I'm curious about the best way to attach ping-pong ball eyes to a furry head! Do I snip the fur down to the material where the eyes are to be attached? I have a great looking puppet and a great looking set of eyes, but I am stumped as to how to attach the little plastic orbs to the furry head! Help?!?!

~Nate

I flatten one end or cut them in half and glue to doll joints. That way you can attach them like other eyes with post. Just a idea.

Billy D.

I thought of that, the problem is, I already had the pupils attached and if the posts weren't positioned right the eyes could be forever looking down at the nose or up in the sky, neither of which I wanted. So, I ended up trimming away fur under where the eyes would go, and used a decent amount of glue, then carefully positioned them and held them in place. I was REALLY nervous though! I'll post pics in just a minute!

And thanks for the advice, Billy much appreciated!

~Nate

As a suggestion for the future....the pupils should be add at the end of the puppet making...this makes sure they are focused.  As well you could keep the ping pong balls whole and cut holes in the head  where you want the eyes to go....this gives you a good surface to glue and attach the eyes on the puppet without seeing glue.  You did the right thing with trimming the fur area around the eyes.

Daryl H

Thanks Daryl   I know I kinda got ahead of myself with the pupils, but it ended up looking really good! Once the puppet is finished I will upload pics. This will be my first ever with legs and feet I came up with my own hand pattern instead of actual fingers, so the hands would be easier to sew.

~Nate

Awesome can't wait to see it.....
BTW if you like to see the puppet with pupils I use a temporary sticky black stuff and place them on while building...when everything is done I switch the pupils out with a permanent or longer term pupil.  I like seeing them with pupils during the building procedure so they don't look like they are possessed by the devil...lol.

Daryl H

I have always used ping pong balls whole.  I just think that they will be stronger if they are whole and under pressure.  For attaching to the puppet I use half spheres to locate where to put the eyes and then cut out a socket through the fabric and into the foam.  If the socket is slightly smaller than the ping pong ball it will hold the eye without gaps.  After the eye is glued in place I then attach the eye lid and iris.

Jon