puppet space

Black Light Show 2011

2011-11-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

Here are a few "in motion" pictures of our recent black light show taken by one of the PIT Crew parents.

Jonah in the Fish

The PIT Crew

Slinky Birds

Our Theme Verse

Dancing Puppets

The Cap'n and Katy Pillar

Seabirds (rod puppets) and a Green Peg Leg Pirate

PVC Stage

2011-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Our team has always used a stage made of PVC for budget reasons. I've reconfigured it a few times over the years. The one we have now is the one I like the best so far. Someone asked me to share it with them so I thought I would post it here in case anyone else was interested.

First of all there are 3 parts to the finished stage and one person could put it together alone, but two make it easier. There are two poles that go across the middle horizontally to hold everything together. And there is the actual stage part that folds up like an accordion.

Here it is from the side folded up.

Here it is unfolded and the two long pieces placed horizontally in the back. One at the top and one lower. This second bar really adds to the stability of the whole stage and keeps puppeteers from moving the back curtain as they go in and out.

Here is how we add the curtains.

Our curtains are in 4 parts. The front, 2 wings and the back middle. They are all doubled because the fabric was still a little see-through.

Here are our hinges. Tada! Tie wraps!

And that's it.
This stage is a little over 12 feet wide and about 6 feet tall in the back. The front is just over 4 feet and the panels are about 30 inches wide. I think the wings are wider than 30 inches.

It took 26 -90 degree elbows and 8 T-connectors. I use 1" PVC.

Hope this helps!

Monster Puppet in Action

2011-08-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

**Edited on 9-28-11 to add newer pictures of Monster in action**

Our church mission team helped do an outdoor Bible Camp this summer for another church in the area.

Let me just say it was AWESOME! God really taught me so much in this week!

Of course we used puppets! ;) Many adults are just as fascinated as the children with puppets. Never underestimate the power of the puppet!

I wanted to share something fun that we did with the monster puppet:

I had printed, cut out and laminated the day's memory verse, and hung the words across the edge of the stage. In my case we have curtains on a pvc frame, so I used bent chenille stems to hook the words on. I talked with the kids about the verse and we read it together a time or two.

But something different started to happen; every time I turned around, one of the words would be missing and the kids were shouting excitedly. I never could seem to figure out what was going on. Every time I looked at the stage or in it there was nothing there! So I would go back to talking with the kids and we would repeat the memory verse even though some words were missing, we are smart enough to remember a few missing words. But as time went on, there were no more words!

Turns out there was a sneaky green monster trying to thwart us by stealing the words to the memory verse!
But our photographer snapped this photo of him peeking out.

Monster Puppet

2011-05-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

I made this little guy this weekend.

He's so stinking cute! Much cuter in person.

I made my own pattern for him, as I so enjoy doing. But the technique came from these videos:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe191h_the-basic-supplies-to-make-a-monste_creation

I also made a second detached hand to use with a second puppeteer if desired.
I may make a few more and sell them on etsy. I haven't used etsy yet, just signed up today.

I have my own BackdoorPuppets Shop now. Yay!

Scout

2011-05-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

I started this little puppet a while back. I made a few mistakes, but over all he turned out pretty cute. I wanted a "blank" puppet that could change costume and become something different. His main personality is a scout type character. We just began a new theme with our children's church, it's kind of a treehouse/clubhouse type thing. He'll be the character to tie into that theme, but I still wanted him to be flexible too.

He's a much darker red than shows in this picture, I just have a camera phone and the light washed him out a bit.

New Goodies

2011-05-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

I ordered some supplies from Out of the Box Puppets.

Would you like to see what I got?

Trust me the camera phone does not pick up the vibrancy of these colors!

up close

I also scored some bright green shag fur from fabric.com for under $9 a yard! Yeah!

I have 4 yards of this. I haven't decided what to do with it yet. ;)

Camera phone again, it is much darker than this.

6 months

2011-05-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in 6 months! Yikes. I want this blog to live, not die, so I'm committing to post at least twice a month. Hopefully with pictures, I mean puppets ARE visual. But I don't really have a camera working right now so I have to use my phone mostly. If I can't post a picture, then at least an idea. I always have ideas. ;)

I have made a few quick puppets in the last week or so to round out a song we did last Sunday for Children's Sunday. It was a simple song, but I think it turned out cute.
I needed a fish, a bird and a flower.

I have a snap shot of the unfinished fish, but I'll have to take a pic of the others and post them later.
Here's the fish body:

I literally drew out a fish shape, cut it out of foam, glued it together and covered with fleece! Easy! I did give him eyes and he was done! The song wasn't blacklight, but I went ahead and made him out of blacklight fabric so I could use him either way.

Black Light Puppet Critter Experiment

2010-11-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

I guess this is what you call a "prototype". He's definitely usable but not "sell-able" just yet.

Short

L-O-N-G

Long Louie seems to be his name. That's what came to me just now anyway.

As far as this puppet goes the changes I would like to make are:

the foot. I'd like it to not be a full glove but more of a pointy foot. I made a foot like that on another puppet a while back, I think I'll try that next time.
the eyes. I just used what I had, but I think pom poms might actually be better in this application. I could use smooth eyes, but texture seems to be more appropriate.
the nose. Just don't like it for some reason.
otherwise just a few changes here and there would make him much more appealing to me.

Back to the drawing board!

Chime in and tell me what you think of him.

New Mint Green Puppet

2010-11-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

Another puppet for a new team member. She has long blonde hair and brown eyes, so this puppet is for her. I made custom eyes for both of these puppets.
Fun!

Mint Girl Puppet

Mint Girl Puppet Close-up

New Pink Puppet

2010-10-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

We have some new members on our ministry team and I promised to make them their very own puppet to practice with. Here's one I made today. I still have another one to make.

Pink Puppet Close Up

Pink Puppet

She's really cute in person, I don't think the pictures do her justice. :)

Lions

2010-10-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard on our PIT Crew's upcoming black light show. I made these lions for a song we are doing. I waited a while until I found the style that I wanted. Of course full size puppet lions would have been awesome but who has the time and budget for that?

So here's what I came up with.

Sitting Lion

Lying Lion

They aren't 100% finished yet. They are all duct taped together right now. LOL. Also one is missing his tail, and the other tail is just stuck on for the picture. The yellow lion will open and close his mouth and the orange one's eyes open and shut.

The were so fun to make!

The materials I used were:

Foam insulation board
Neon poster board
card board
foam core board
fleece fabric
hot glue
duct tape
quilt batting
practice golf balls & white fabric (for the eyes)
clear contact paper
and I will have some of the pieces laminated as soon as I can get to the teacher's store
That's it!

I love them. How about you? Tell me what you think.

Sanctuarian Rhapsody Puppet Show

2010-09-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

The PIT Crew(our children's church/puppet/drama ministry) performed this for Children's Sunday on May 2, 2010 at church. I finally got a copy to share!
Enjoy and please leave feedback/comment here or on youtube.

Foundations of Puppetry

2010-08-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

I put these training videos into a playlist for easier viewing. Let me know if you like them! I applaud the team who made these and made them available on youtube for all to learn!

Bible Puppet

2010-07-15T04:09:00.000-07:00

I wanted to experiment with making a Bible puppet. I have made one before, but not like this. I didn't have a pattern, just looking at some other book and Bible puppets. Some I've seen have arms, but I didn't think this guy needed them. I think he looks more like a book this way. I made him as a gift for a friend, so I will be sending this her way soon. But it's a surprise! Shhh!

This was my first time to die the foam instead of covering it with fabric. I died it black and then cut my pieces and glued them. I did use yellow fleece for the fore-edge.

I think he turned out pretty cute. I hope she likes him.

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

2010-07-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

We did a parody of this song called "Sanctuarian Rhapsody". It DID get videoed, I'm working on getting a copy to post. Check back soon. In the meantime, enjoy this one. Of course it's excellent! It's the Muppets!

Puppet Show with the PIT Crew

2010-07-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

It really stinks to try and blog about puppets with no working camera!!!

I have my phone, but it's just not that good for these types of pics. I'll do the best I can getting a camera soon. I can't believe I've gone this long without one! I'd love to take more pics as I make puppets and add them on here.

Anyway,

Our PIT Crew had a chance to perform a show for a library in a town about an hour away. We had only 3 weeks notice!!! We had to choose songs, choose puppets, get some scripts together and make props, assign roles, learn choreography and lip syncing, memorize scripts and coordinate it all in that 3 week period!

Whew!

But guess what? My kids are great. They worked hard and we did it! The folks were impressed and want us to come back.

I wish I had some video, but that seems to be our downfall too. We are all so busy actually doing the show that we can never get a video of the show.

Our show was about friendship and being kind to others, even if they are a little different.

It was lots of fun!

I'm going to do my best to get some pics or video.

I do have a low-res pic of us at practice with most of our team.

Aren't they cute???

And the kids aren't bad either! ;)

Blacklight Show 2010

2010-07-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

I'm collecting links for inspiration for our "Store Your Treasures" Show October 2010.

http://www.squidoo.com/groups/the-pirate-group

Puppet Updates

2010-06-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

I just realized I never posted the finished pastor, guitar player and mother puppets.

I did finish them but only have a picture of the guitar player, and it's not very good but here it is anyway.

I'm working on being able to upload our song we did in May. As soon as I get a copy, I will upload it!

Puppet Training

2010-06-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered these puppet training videos from OneWayUK. They were very informative and I used them in our workshop yesterday. Go to their youtube page and start from Part 1.

http://www.youtube.com/user/OneWayUKpuppets

Yesterday we had a workshop day for our service team we call the "P.I.T. Crew" this is a puppet/drama/service team that helps out in children's church and does puppet shows as well.

Here are some of the things we covered in our workshop:

What is the PIT Crew?

What do we do?

What are the rules for PIT Crew?

Puppet training:

Entrances/Exits

Lip Sync

Puppet Height

Characterization

We did some drama training and games

Had a little drama skit presentation

Wrote our own puppet skit and performed it later

Learned the songs for VBS

Practiced skits and lessons for Children's Church June

Brainstormed for our upcoming blacklight show in October

Performances at the end

Cleaned up!

Whew! We got a lot done and were really tired by the end. But we learned so much and had so much fun.

Next Project....

2010-03-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

For this show, I still need 3 more puppets! A mother, a pastor and a guitar player. I'm not showing the sketches for those yet. But I will be working on them soon.

Then we just need to finish the props and prop stands and it will be ready! I have until May 2nd. We'll be performing on Sunday morning for "Children's Sunday".

It's gonna be a blast!

Choir Puppets Update

2010-03-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't take pictures along the way this time. But here is the finished choir. And I also promised to make them as per the colors I picked out, but I didn't make the lavender lady. I made a mistake and made my blue guy too small so I decided to just go ahead and use him anyway, and I made another blue guy larger. So there is only one woman in the choir. Oh well, sorry about that!

Here they are; nothing like the sketches LOL!

And check out Grandma's wig! A friend picked that up at a yard sale for 50 cents!!! Can't beat that!

Oh wait, I found a pic of them before...

Amazing what features and costumes and arms will do!!!

Choir Puppets Project

2010-03-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

Here are my sketches for four choir puppets.

Will they turn out just like these? After the quartet, anything is possible. But I promise you this they will be made in these colors, I already bought the fabric, and there will be two men and two women. After that who knows!

Quartet Puppet - All Finished!

2010-03-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

After a few days deliberation, here's what they finally ended up looking like. Not too terribly different from the last picture.

How close are they to my original drawings?

Well, one guy has glasses! LOL

I'm pleased with them. It was a lot of fun making them and they are going to be a lot of fun in our show.

Next - the choir!

Quartet Puppet - Features: Take 1

2010-03-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here I just have some features. They are just pinned on. I'm not sure if I will keep these exact features or not.

I'm really liking the one with glasses and long nose. I will replace his eyes with some black shiny ones. Those are just felt pads for now. In fact all of the eyes just have felt pads for now. I need to work with the focus a bit before making them permanent.

I added on some teeth on one, and bags under the eyes of another. Each time I walk in and see them, I try a little something different. I'm still want to look at them for a while before I attach everything permanently.

Soon I will post them all finished!

Quartet Puppet - Costumes - Dickies & Hats!

2010-03-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

I made some dickies to go under the jackets.

My mom made these hats to go on the puppets.

Aren't they looking dandy?

As soon as I get the bodies attached to the necks, I will get to the fun part. The features!

Stay tuned...

Quartet Puppet - Costumes

2010-03-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

This is one of the fun parts. I made the patterns myself. I've sewn kid's clothes for years so making a simple pattern isn't too hard. Here are three of the jackets cut out and ready to be sewn.

It fits!

Starting to look something like a Barbershop jacket.

All four are done! They look ready to sing!

Quartet Puppet - Foam Bodies & Arms

2010-03-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

I made a bunch of bodies at once. I had enough 1" foam on hand to build 8 tube bodies. I'll use 4 of these later. For one of my puppets I plan on making a panel body. I'll show that when I get to it.

Hands

I used some scrap fabric for the arms since they won't show to save fleece. I'll turn them right side out and stuff them. I could have made the hands with foam, but this method saves on foam and uses poly-fil which I have more of at the moment. ;)

My little stuffing machine. If you have a just turned 12 yo son who wants to play video games, you can get a lot of stuffing done. ;)

Body with arms added

I didn't cover the body since they are wearing costumes that will completely cover the foam.

Next, costumes!

Quartet Puppet - 4 Heads with necks

2010-03-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

Here are all four heads done with necks! They look like they are singing already!

Quartet Puppet - Foam Head

2010-03-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

It's a little blurry but you can see the head starting to take shape. I forgot to take a picture of the mouth-plate. I'll try to get one next time.
The mouth-plate really helps determine the shape of the head. It's square so the head is boxy looking. This is what I wanted.

Here's the same head covered in blue fleece. I ended up taking in some darts in the mouth to make it lay flat on those corners. He'll be fun to add features to!

Next I add the neck.

Monster puppet on hold, new project

2010-03-05T06:10:00.000-08:00

We'll have to wait a bit on the monster because I have to make some puppets for a song we are performing at church in May.

I have 11 puppets to make for it!!!

Here's what I'm working on now. The first four. A barber shop quartet. I'll try to post a few pics along the way.

These are some of the patterns I made for the quartet. They will have the same shape head and same fleece color. They will each have different features.

Here are my sketches. We'll see how close they resemble!

I have some new techniques I want to try and some experimentation along the way.

Making of a Monster 1

2010-02-24T04:59:00.000-08:00

I would like to add more to this blog than I have been. The problem is I'm not too good at remembering to take pics as I go or write down info as I do things. I get so "into" what I'm doing that I have a one track mind. But for this next puppet, I'd like to document it a bit more.

The puppet we are working on next is one my son designed. I will be making it but he drew out the sketch. I want him to begin making his own puppets and he will surely help me on this one, but we need to start him with something easier. This one is an experiment for me too. I just got The Foam Book and DVD (thanks to selling stuff on e-bay!) and will be using some techniques learned there. I'm excited and can't wait to get started. We are out of foam so I have to wait until I can get to the store to get some, and we have a busy weekend ahead of us so it will be next week before we can start.

Puppet Trio

2010-02-24T04:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the poor photo, I only had my camera phone.
Here are some puppets I made for a family member. I love them and will miss them.

Puppet on E-bay

2010-01-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

Check out my puppet for sale on e-bay.

New Puppets

2009-11-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

I have been really busy in the last month or so getting ready for a black light show we did at our church. I will show some pics of things I made for that later, but today I want to show two new puppets I made. I had been dying to make some foam based puppets and I finally had some time!

Here's the first one:

Here's the second one:

Aren't they just so cute?

My daughter designed the second guy. It's her puppet. She kind of wanted a peach skin puppet but we were using fabrics on hand, so she ended up chosing yellow (although it's darker in real life than what showed up in this picture). He reminds me of this guy from my child hood:

Anyway, on the yellow boy we tried something new - attached arm rods and wired fingers. It turned out great! I just hope it lasts. I used an epoxy to glue the metal to thick cardboard inside the hands and then stuffed around it.

Next I need to make a girl!

2009-09-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

Puppet Sellers

2009-07-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.thppuppets.com/892101.html

http://www.greysealpuppets.com/index.html

http://puppetsinc.com/index.html

http://playsoup.com/

http://outoftheboxpuppets.com/index.php

VBS 09 -Puppets in Action!

2009-07-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the puppets and puppet stage we made for VBS this year. We used Group's Crocodile Dock. FUN FUN FUN!

Our Puppet Shack-

The puppets-

The names -

You can't see Flash very well, but she's a cute puppet! Here's the pic of her after I made her -

Newest Puppet Stage

2009-06-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

I needed a stage for upcoming VBS that also looks like a shack of sorts. I wanted it light and quick to set up. We will use it after VBS for children's church and we don't have a separate area for that so it has to be set up and taken down every Sunday.

I tried to take pictures along the way but it's hard when you are working and have so many other things going on to remember to take a picture each step! Also sometimes I had to use my camera phone so they aren't very clear. Sorry about that.

We began with pvc pipe and cut it all to size.Then I covered the "frames" with canvas drop cloths from the paint department. I just tacked them on with needle and thread. I'm sure there was an easier way but I was trying to save money so I just sewed them on by hand.

Then we, my son and grandson, painted the canvas with a base coat of white using paint I already had. My mom and daughter painted a second coat of yellow, also paint I already had. No picture of that step.
Then we used some green acrylic paint and some glaze.

I wiped it on with a rag and then wiped it back off with another damp rag. We threw the rags in the trash when we were done.

Here's a panel in progress. You can see the green streaks. This made it look mossy or old or both. Which is what I was going for.

Here you can see we've finished painting. I forgot to take pictures when we were doing the shading of the clapboard siding, but you'll see that in a minute. We used tie-wraps for hinges.

Here you can see the "siding".

This is the inside of the frames.

Now we added the roof! The roof is another pvc frame with corrugated plastic riveted to it. It's a separate panel. I need to cover those open eaves and exposed pipe. I'll get to that later!

Say hello to my little friend!

Here is how it folds up.

Folded flat

Only a few inches wide when folded. Did I mention it is very easy to assemble? It could be assembled by one person in just a couple of minutes except for the roof. You really need two people to lift it. It's not heavy just wide!

Marrionette

2009-03-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

11 yo DS made this marriotte today.

Hello.

Lessons for Kids

2009-03-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Don't be fooled by his cuteness. This puppet means serious business. He showed up in children's church this week insulting Princess Annie, trying to get Dorothy to steal MY purse to go and buy some candy. Luckily Detective Snoop intervened.

Dorothy

Then he had the nerve to show up again with a laser gun to try to thwart our memory verse time, shooting the projector screen and making the words disappear!

What a scoundrel he was! But don't worry, we learned that memory verse and he surrendered defeat... for this week.

Check Out My New Logo!

2009-03-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

My son had this made for me!

Flash

2009-02-26T19:07:00.000-08:00

This little guy is inspired by our VBS curriculum for this year.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

2009-02-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

Hey mon!

This guy needs a hat like one of these... I'm working on it.

Blue Twins

2009-02-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

We're not identical you know. Brother, where's your shirt?

These two were experiments in wigs. My first faux fur wig and my first successful (imo) yarn wig.

Arf! Arf!

2009-02-26T18:59:00.000-08:00

Throw me a bone!

Squawk!

2009-02-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

I love the way this bird turned out. His feathers are so colorful!

Bernie

2009-02-26T18:52:00.000-08:00

I made Bernie a little shirt. He loves Veggie Tales. Maybe because he looks like a carrot?

Another Experiment-Little Bookworm

2009-02-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

I wanted to try a different head shape but didn't want to use a new piece of fabric just in case it didn't work. So I had just enough green left over from the crocodile to make the head and hands. I rummaged through my scraps and found left over flannel to make pajamas, and used scrap fabric for the arms since you can't see them anyway! The result? Viola!

Will you read me a story?

Newest Creations

2009-02-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is an experiment in "blinking eyes." His eyes don't really blink but they do raise up and down. He's not the best looking puppet. Some of my friends say he looks like a Simpson, but I didn't intend that!

Now this little guy, I love! He's my first puppet of this shape. I love him! He's a donkey ya know. Hee Haw!!!

This is my current fav. My 10 yo son designed him, I did the sewing; he did the choosing and the stuffing. ;)

He's out of this world!

Blacklight Shadow Puppets

2008-11-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

We went to a puppet training conference this weekend. We had so much fun! My newest thing I just gotta try??? Blacklight SHADOW puppets! It was the coolest thing!

Croc Puppet

2008-11-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

I made this puppet myself w/out a pattern! Our VBS for 2009 is Crocodile Dock so I wanted a "non-scary" puppet and couldn't find one online so I decided to make my own. I made a few mistakes in the design and decorating but he still turned out pretty cute if I say so myself! What do you think? Leave me a comment!

We've Been Making Puppets!!!

2008-11-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

You'll have to excuse the pics I post, our camera isn't very good right now. We need a new one! But anyway, I can't resist sharing these characters! They are soooo FUN!!
(I'll replace the pics as I get new clearer ones)

My 17 yo dd made this one first..

and this one...

and this one...

I made this one...

I'm still working on this one...

Our 13 yo friend made this one...

And my 10 yo ds helped with this one (I did the sewing and hot glue but he chose the rest!)

I don't know when the last time I had so much fun!!!!!

Classical Music at its Finest

2008-08-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Change is Coming

2008-08-08T19:36:00.000-07:00

Sadly this was the last show with this Krew. God is moving and changing things up.

What He has in store no one knows, but we trust Him to lead us where He would have us to go.

We love you KREW!!!!

You will always be very special to us.

Nerd Intro

2008-08-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is a video I created to introduce the Nerd Skits, like the opening of a TV show.

No Monsters

2008-08-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

We've tried to get video of this skit and just have not been successful, but I thought I'd post a portion of an early dress rehearsal, just to give you an idea of how it looks.

Getting Ready for Camp Show

2008-08-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

August 5th we will be performing

with Black Light

at a

near by Pre-Teen Camp.

Stop back by to see how it went!

****UPDATE****

The kids at camp loved the show! We tried to video once again, but didn't get a lot of usable footage. The problem was that the kids liked it so much they were practically up on the stage with us!

Of course the blacklight was a hit as always, but they loved some of the skits too. Plaidman and Polkadot were two heroes that showed up and gathered quite a following. The puppet skits received a few laughs as well. Overall performing at camp was great. The kids really got into it and that was great encouragement to our Krew.

Oh! And how could I forget the Nerds???? They loved the Nerds!

Meet the Characters: Dudley the Dragon

2008-07-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Dudley loooves Princess Annie, we should know he tells us often enough! You don't have to be afraid of this dragon, except maybe that he might lick you to death!

Meet the Characters: Jimmy the Joker

2008-07-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Jimmy the Joker or "JJ" as he is sometimes known, isn't really a very funny guy. In fact he's downright sneaky and sly. He'll try to get you to sin if you're not careful. Watch out for this guy!

The Spirit Gives Me Life

2008-04-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorite songs.

Recent News

2008-04-08T04:53:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY were able to perform at River of Life. I think we re-scheduled a couple of times before we actually got to go.

It was a real blessing. You never know who's gonna get the blessing when you're serving the Lord, but I think there were many blessings to be had that night.

Our next big thing we have to prepare for is Pre-Teen camp in August. We've been invited to perform our "Fear Not" Blacklight show. We are so excited about that!!!!

Easter Sunday with Princess Annie and Dudley Part 1

2008-03-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

Princess Annie and Dudley Part 2

2008-03-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

Introducing... Dudley the Dragon!

2008-02-25T05:13:00.000-08:00

Come meet Dudley the Dragaon!

Dudley will be introduced on March 22nd at our annual HBC Easter Egg Hunt.

((Edited to add update: Dudley was a success! He's got quite a fan base already. The little kids especially loved him, as well as the adults. One little boy said, "I love that doggy!" LOL. Dudley acts so much like a silly doggy that the little boy believed he was a dog and not a dragon! I'll be posting a video of our skit soon))

Award Winning Puppet Team!

2008-01-24T07:22:00.000-08:00

We tied for first at the Talent Show, but ended up taking home the 2nd place trophy. The first place winners really deserved it! Eleven year old dancers - they put much more money, sweat and practice in than we did I'm sure!

We are just so excited to be able to share Jesus with others that we don't care what place we got. Our kids felt great winning though! We give all the glory to the Lord!

Keep praying for us as He sends opportunities our way!

We GO, we TEACH, we DO, we WORK, we SERVE, WHATEVER... it is for the GLORY of GOD

Choosing God

2008-01-14T04:38:00.000-08:00

Well it's now or never, our last chance to practice was last night and we perform "Choosing God" live Sunday the 20th for our church Ministry Fair.

Pray for us!

Talent Show Update

2008-01-06T05:45:00.000-08:00

Quick entry - we're in the talent show! YAY!

Pray that people would receive the short message (4 minutes) and it would plant a seed in someone's heart.

Pray for us if you read this...

2008-01-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

We're headed for a Lock-In tonight with our Krew. We will be creating some new shows but the main thing we will be doing is rehearsing for an audition at the local public school for their talent show. We will be performing Carmen's "No Monsters" in black light. I'm not 100% confident that we'll pass auditions because of these type of lyrics...

When I was just a little kid I saw a scary movie
About as crazy lunatic, you see
He tried to kill these people on vacation with an axe
Then I'd imagine that this dude was after me
While laying in my bed that night, afraid and wide awake
I promise you I saw a shadow move
But when I felt an evil spirit, that was it
I knew right then exactly what to do
I took authority in Christ
All fear flew away
I stood bold as a lion, and ran it off when it heard me say
(What did you say)

Don't want no monsters in my house tonight
Don't want no monsters in my house
You won't get me screaming,
You're nothing but a demon
It's time for you to go now
I am a temple of the Holy Ghost
And I'm protected by the Lord of Hosts
Get out in the name of Jesus Christ
'Cause I don't want no monsters
In my house tonight

Pray that His Word would not go out void.

P.S. I'm going to try to get video of this show tonight and post it here soon!

Showers of .... puppets!

2007-12-24T17:21:00.000-08:00

God has really blessed us this year with puppets! One year ago at this time we had Princess Annie, and a couple of small old puppets and a few that we doctored up to make useful. And today we have so many that we don't even have adequate storage for them all!

Just the other day we received a policeman puppet, mother, cheerleader, baby, grandpa, a snail, some birds and small animals along with the trunk to transport them in ... all for free! WOW! We were soooo excited!

I can't wait to post some pictures and videos (coming soon) of our puppets.

Puppet Stages

2007-12-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

We performed a small skit for our church's annual "Hanging of the Green" and a woman visiting from another church asked us to come to her church and perform for them so we said, "Sure!" Our kids were very excited about the idea.

Wait, we use a castle puppet set up for children's church, we used the baptistry for the puppets in the sanctuary... we need a portable puppet stage NOW!

We looked at One Way Street and their stage was $550!!!! WithOUT curtains!!! No offense, I love those guys but we have ummmm $0 budget left over. Never fear PVC pipe is here! We headed to our local Lowe's and bought the goods (now I have to interject here and say I made one of these years ago but it, ahem, dissapeared during some church construction, ah well). Came home and within an hour, we had a stage (thanks B & L!!!), the next day we sewed some curtains out of FREE black fabric someone had donated to us and viola! We had an awesome mobile puppet stage if I do say so myself.

We used it Thursday night at the other church down the road and the folks that were there loved the show. Isn't it awesome how we're being used to bridge the gap in our community? It's a Jesus Deal and He gets ALL the glory! AMEN!