Mushroom Cloud Puppet

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Mushroom Cloud Hand Puppet
It's only safe to say you haven't seen it before

This is my first puppet. An acquaintance commissioned it after seeing my Giant Vegetables at a wedding. I'd never made a puppet, but didn't think about that when I heard what he wanted. What followed were months of excitement and anxiety when I realized I would need to not just design it, but learn how to make puppets from scratch.

Puppet by Amy Brown, Photo by Sheldon Steere

Mushroom Cloud Puppet by Amy Brown, Photo by Sheldon Steere

The previous photos were taken by Sheldon Steere (visit his site here). I'd also like to show some progress shots.

How'd it get made?

First, I finished a canister of oatmeal. At this point, I really had no idea what I was doing. I still thought Muppets were made out of felt.

This first attempt, or the anti-smoking mascot as I called it, was horrifying, but it helped me figure out some things.

For example, the comfort of the puppeteer's hand is greatly enhanced by my somewhat kooky design. It may get hot after a while, but it's soft and fits like a glove. More literally, like a sock.

After getting some hints from a pro, I was better on my way to figuring out how to make a working hand puppet that still looked like a man-made disaster.

It looks awful, but it's the sum of a lot of trial and error. I had to figure out how to stabilize and reinforce an object that was going to take a lot of handling, while working with the materials I had on hand and keeping the whole thing light.

This is the bottom cloud, which was a little tricky to build the frame for.

I built the top cloud from 12 and 24 gauge wire, the netting from bags of clementines, hot glue and bamboo fiber batting. I used all the small junctures of 24 gauge wire to hold a glob of hot glue in place while I pinched piece by piece of batting onto the form. The netting gave a little extra stability.

The eyes were made from plastic "acorn capsules", batting, red tempera paint, black felt and grey fleece. And of course, hot glue. Before I added the lids, it looked pretty scary.

I fortified the cloud pieces with tacky spray and let them dry for a few days. Just a little stickiness remains, but the clouds are solid and won't snag unless you really try.