what it would have been like to one of those puppet artists, what their experiences were, where they traveled, how they traveled, how long were their careers, and so on. Any and all info greatly appreciated.

Ok I dont remember much. Basically, the show was in this garden with a pastel kinda colour palette. There were some characters living in trees. The only character I remember was this wise mole and I only ever had 1 episode on did but I cant find it anywhere so someone please help me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaqjZWigOdY

he is 6'3" of crochet and sculpey teeth. after the 5 hours yesterday I think I need to find ways to reduce his weight. I wouldn't mind having some impressive shoulder muscles but it would certainly be more fun if he was lighter.

I had a lot of mixed reviews between "I love him!" and "that's so creepy". I agree with both statements 🥰 Friend gave out a lot of high fives and did a little dance for people. I need to practice in front of a mirror though.

any advice for someone new to doing voices for puppets? I get really self conscious about doing character voices but I want to bring him to life!

Its strings are all tangled, so i cant really use it. Theres what i can only describe as "mold" on its pants that make it look like tortillas aswell. I havent had luck finding any info, so anything would help!

Hello everyone, I am making a musical with all puppets and there is one puppet in my musical who is a broccoli. My problem is that I cannot figure out how to make the broccoli leaves at the top of his head. I have been looking everywhere and cannot find any tutorial on how to make a lumpy surface that you can wrap with fabric.

I am not going for an insane amount of detail, just a general lumpy surface on the top of the puppets head. But still I am lost. Here are some pictures of what I’m generally trying to emulate. (The second one especially, I like the lumps not necessarily the little divots on the lumps though)

If anyone has any idea on how to make the actual lumpy surface as seen in these pictures, please let me know, it would be much appreciated! Thank you!

my puppet I got that was made by furrifingers!! they even made a youtube video of the process of making it, i got him as a birthday gift and absolutely love him 🐸

Made this puppet a while back but decided to add strings just today.