Back around 2015, I decided to handcraft a puppet out of everyday materials.
I decided to make character that’s an “All-Seeing Eye” that never notices anything. He’s always tired and uninterested in regular society, let alone the secret ones.
I had this plastic bulb from a nightlight and I took apart one of those clamping loose tea leaf holders (I took the ball part off).
I attached the bulb and the tea holder together with all-purpose wire and on each side of the tea holder I attached “eyelids” made of a cut up yoga mat and more wire. So now, when the tea holder is squeezed, instead of opening a tea ball infuser, the puppet can open and close its eyes.
The yellow buttons give the eyelid wires stability.
I glued a googly eye on the light for a pupil and beads and felt for the iris. It’s just an led inside a plastic bulb from the dollar store for the eye itself.
For the body, I “sewed” together a cut up yoga mat with wire
I was watching “The Dark Crystal”, since I was making a puppet, I thought it would be fitting!
I made the general pyramid shape and inserted the eye
For the “skin” and mouth parts, I bought cheap socks and blankets that felt soft and were colors I liked.
The puppet from the bottom. I can stick my arm in there to move the eyelids, and the mouth.
I cut a slit for the mouth and created a sock-tongue
Finally, I wrapped and glued his skin on, and gave him some folds and wrinkles for aesthetics and personality.
Here he is in action!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YsNZ6USyCU&ab_channel=CuddlestheTarantula
And that was how I made a hand puppet out of household materials.