What would be good for glasses?

[D'Snowth]

I'm just curious, aside from plastic, which I don't believe I would be able to obtain, what sort of material would make for a good pair of glasses for a puppet?

Considering that the glasses and the eyes would all be one piece (ala similar to glasses with eyes painted on the lenses)?

For some reason, I want to try balsa wood, but my thinking is that would break too easily, especially if puppeteers might get careless with the puppets.

 

[charlie bird]

I used 3d glasses on one of mine.Then I took the plastic out and traceced it without the tab on a sheet of plastic I painted it white and then made a pupil,and so on and I can eamil you a picture if youre interested in seeing it.

 

[Animal31]

I'm just curious, aside from plastic, which I don't believe I would be able to obtain, what sort of material would make for a good pair of glasses for a puppet?

Considering that the glasses and the eyes would all be one piece (ala similar to glasses with eyes painted on the lenses)?

For some reason, I want to try balsa wood, but my thinking is that would break too easily, especially if puppeteers might get careless with the puppets.

Have you tried Build-A-Bear or maybe a craft store?

 

[D'Snowth]

I used 3d glasses on one of mine.Then I took the plastic out and traceced it without the tab on a sheet of plastic I painted it white and then made a pupil,and so on and I can eamil you a picture if youre interested in seeing it.

Hmm, not quite what I was aiming for, as far as the shape of the frames go, but that sounds like an ingenius method... yes, please do, I'd like to see exactly what you were able to come up with.

Have you tried Build-A-Bear or maybe a craft store?

Lol, never been to Build-A-Bear, but yeah, there's a Hobby Lobby in town, not sure how that would help, though. I do know one thing though, this puppet has human-esque hair, so I'd probably have to go to a wig store (which there's one of in the mall).

 

[Animal31]

Hmm, not quite what I was aiming for, as far as the shape of the frames go, but that sounds like an ingenius method... yes, please do, I'd like to see exactly what you were able to come up with.
Lol, never been to Build-A-Bear, but yeah, there's a Hobby Lobby in town, not sure how that would help, though. I do know one thing though, this puppet has human-esque hair, so I'd probably have to go to a wig store (which there's one of in the mall).

I've found doll hair and glasses in the doll section of the local craft store in the past. I guess it would depend on the size of the puppet as well, but it may be a good starting point for you?

Another suggestion would be IParty or party stores like that that sell the "Groucho" glasses...

 

[mummytomb]

Thrift stores will sometimes have real glasses. You. Can paint pupils on the inside of the lenses if you like.

 

[ilovemusic]

Dear D'Snowth,
for glasses you could use an old pair, or a toy one. Or you can make them yourself, I mean, with plastic glass and, I don't know how you call that, thread made of metal (hope that was the good word :/ )
I built a puppet also, and when I needed glasses, I just used old sunglasses and pulled the dark glass out of it and put plastic glass in.
Hope I'd help you!

 

[Puppetainer]

As one of the "old men" of MCF I have a need for reading glasses these days. Now I wouldn't suggest you buy these at Walgreens or something like that as they can be rather pricey. When I shop for myself or a puppet I look at Target and some grocery stores which occasionally have reading glasses in various styles for only ONE DOLLAR each! Perfect for puppets!

 

[D'Snowth]

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions everybody, they're very much appreciated!

 

[D'Snowth]

I never understood why my mom always insisted on keeping the 3-D glasses whenever we see movies, even though the theater staff always tells us to recycle them when we're through... but I guess it's a good thing she did keep all those pairs, because I took initiative from Charlie and used a pair of them for puppet glasses. It's such an ingenius idea that saves me the work of having to construct a pair myself, and the shape of the 3-D glasses is close to what I wanted.

I experimented with three different pairs to see how good of results I could get; I really wanted to paint them a certainly color as according to the sketch art/puppet design, but the surface of the glasses didn't allow for a good paint job, as it keep chipping off after it was dry, and made for a bit of a mess. So the last pair, I left as is, and for the eyes, I did similar to Charlie, only I applied the eyes directly to the front of the lenses (low budget puppets call for simpler materials, but it's all about the character and personality, because all my puppets have paper-covered cardboard eyes, I wouldn't even know where to look for the plastic used for eyes). I'm really pleased with the results, and sometime within the next two weeks or so, I'm going to start working on the last two puppets I've been meaning to build for quite sometime, including the character I call Easter Egg, whom the glasses are for.

Jeepers creepers, where'd I get those bespectacled puppet peepers?