Thursday, October 4, 2012

Puppets that blow smoke

When finishing doing my latest dragon, I was asked to share how to make him breathe smoke.  Pretty simple, but here it is.


Take some tubing and a "T" connector available at Menards (I used 3/8" but 1/4" may work even better.)and connect like this.  Note: I did trim the T Connector a bit so there is less of a bend, and therefore, less of a kink.



Now you will need a pump.  I used a meat baster.  An ear pump might work better, but the store I went to didn't have one and eventually I want to do this from a costume character.  With the meat baster, you will also need some heavier density foam or something similar to reduce the size hole.



Cut off the tube of the baster about an inch past where the pump sits when inserted.



Cut a piece of foam so it fits inside snugly.  Cut a hole in the middle of that so you can insert your tubing.



Put the tubing in the hole so it sticks through the hole about 2".  Hot glue the top to seal the tubing and foam in place.

Fill the bulb with baby powder, attach it and squeeze!  Practice with different amounts of powder for best results. 

Oh, then clean up the mess before your wife gets home and freaks out from powder being everywhere!!

I was instructed how to do the above, but told to use an ear dropper (http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-ear-wax-removal-kit/ID=prod6003972-product).  With this, you can just stick the spout into the hose and skip a bunch of the above steps.  Not sure how to fill it, but I am told it works well.

Enjoy!

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