Billy, yes I do live in Orlando, Florida. =0) Gary's foam seems reasonable -compared to some of the other prices I've seen anyway- do they sell reticulated/drainable foam?  I didn't see any but could be missing it as I only skimmed the website briefly.

Shawn, that was actually the first thing I typed into google (or among the first things) and I got lots of links but was not really sure what I was looking for.  Most of the foam I found was not reticulated (which I hear is really great for building puppets) or was two thick for puppets.

Billy, yes I do live in Orlando, Florida. =0) Gary's foam seems reasonable -compared to some of the other prices I've seen anyway- do they sell reticulated/drainable foam?  I didn't see any but could be missing it as I only skimmed the website briefly.

They do not sell the reticulated foam but sell a good substitute called EZ-dry firm. A outdoor foam used in outdoor furniture. Reticulated is primarily used in heating and cooling system filtration.

http://www.garysupholstery.com/marineupholsteryfoam.html

Thank you.  I was starting to notice that from all the searches I have been doing.

I am glad you specified that we will be using firm.  For some reason I pictured firm as being just under wood in toughness (sort of like styrofoam) and had written that off my list.

I noticed that Paul Louis used styrofoam balls for his puppet's eyes but I wondered what other ways to make eyes for moving mouth/muppet-type puppets there are. I am trying to come up (eventually) with a puppet I won't have to freak out about if they get wet.  Not that styrofoam has a problem getting wet; right then I was thinking about cardboard mouth boards.

I noticed that Paul Louis used Styrofoam balls for his puppet's eyes but I wondered what other ways to make eyes for moving mouth/Muppet-type puppets there are. I am trying to come up (eventually) with a puppet I won't have to freak out about if they get wet.  Not that Styrofoam has a problem getting wet; right then I was thinking about cardboard mouth boards.

Most of us use either ping pong balls, foam practice golf balls, and used most commonly are the half domed acrylic eyes.......... Lulie from Out of the box puppets sells a variety of eyes, and is a outstanding member here at P&S
http://www.outoftheboxpuppets.com/index.php?page=1&act=viewCat&catId=15

Gator board or corrugated signboard makes excellent mouth board material.............. I have used wood paneling before as well. I have put together a mouth kit that has everything you need to construct a professional mouth for your puppet.
http://sspuppets.com/web-store/mouth-and-eye-kits/

Thank you.  I was starting to notice that from all the searches I have been doing.

I am glad you specified that we will be using firm.  For some reason I pictured firm as being just under wood in toughness (sort of like styrofoam) and had written that off my list.

I noticed that Paul Louis used styrofoam balls for his puppet's eyes but I wondered what other ways to make eyes for moving mouth/muppet-type puppets there are. I am trying to come up (eventually) with a puppet I won't have to freak out about if they get wet.  Not that styrofoam has a problem getting wet; right then I was thinking about cardboard mouth boards.

I prefer styrofoam, but one thing you have to watch out for with it is the problem of squishing: unless extremely well stored, the eyes can be squished out of shape or dimple in places. This occurred as well with a puppet I had using ping pong balls, but those I could get to pop back into shape with very little damage to the overall aesthetic. Styrofoam can't do that.

Plastic spoons may be better, they neither bend nor dent; but it's hard to find completely round spoons.

Here is a good supplier of Styrofoam balls that are little more firm than craft styro balls used for christmas ornaments and such.

http://www.plasteelcorp.com/

Just to clarify, you don't have to use reticulated foam for your puppet. Open cell foam is kind of close to the same thing.  I actually use closed cell foam for some of my puppets.   Reticulated foam was used for a couple reasons. One is that since it was an open cell foam it was lighter.  Another was if you wanted to leave it uncovered it looked pretty good and had a nice finished texture to it.

Just by it's nature a puppet is not going to really be water resistance. Wet fabric is just not a good idea.  

In regards to the mouth plate, you can use what is called gasket rubber. I guess you could consider that water resistant and if it got wet unlike cardboard it would not fall apart.

That makes sense.  Reticulated foam would only be a better idea if you weren't planning on covering your puppet with a 'skin'.  I don't know if I'm ready to tackle dying of any kind so perhaps I'll go for an open cell foam for a bit.  Thanks, Shawn!

On the eyes, I was thinking about maybe pairing a styrofoam ball with a ping pong ball (i.e. putting half of the styro in half of the ping pong ball).  Perhaps that would give the eyes a little more resistance to squishing.  Unless you have tried that already.  Does that not work either?  Some form of hard plastic might but I don't know what else it could be beyond a ping pong ball... time for some pondering.  Thank you for your help! =0)

On the eyes, I was thinking about maybe pairing a styrofoam ball with a ping pong ball (i.e. putting half of the styro in half of the ping pong ball).  Perhaps that would give the eyes a little more resistance to squishing.  Unless you have tried that already.  Does that not work either?  Some form of hard plastic might but I don't know what else it could be beyond a ping pong ball... time for some pondering.  Thank you for your help! =0)

I haven't tried that, but agree with Billy's suggestion that using a better type of styrofoam ball would work. I can only get the craft ones here, so that's all I've been able to try.

I just saw a tutorial on puppet eyes that has you taking a half of a clear craft ball, spray painting the inside white and then putting the eyelid on over it and so on. I thought that was an interesting method though you all have probably seen it before.