Mooshy Bellies!

Back in October, I won a gift card to Joann's from Jess at http://frugalflourish.blogspot.com/!  I was so excited!  Excited, but unable to get there right away.  How annoying is it to have money to spend and no time in which to spend it?  You can imagine, I'm sure.

Well, Eric and I were able to get there on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, beating the crazy Black Friday crowds, but still taking advantage of some amazing sales.  With just a little of our own funds, I was able to get this awesome royal crushed velvet, which I wanted to make a "skirt" for my rolling face painting cart for an event in February.

Plus, I got this great, soft fleece.

I picked up a yard of this awesomely thick golden yellow felt.  The birthday party my sister is throwing for my nephew on December 19 is a Where the Wild Things Are theme, and she was thinking of a crown for my nephew... so I decided to make it from felt to make it more comfy for him.

Plus, I already had these two (very) beginner quilt kits because I want to see if I like quilting and figured this was an inexpensive ($14.99 each) and non-time consuming way to find out.

Thing is, I thought the kits only came with the pieces for the quilt fronts (I was wrong).  So I also got a pack of quilt batting and this cool fabric that'll suit the backs of both (or other projects).

The best purchase, though, was this fabric that's so incredibly soft it's ridiculous, called "ultra cuddle," that I got in these two great colors:  brown and pale green.

See, I found this tutorial and pattern for a really cute stuffed animal dubbed a "Mooshy Belly Bunny," and I wanted to make it as a gift for my nephew.  The original post calls for the recycling of t-shirts, but I loved this fabric too much and thought it'd be perfect.  I did the first one in green, and instead of white ear insides used a pair of my mom's old corduroy pants.

With some thread and the addition of a pompom from when I made the puppet, it didn't take long for this...

... to become this...

And then I used green embroidery thread to define his head and black to give him a face!

I had so much fun with it that I decided to make one in green and one in brown for each of my two nephews and a set for Eric's best friend's impending son, who's due in January.  I started one in brown, but then decided to keep the original green one for myself.  I continued with the brown, using a pair of mom's old tan cords for the insides of the ears...

And then there were two!

This one is for my other nephew, on Eric's side.  Meanwhile, Eric made the bright observation that the body is basic and generic enough that it could be used for other animals!  So I decided that my nephew on my side and Eric's best friend's son would each get a green bunny and a brown bear, while my nephew on Eric's side will get this brown bunny and a green bear.

So I cut all the green fabric for three more animals, two bunnies and a bear.

And then did the same thing in brown.  I then my my sister's son's bear, of which I got no photos!  I was kicking myself for it, but I finished it just before going to their house for our Chanukah celebration and gift exchange, so I didn't think about it.  I'll be making the others soon, though, and will post photos.

I'd visit my sister and post photos of the bear I already gave my nephew, but I have a feeling the pictures wouldn't do it justice at this point.  From what I understand, out of all the gifts he got... the Thomas the Train sets, the Little People sets, the Lego sets, the See & Say and CD that Eric and I also got him... his favorite things were the bear and bunny, which he refuses to put down and which he gnaws on pretty much nonstop.

Photo op aside, I'm ecstatic that he loves the gifts I made him so much!  Isn't that awesome?!

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