Puppets
My whole life, I have been madly obsessed with the Muppets. I firmly believe I never would have found my love for theater without them. For years, I have been wanting to make my own puppet. When we were first quarantined during the Covid-19 pandemic, I had the perfect opportunity to give it a try! Since then I’ve been hooked.
Loopy
I built Loopy on my way to my Freshman year of college. She is one of my favorite puppets I have ever made! In 2021, I entered her into the Home Arts Building at the Elkhart County Fair. Not only did she secure first place in her category, but also earned a Rosette!
Loopy was constructed in the fall of 2020.
Guillermo de la Cruz
Also at the beginning of the pandemic, I began an obsession with the TV show What We Do in the Shadows. Guillermo de la Cruz is easily my favorite character. I love him so much, I decided to make a puppet of him!
The reference photo I used, from What We Do in the Shadows on FX.
I wanted to do things differently than I had before for this puppet. I decided to put magnets in his hands so that he could easily hold things. I also styled his hair, made from faux fur, using Elmer’s Glue. His clothes are children’s clothes I found at a thrift store.
Guillermo was constructed in the summer of 2022.
Little G and Aubie
Little G was a gift to my little brother for his seventh birthday. It was a good project for me— I had to figure out how to scale down my patterns to fit little hands. It was also my first time using faux fur as hair and I had to teach myself how to cut short hair. I had to learn a lot of new skills to make it and it really pushed me as an artist.
I built Aubie around the same time. They were the first live hand puppet I ever built and I quickly realized that it’s my favorite kind of puppet to make. I used an old dishtowel for their nose and sewed yarn into their head for the hair.
Little G and Aubie were built in the summer of 2020.
Perry the Platypus
For Halloween of 2020, I wanted to be Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. Of course, I needed to make a puppet of Doofenshmirtz’s arch nemesis: Perry the Platypus!
I started out by making a foam cube on top of a foam rectangular prism. I was most excited by finding a silicone pot holder for the mouth. I used a blue blanket for the fur and an orange beach towel for the beak and tail. His eyes are ping pong balls that I purposefully made cock eyed, and they bounced jauntily when moved. I made a tiktok of my process!
Perry the Platypus was built in October of 2020.
Feltface and Lil Cheeto
Feltface and Lil Cheeto were the first puppets I made! Feltface is supposed to be me, while Lil Cheeto is based on my best friend. Feltface is thusly named because I messed up and put the seam allowances on the outside of her face and I just glued them down, so she looks very stitched together, reminding me of Leatherface. Lil Cheeto is made from an old beach towel. Both puppets hair is made from yarn I stitched into their scalps, and I followed wig making tutorials on youtube to figure out the best way to do it.
Feltface and Lil Cheeto were made in the spring of 2020.