Watch how Barbara gives characterization to each of her puppets, providing with each a from how puppet clothes effect it's personality, to voice and even life story. In this episode, we meet Gertrude and Professor Lester and his wife Cermilla.

Video Transcription

Her name is Gertrude, she is an ugly bride’s maid and she has three warts on her nose—big nose with three warts. We got an ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly bride’s maid. She got peg over her eye, a little stitching there, there and there. She got no white in her eye, because the white affects how it looks, makes you more beautiful with white again, same on that. She got quite a lot of blush on here and her mouth opens up more as you experiment with the sculpting, you can see. Now, she even got some cheek which is really nice in here as you experiment with the sculpting, you can get different effects on the mouth. I put some lipstick here. Now this one, on Gertrude, you can see the red felt on the inside. This just started on the outside here, know that different technique work there, some more here and a dimple here and a dimple here. Now here dress, I could not find any small ones like that, so I made her dress out of the larger dresses. She got nylon and little white shoes like the bride. Okay, let us go on the next set of puppet. This is Professor Lester. And these glasses I had for years, when I taught in school here three years ago. I wear these glasses when I taught Spanish with no lens in and the kids thought that it was so funny because they are no lenses in. So, kids would laugh a lot times. I made this cap and gown all over—I looked for a little graduation gown like this for Professor because he is my intellectual. I could not buy ones so I just got some black material and I did not even have a pattern. So, I just started sewing and cutting and it is not perfect but it is worth all these years. It stayed all these years, these are my girl’s shoes, I do not know, she is 22 now. So, those are little old shoes she wore back then. So, thing turned out a way too soon and these are little black pants that she had, that she wore back then when she was a little girl. So, I would go for my girl’s old clothes and made clothes for the puppet. And professor, he got some dimples in there and a little fluffy lower lip. And dimple there, and dimple there, and stitching right across here. And this nose is just left knot and stitch right there, a little red cheeks, and professor has no ears. Now, his hair is made from a wig—a braid wig. Just cut the section out because he is bald, bald around the edges. And when I cut the sections of the wig off, I jus pinned them on and make a kind of little ears. And he got, right around his indented eyes and he hot his bushy matching eyebrows that matches his hair there. He got my honor’s cord from college graduation and a little bow tie and he looks pretty good. He is not pretty tall, about two and a half foot tall so, just foot to top of the table that is how tall he are, with tassel that we have in his cap and in gown. This is her wife Hermila and her hands are pinned here and she looks more natural. She has just a little girl’s dress underneath. And, oh my goodness, I am dragging this around on that side. We have safety per leg, it should be safety pin to her body, right up the front so when she sits down, it is very natural. She has on little white flat shoes that got stick in the back to hold her on his foot. She got red lipstick here—the acrylic paint and got her mouth red in the inside. She got some standard glasses from today. And, there is no white behind here eyes, she got low eye lashes and low modifications here and here. And this is a real ladies wig too. And the stitching on her is along the sideline and the top. And it is a real ladies wig that she had that has been cut and paste and a pinned eye in there. So, that is what with Hermila.