Creating an armature to act as the cranium of the puppet was a major undertaking. I used a heat gun to heat and bend PVC pipes to create the base shape. The pipes were then connected with PVC joiners and a sealant. After that I had planned to use reticulated foam as the main cover for the armature, but found the foam to be more difficult to shape than it was worth. The difficulties with the foam led to pivoting to using chicken wire, quilt batting, some chunks of foam, and fabric to create the basic head for the puppet. After making the head the ramp and lever mechanism got the head attached to them. Then we painted the puppet and created a little 'flower pot' to better hide the ramp. Lastly finishing details like some leaves and floral accoutrements were added and completed our monster.Â
(I do not have pictures of painting the puppet or from adding the chicken wire and quilt batting on to the PVC frame)