Small Business Spotlight: Picture to Puppet
Find out more about Picture to Puppet in our small business spotlight.
Tell us a bit about your business?
At Picture to Puppet, we make beautifully crafted puppets and soft toys to order. Just send us a picture or a description, and within weeks we can transform your idea into something as beautiful or scary as you want. There are no limits— if you can dream it, we can make it!
Some common requests are likeness puppets based on a photo of a family member, custom soft toys based on toys based on people's pets, toys based on children's drawings and recreations of lost toys.
Our clients range from TV companies to children’s counsellors and from ventriloquists to schools, local authorities and families. Keep your eyes out for our work on TV - you might see our comedian puppets on Dave or you might see us featured on Junk rescue on Ceebeebies.
We also set up Leith Toy Hospital, where we fix all sorts of modern and antique toys.
What makes your business unique?
We offer a highly bespoke, personal service that's hard to find in the toy industry. We work on each commission for several days or weeks, and we discuss customers' requirements with them in a lot of detail before we start. Each commission starts with design drawings and fabric swatches, and sometimes we make several iterations before we get it just right. All our puppets and toys are guaranteed for five years - we offer free of charge repairs within this time.
Describe your typical working day.
No two days are ever the same at Picture to Puppet - there are always new surprises. One day I might be designing a robot puppet and making an extendable neck out of a tumble drier hose, and the next day I might be making a seven foot long lifelike wolf puppet. Of course, there are also the boring things that go along with every business - the bookkeeping, invoicing, and sweeping the floor!
Why Leith?
I love working from my home studio on Constitution Street. We've got a lovely community on Constitution street - we have great chats with all our friendly neighbours. In summer I sit on my front steps a lot, and chat to all the passers by.
Name three fellow Leith businesses you love to visit.
We love our Constitution Street Post Office, who have endless patience with our piles of parcels.
Destined for Home is a lovely shop just up the road from us, where you can get beautiful and quirky gifts and accessories.
We love to go for drinks and snacks at Nobles, where there is a great atmosphere and cool surroundings.