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How to make a finger puppet: Ice cream pattern
I made this puppet a few years ago basically for fun: the idea was to make a finger puppet that suited my skill levels as an adult. It’s certainly not your average bear… er, ice cream cone… I took my very basic finger puppet pattern and added quite a few things to come up with the Ice Cream Finger Puppet. With easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions, plenty of pictures, and a set of patterns, you can make this fun puppet for home play or performance. Use the large links below to navigate the different sections.
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Making 'professional' puppets as a beginner
You could just start with the Beginners’ Guide to Puppetry. This really is more about professionalism than about giving you a "here’s how you build a puppet from A to Z" type article. For that, well, as I say, head here.
This is one of those topics that irks me, because it’s a lot of myth and a lot of misunderstandings amongst the general public about how to go about making ‘professional puppets’. In this article I hope to both shed some light on those myths, and show you how you can go about doing it yourself at the same time. So let’s start with the basics: what do we mean by ‘professional’?
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How to use a light curtain with puppets
In my article describing light curtain, I began to discuss some of the details of how you could use one for your own show. Because light curtain may initially confuse the reader, I offer the following not just as a tutorial, but as a way to further understand what light curtain is and how it works.
As explained in the light curtain article, a curtain of light is created by directing two beams of light at each other. Objects that are placed in front of, or within, the light can be seen by the audience. Objects that are placed behind the beam of light can’t be seen. This means that you can have puppeteers wandering around onstage without creating a large set to hide them: but in order to make an effective light curtain, you will need to follow some basic steps. It should be noted that puppeteers behind the curtain of light can see each other, as well as everything in front of them. It’s quite an eerie experience! Video example at the end of the post.
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Free pattern: How to make shadow puppets, Redback spider
Grab the FREE pattern, use the instructions within AND/OR watch the video tutorial belowIn the spirit of halloween, I’m giving you a fun…ok, creepy… shadow puppet pattern. It’s an Australian redback spider. All the instructions, including materials and tools, are provided in the pattern and the video; and there’s another video in the set that shows you how the puppet turns out.
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How to make a puppet
Writing a ‘how to make a puppet’ article is simply impossible. Every time I see "step by step guide to making puppets" appear in my web stats I roll my eyes and think "what kind of puppet?" There’s no right or wrong way to make a puppet, there are a huge number of different methods and techniques, and this doesn’t include the numerous styles, characters, or materials that one can use. Asking ‘how to make a puppet’ is kind of like asking ‘how to paint’ or ‘how to play music’; expecting a one-size-fits-all answer is quite naive. Making puppets can be easy, but it seems daunting at first. Maybe you first need to step back and read the Beginner’s Guide to Puppetry before diving in.
Hi Margaret,
... School of Puppetry on Where to buy puppets in Australia?Depending on the condition of the puppet, you might be able to attract some interest from buyers. I would suggest doing a search on ebay for puppets and do some research on comparison prices. I do know that hand puppets seem to be popular on ebay, and if the puppet is in good to excellent condition, it may be of some interest to collectors.
Outside of that, I'm afraid I can't help much, as I don't know much about vintage puppets. You may want to see if you can get your hands on a collector's guide to puppets, which may have more information which might help you.