Seen my eyeball box?  I store my homemade eyeballs in an old chocolate box so when it's time to add features to a new puppet, I can try a few different types of eyes on for size, placement, looks etc.

I recently stumbled upon this new way to make eyes for my puppets.  It was inspired by seeing some puppets made by Pasha Romanowski on www.projectpuppet.com   The eyes look so realistic.   I suspect he uses glass irises used by taxidermist.  I wanted something a little less expensive but with a similar appearance.

I started by buying teddybear eyes and pushing them into ping pong balls, but the iris stuck out to far for my taste.  After visiting a wood supplier that had novelty wood pieces in the basement, I discovered a way to countersink the iris in a wooden ball without drilling.

Here is what you need:
Wood piece: Dollhead 1 1/4 by 5/8 inch hole.  Paint this white.
16 mm plastic teddy bear eye.

The hole sizes fit perfect.  Just glue the iris in.  Here's the exciting part.  You can change the color of the iris to make any colour eye if you buy a teddy bear eye that is painted on the backside.  Snap the post off with a wire cutter and sand the remaining stump and the paint using a belt sander.  The resulting eye is now clear.  Paint the backside any colour you desire and it will show up on the front real nice.  Voila!

That's a great idea - I've been countersinking crystal teddy bear eyes into polystyrene balls, but your idea is much better than mine. (And nicer looking!)

I really like your chocolate box eye holder idea as well as your eyes are great. 

Thanks for sharing....

There is another way to get the same effect with Ping Pong balls........

........First get the professional type of Ping Pong balls (not dollar store ones).  Use some rubbing alcohol to remove the logo off the ball.  Then put a little hole into the ball for the stem of the Teddybear eye to go into.  Put the steam into the hole and gently push the eyeball into the Ping Pong so it pushes into the Ping Pong and becomes flesh with the ball.  Sorry no pictures but I hope that you get the idea.  The advantage of Ping Pong balls is that they are very light and keeps the puppet light as well.

Daryl H

I tried rubbing alcohol on my ping pong balls, but it didn't work.  Has that worked for all your balls?

sometimes fingernail polish remover works.  but you have to be careful because it can disolve the ball as well.

I have found that using a very fine grit sandpaper I can remove the printed logos from the pingpong balls. Yes, it will slightly scratch the surface, but I always spray paint mine with a glossy white top coat to finish. Just my 2 cents...LOL