Hey P&Sians,

I'm doing Christmas on a budget this year so am making a bunch of gifts. My partner has a bit of a thing for clowns so I decided I would make one for Christmas. Kind of interesting making something you're personally not that keen on. It wasn't particularly fun to build although I enjoyed the challenge of making the shoes, hat etc. It's really important to me to do this one right so I am in the process of building him a box which I intend to totally ham up and make look like theatre curtains that pull across to reveal the clown. Probably stupid but I was thinking I'd embroider across them 'Lizzie's Lair presents...", but I'm stuck on a name. I've googled it but all the names just sound bogan. Are any of you creative minds able to come up with a suitable clown name?

Thanks guys.

Why not let your partner name him?  It would give a bit of ownership to the recipient of such a great personal gift. 

Well Im not sure if I can help or not cause of all the things clown freakin creep me right out. Your fella is pretty darn cool though. How the heck have you managed to keep him secret?? WOW that would be a task in itself. I love all your details and the shoes are awesome.
If one comes to mind Ill let you know but I dont mind the suggestion of letting your partner think of one. Love the idea of the curtain reveal. Will they have a pull string?? I think a pull string reveal would be super! Great job i think it will be very treasured.
Shannon

The shoes are great - what did you use for the laces? And the nose is awesome too.

I share your dislike for clowns like this... but my suggestion is to not use your name or another one, but the name of your partner. That way they'll immediately be excited to get up and have a go themselves

Lizzie,
   He's beautiful as with all your projects.  I love how the uniqueness of your work.  I must agree, the shoes are fantastic.  What type of material did you use?

I think his name is Aster or Astur.  Aster means star. It suits him.

Happy Thanksgiving, Julie

Very nice Lizzie! I think I agree with the others that you should let your partner name em. You'll have to post a pick when you get the box done.

Oooo! clowns creep me out too. But he is marvelous...for a clown. Love the box stage idea. I would call him Slappy, don't know why.  Or maybe Trippy with those big old shoes.

Whilst I too am not fond of clowns (I think we have a general consensus here, clowns are freakin creepy) he is another very cool puppet. As the other comments mention the shoes are great, but the details in the 'make up" or the eyes and lips is also a very nice touch. I'm terrible at names and without any idea of his personality it's really hard. I was thinking along the lines of "'something" The Great... But in an ironic way, as in the clown doesn't think that much of himself yet his name states that he is great... But as others have said, it might be a cool idea for your partner to name him and find his character.

Okay then, I'll let my partner name him. I might suggest 'Slappy Astur the Great' as I love those suggestions - thank you.

Keeping him a secret has been pretty easy Shannon. I had some surgery and have had a month off work recovering. I just did bits when I felt up to it so there was never very much to clean up (a very rare thing indeed for me!)

Na and Julie, the shoes are made of vinyl with a four piece foam construction as the base. Getting the glued foam in the pre-sewn vinyl was a bit of a mission but it did the trick. They're just painted with acrylic paint and Na the laces are just ribbon. The nose is actually an adult costume nose so it squeaks! Attaching it didn't really go to plan as the latex wouldn't hold to anything so unfortunately you can see my stitch work if looking closely - que sera.

I don't loathe clowns like you guys appear to but I don't love them either. It's interesting making something with a theme that you're not particularly enthusiastic about. Perhaps it was just my recovery but it was a very slow build and one I didn't particularly enjoy. He looks clown like to me but I don't particularly dig him now that he's finished simply because clowns aren't really something to get excited about. But if my partner likes him it will be worth it.

I've had to rework the box idea. The curtains were way too hard to do. I have constructed my box and basically paper mached inside and out with lengths of wrapping paper. It has opening doors so I plan instead to put the clown in and then some helium balloons so when it's opened, there will be a double surprise! I'm not particularly happy with it but building a 5ft box is a first for me and it will do the job. I'll post pics when it's dried. Got me thinking it would be nice to package in some way all those special puppets. Does anyone else do something similar?

Whilst I too am not fond of clowns (I think we have a general consensus here, clowns are freakin creepy)

-- Off topic slightly, I don't think it's that clowns are creepy. It's the ones with the over-the-top face makeup that are creepy. (Cirque du Soleil manage to have clowns without them wearing that traditional garb) My hypothesis is that it's a combination of uncanny valley with a natural instinct to distrust anyone with a permanent facial expression - because the permanence suggests that they're 'inhuman' or 'not like us'. That and the predilection for movie producers to create horror clowns, it becomes a bit of a feedback loop.

-- Back on topic...

Thanks Lizzie for the added explanation. I thought perhaps the laces might have been elastic but ribbon makes so much more sense. Love the idea of the surprise balloons!