Honestly, you can turn anything into a puppet from my experience.. .. it's about giving it life & character... You can make a stuffed animal look like it's breathing (fun to do with the realistic looking ones & around unsuspecting people). sock puppets & shadow puppets are easy ways to get into puppetry..

Have fun & post your puppets!:)

I second the: found items + eyes= fun

I also agree on the "how to learn" thing here by Myrth :) -

my friend sent me an artical from a local paper- on some puppeters- i looked for them on myspace, wrote them an e-mail, and now all the puppets live with me and I get to work on them... but it wasn't until i went with a few on my own that i got brave enough and found my voice and courage to do it myself. (till then i was behind the scenes for like a year) - i'm still not great- but damn its fun!

Go look some folks up on Myspace (I hate the space but i do love that its good to find performers on) and search out a local college campus for it/ theater group/ etc. i'm SURE there are some folks doing it in your area!

Personally, i think our puppets are the bomb- but there is another group that has crappy little hand puppets but AMAZING comedy. sometimes, its not your equipment that gets you seen... use your imagination.