Bright, zany, expressive hand puppets that squeak!
Ladies and Gentlemen: Give our puppets a hand!

Play value:
Diabolo Puppets is a small company based in Laval, Quebec. It was founded in 1992 by designer/owner Steven Barkley, who has been making puppets since childhood. Our original, zany designs make for great play value at home and in educational settings. The Diabolo puppets line features colourful, funny, and mainly imaginary creatures. Our puppets are soft, lightweight and easy to use. Customers always comment on how comfortable they feel on the hand. Diabolo puppets have soft fleece mouths with built-in squeakers that are fun and surprising so even a 3 year old can make them “talk”. Their malleable faces are flexible and very expressive—a feature that puppeteers ages 3 and up can really appreciate. Just put one on your hand and “squeak-squeak” it comes to life.
Move your hand and fingers to create facial expressions. Make your puppet scrunch up its mouth, swallow its lower lip or upper lip, laugh, eat, cry, squeak and be just plain goofy as you play. A little imagination is all you need for hours of fun.


Diabolo Puppets are designed and made by Steven Barkley in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

About Diabolo and Steven Barkley:
At the age of 10, inspired by his admiration for Jim Henson and the Muppets, Steven Barkley started making puppets to entertain himself and his friends:

“I used whatever materials I could find around the house, including mop heads and scrap fabrics from my mother’s sewing room. My grandmother used to get various fabrics for me. She’d collect all the fake fur pieces, wigs, old tuxedos and ballroom dresses she could find from the donations made by wealthy people living at McGregor Place in Montreal. Now, I work mostly with acrylic fun fur, blanket fleece and foam, which I cut from original patterns that I have designed. I assemble my puppets using a sewing machine, and then add details by hand. In 1992, I started Diabolo Puppets, my own small craft company dedicated to designing and manufacturing quality hand puppets. In 2007 Diabolo Puppets is still going strong in my basement studio in Laval, Quebec. I sell mainly at craft shows (including the One of a Kind Show in Toronto, the Salon des Métiers d’art in Montreal, Circle Craft in Vancouver and Art Market in Calgary), online and to select independent toy stores.” --- Steven Barkley.

Links:
www.artmarketonline.com
www.oneofakindshow.com
www.salondesmetiersdart.com
www.circlecraft.net/page129.htm

Materials:
Our puppets are made with colourful, acrylic plush fur and acrylic fleece. The plastic eyeballs are securely fastened with metal washers and meet child-safety requirements. Knotted acrylic yarn antennae and arms on the bugs are stitched into reinforced seams so they cannot be pulled off.

Care:
Our puppets are washable. Use a gentle wash cycle, turn them inside out to protect the eyeballs from scratches, squeeze the squeaker to expel any water and line-dry them. (Very high heat from a dryer could melt the plastic squeaker and eyeballs). When they are dry, lightly brush the fur to fluff it up again. Do not brush the fleece.
For detailed information, please contact us !

© 2007 Steven Barkley. All rights reserved.