African or Asian, do you think?

I'm proud of this guy!  I made him in just about one day, though I did cut out the pieces the night before.

All the sewing and stuffing, though, was in one day.  He was a lot of work, but I think he came out great.  I found the pattern online a while back, and hung onto it, since I knew I wanted to make an elephant for my nephew.

And today I'm spending the day with him and my sister, so I wanted to have a surprise to bring with me.  I hope Avery loves him as much as I do!

The slate blue is the great, soft fleece that I bought at Joann's back when I won that gift card.  I got the yellow felt that I used for the feet, trunk, and tail at the same time, to make Avery's birthday crown.  

And believe it or not, the plaid is an old flannel nightgown of mine.  I retired it, and kept it as fabric!

I love being able to recycle.

And I was happy with the elephant even as I was making him.  As soon as I had most of the body together, I could see it really taking shape.

Once I had it together correctly, that is.  Because seam rippers?  Best invention ever.  Yeah, I accidentally started to sew the right side of the belly to the wrong side of the back.  Realized when I had it 2/3 done.  Oops.

You know what's ironic?  Remember CTBS standardized tests back in grammar school?  Remember the questions where they'd give you a picture of a flat, open box pattern, and then pictures of 4 or 5 funky-shaped boxes?  And you had to pick which box would be made if you folded the pattern shown?  Well, I aced those.  Couldn't get 'em wrong.  I used to be able to see in 3D like that and test at some crazy level.

So where'd that go?!  How is it that the kid who couldn't possibly get one of those wrong can now sew a stuffed animal together incorrectly?  Sigh.  I thought it was innate, but maybe it's a skill that needs a little practice.  I know what that means.  It means I need to make more stuffed animals!  Mwahahaha!

Well, I finally got him together properly, turned inside-out, and then he took a crazy amount of stuffing; I felt like I was stuffing and stuffing and stuffing him!  He couldn't be mushy, though, or he wouldn't stand properly.

In fact, I'm especially proud of that.  This is my first stand-alone stuffed animal!  Cool, right?  And he's still soft, too.

For his eyes, if you're wondering, I used yellow embroidery floss.  I considered buttons, but this is baby-safe, and at 16 months, Avery is at that "eating everything" stage.

Now I'm just waiting for his verdict!

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Did I ever mention I'm a big geek?

No, really, I am.

As a kid I fought it, but I've long since come to terms with my geekiness and have even grown proud of it.  And in college, I discovered H.P. Lovecraft.  Never heard of him?  He's an American author from the early 1900s.  I've been reading his stories for a long time now (college was waaaaay too long ago), but didn't actually know much about the guy until looking him up.  Like I didn't know that his father went insane when he was three or that his grandfather introduced him to gothic horror when he was young... but it explains a lot!

Lovecraft's stuff is, to put it bluntly, pretty twisted.  He's the guy who came up with Cthulhu, the high priest of the "Great Old Ones," best described as fairly evil gods.

Cthulhu, in drawings and sculptures, has been interpreted many times.  It's even been interpreted as plush dolls.

And now?  A cell phone holder.

Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Cthulhu cell phone holder, and it's eaten my phone.

It even has a handy dandy strap on the back to be hooked around a belt.

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that it's not handmade, but I simply couldn't pass it up.  It's Cthulhu!  And when I want to switch out and use a handmade cell phone holder, I've always got my pop tart!