What materials can I use for a spyrofoam puppet's pupils?

[shoo]

I've got myself a nearly finished fullbody costume, but I am having trouble with the eyes... The round eyeballs are made of spyrofoam, and I want to attach black pupils so they act like Cookie's pupils; bouncing everywhere. My problem is that I don't know what sort of material/fabric the pupils are made of, what sort screws to use AND how tiny the screws should be...

If you look at this picture, you will see that there are black screws attached to the pupils so the pupils can spin around and have that googly effect like on Cookie, but what material are the pupils of? What material for the pupils would work best on spyrofoam eyeballs? And how tiny are the screws? 2-5mm? Also, are there special screws one should use..?

I really hope someone can come with a quick reply on this one. I've tried reading and searching around, but there are no threads that answers my questions, so I hope you guys can help me out on this one! If there are any videos or tutorials, let me know.

Thanks a bunch in advance! I am happy that I've found my way here! A personal muppet world! :O

 

[Animal31]

I've got myself a nearly finished fullbody costume, but I am having trouble with the eyes... The round eyeballs are made of spyrofoam, and I want to attach black pupils so they act like Cookie's pupils; bouncing everywhere. My problem is that I don't know what sort of material/fabric the pupils are made of, what sort screws to use AND how tiny the screws should be...

If you look at this picture, you will see that there are black screws attached to the pupils so the pupils can spin around and have that googly effect like on Cookie, but what material are the pupils of? What material for the pupils would work best on spyrofoam eyeballs? And how tiny are the screws? 2-5mm? Also, are there special screws one should use..?

I really hope someone can come with a quick reply on this one. I've tried reading and searching around, but there are no threads that answers my questions, so I hope you guys can help me out on this one! If there are any videos or tutorials, let me know.

Thanks a bunch in advance! I am happy that I've found my way here! A personal muppet world! :O

With Styrofoam, I would maybe suggest long hat pins with glue to seal them into the ball? Cut the pupils out of foam and leave them dangling a bit on the pin so they can spin freely.....

Good Luck!

 

[shoo]

Oky. Hmm... it sounds kinda bad to use just pins... hmm... Since it's a fullbody costume, wouldn't it be better for me to use something else? Like, what's the materials used for eye-balls and pupils on the picture I linked to in my first post? I am asking this because I move and jump around a lot with my costume, so it'd be nice if you wouldn't suddenly fall off...

What sort foam and hat pins are we talking about? Can you post any pictures?

 

[practicecactus]

I started a cookie monster and I've used plastic Christmas Tree decoration balls for both the eyeballs and pupils. The ball you use for the pupils can be slightly smaller than the size of your eyeballs but the curve is what you want. Might take a little practice to get right cutting out the pupil, but one ball can provide a few pupils. You can even use light sanding to get them as round as possible.
Like Animal31 said above, being styrofoam, you could just use pins to hold them in. Little screws wouldn't take to well to your styrofoam eyes anyway. Just make sure the hole is the perfect size and doesn't make the pupil fall out.
The way I like to make precise small holes in plastic is a pin [or similarly small thin metal thing, depending on the size of hole you want], held with plyers, heated over a candle to make it hot enough to make a hole through the plastic. You just have to cut away any excess plastic but it ensures the right size.

Hope that helps or gives you ideas.

 

[shoo]

Neat! Thanks for this.

Any chance that you could take a picture of your cookie monster eyeballs and pupil so I can see how you've done it, perhaps? Would've been very kind of you if you could. How do you make the christmas decoration stuck onto foam then..? Any ideas on that? (my head is made out of foam)

And how do I make the pupil stay on the pin without it falling off if I'd mount it to a styrofoam?

I started a cookie monster and I've used plastic Christmas Tree decoration balls for both the eyeballs and pupils. The ball you use for the pupils can be slightly smaller than the size of your eyeballs but the curve is what you want. Might take a little practice to get right cutting out the pupil, but one ball can provide a few pupils. You can even use light sanding to get them as round as possible.
Like Animal31 said above, being styrofoam, you could just use pins to hold them in. Little screws wouldn't take to well to your styrofoam eyes anyway. Just make sure the hole is the perfect size and doesn't make the pupil fall out.
The way I like to make precise small holes in plastic is a pin [or similarly small thin metal thing, depending on the size of hole you want], held with plyers, heated over a candle to make it hot enough to make a hole through the plastic. You just have to cut away any excess plastic but it ensures the right size.

Hope that helps or gives you ideas.

 

[Animal31]

Oky. Hmm... it sounds kinda bad to use just pins... hmm... Since it's a fullbody costume, wouldn't it be better for me to use something else? Like, what's the materials used for eye-balls and pupils on the picture I linked to in my first post? I am asking this because I move and jump around a lot with my costume, so it'd be nice if you wouldn't suddenly fall off...

What sort foam and hat pins are we talking about? Can you post any pictures?

Personally I wouldn't use styrofoam at all, but that was the question you posed, so I thought the long pins with the ball on the end and some craft foam may be a viable solution for you....

 

[shoo]

Personally I wouldn't use styrofoam at all, but that was the question you posed, so I thought the long pins with the ball on the end and some craft foam may be a viable solution for you....

Yeah, that's what I thought... hence why I want to try out that christmass decoration idea that cactus posted. Sounds like a good idea, but I don't know how I can make it stay firmly on my costume heads foam without the entire eyeball falling off! And the same goes for the pupil itself...

Would need some more instructions so I can see what to do..

What would YOU suggest me to use then..?

Thanks for bothering to help me! :>

 

[Animal31]

I'm personally going to try the Christmas ornaments on a project of my own as well. I'm thinking where the head is 1" foam, I'm going to use doll joints thru the bottom sticking up, and then hot glue the shaft of the ornament thru the top down into the foam onto the joint.

Does that sound about right guys?

 

[shoo]

Yeah, I'll go for the christmas ornaments as well. But what sort of christmas ornaments? Are we talking about these kind of ornaments: click this link!, or? Like, mount the doll joints (what sort of doll joints?) through the holes of the ornaments? And should I just paint/spray the ornaments white? Can't seem to find any white-colored ornaments, really... hmm... EDIT: Are we talking about white christmas ornaments like this one? - Found a local store with white xmas balls! Great! :> Now, what to use for pupils...

But yeah, that sound like a good plan, animal. When will you be starting on your project, hmm?

What should I use for the pupils then? And if I use screws through the ornaments for the pupils, will that be enough..? Will it be kept in place or is there a risk for the screw to...like...fall off?

Just curious; what materials are used on this picture? Does anyone know?

I'm personally going to try the Christmas ornaments on a project of my own as well. I'm thinking where the head is 1" foam, I'm going to use doll joints thru the bottom sticking up, and then hot glue the shaft of the ornament thru the top down into the foam onto the joint.

Does that sound about right guys?

 

[Animal31]

Yeah, I'll go for the christmas ornaments as well. But what sort of christmas ornaments? Are we talking about these kind of ornaments: click this link!, or? Like, mount the doll joints (what sort of doll joints?) through the holes of the ornaments? And should I just paint/spray the ornaments white? Can't seem to find any white-colored ornaments, really... hmm... EDIT: Are we talking about white christmas ornaments like this one? - Found a local store with white xmas balls! Great! :> Now, what to use for pupils...

But yeah, that sound like a good plan, animal. When will you be starting on your project, hmm?

What should I use for the pupils then? And if I use screws through the ornaments for the pupils, will that be enough..? Will it be kept in place or is there a risk for the screw to...like...fall off?

Just curious; what materials are used on this picture? Does anyone know?

If you can find them in white, that would be perfect, you're looking for something between 48-50mm for a Cookie or Elmo type I believe? I could only find them in green and gold so far.

The screw should be fine by itself, and I liked the idea of cutting the pupil from another ball to get the round shape to it. Other than that it's going to just be alot of trial and error, so have fun with it! .....