It doesn't take long to whip up a toy when you've had a bit of practice. This means there are those of us out there who have probably made more than we can possibly give away to baby toting pals. The solution is to give them away to a total stranger in one of the loveliest examples of giving graffiti I have seen so far.
I'm proud to introduce to you The Toy Society. A group who are intent on passing along those handcrafted huggables you create to those who need them. They are a world collective of toy makers who giving away their creations in Australia in 2008 and now have over 2500 members worldwide.
The idea is to make a toy, seal it in a bag with a "Take me home. I'm Yours." note and a tag with an ID number, leave it somewhere to be found, and then post it on the Toy Society blog.
Drops and finds can be tracked on the blog, but often the toys just go on their journey without the maker knowing where.
It's a lovely idea for those who enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling of passing on their hard-crafted creations and a chance to get on with a a little giving in your local areas.
Still sceptical? A look through the Why Join stories will definitely help.
To sign up and become a Toy Dropper visit the Toy Society.
Your creation could end up creating something even bigger. Get out there and give!
Muppets rule. It's just one of those facts. I don't know anyone on this planet who doesn't have just a little love for those bug-eyed furry fellows.
I would dearly love a muppet of my very own but breaking into Jim Henson's Creature Shop and kidnapping one seems rather risky. So crafting your very own muppet seems the way forward, and who better to show you than Jim Henson himself?
When I came across this Making Muppets video on the Mousehunter blog (excellent Mousehunter books if you fancy a fantastic mouse-and-pirate-flavoured read) I had to share.
The Muppet master takes you through the whole process of making your very own crazy-furred friend from all kinds of household objects. As he shows us how it's done he deals with some great interruptions from several weird and wonderful members Muppet-kind too.
You don't get a much better puppet-making lesson than that folks.
Happy Muppet-filled Friday!
Image from New York Geekcast.
I often meet knitters who are terrified by the idea of learning to increase and decrease or shape their knitting but are desperate to make something cute and four-legged. Amigurumi seems like an impossibility without a bit of shaping skill. Not so with a pattern for the simplest sheep ever.
The Jo Sew and So has created a tutorial for simple Knitted Square Sheep. All you need to do is know how to knit and you can stitch a whole herd of woolly friends. You'll need to combine the basic ancient skills of cutting out and sewing too.
A knit, a snip and a sew and some stuffing and you have a sheep. An excellent way to instil creature confidence in a new knitter and an easy gift to make for folks who endlessly ask you to knit them something.
It can be a bit tricky to get your head around the worlds of increase and decrease when it comes to knitting. This can mean that learners get a bit frustrated with the same old scarves and blankets as they knit back and forth, back and forth. Wouldn't it be great to knit a square and create something cute?
Bouncing onto the stitching scene is this neat little knitting pattern from from Jo Sew & So for a scarily easy knitted bunny rabbit.
The long-eared fella begins with a simple knitted square. With a clever bit of sewing, some stuffing action and a pom pom finish your square will be munching carrots and starring in Watership Down re-creations before you can say 'What's Up, Doc?'.
Keep an eye on them though. They tend to multiply.
It's St George's Day. A day when we celebrate how great dragons are by going to the pub and drinking pints of ale. Hurrah!
Well ok. St George's Day is about more than dragons. In fact it's pretty much about England's patron saint, St George, killing dragons but we'll gloss over that.
I ferreted out Knitty's fabulous free dragon pattern, the lovely Norberta, in honour of St George's Day.
The pattern is designed by Kate Kuckro, a San Francisco designer whose Simply Crafted shop has some great patterns too.
So get a dragon on your needles and then take it to the pub and celebrate St George with some English sausage and mash and a pint or two.
Meoooooow! Mrrrow! Meoooow! Moaw? Cats get bored. They get insistent. They end up patting at your hair and 'settling down' on your keyboard while you're trying to do very important tweeting. The only solution is to whip them up something to entertain them while you're too busy to scratch behind their ears. Which is where we turn to Fantastic Toys.
Fantastic Toys is crammed full of felt, paper and fluff lovelies for you to make yourself. Their Cat Toy Critters, with a free downloadable template, are made from felt and thread, and can be filled with catnip to drive your kitty wild with cat distraction, while you get on with your life a little less cat-harassed.
They also have an Etsy shop with some fantastic things including an Alice in Wonderland paper playset inspired by the children's classic.
Handmade treats for kitty, no more accidental tweet that say "ppppppppp;;;;;;;;;;;;;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkk" for you.
There are probably about a million nativity plays going on this week as the mangers, wise men and donkeys are broken out to celebrate the tale behind the festive season. If you don't get the chance to get your nativity on this year then why not create your own in the comfort of your own home?
The Holy Handcrafters of Antioch's Bible Puppets are a nod in the direction of handcrafting the holy and add a bit of a giggle to learning a bit about all things biblical.
Witness Daniel and his terrifying finger puppet lions, a rather irate felt Moses with a burning bush, Jonah and a fairly sinister swallowing whale and a unsettlingly cheerful Gabriel bringing the good news in sparkly felt.
The Holy Handcrafter can't seem to explain why her whale puppet appears to be blessed with thumbs though. Not sure a person-swallowing whale with thumbs is quite my craft cup of tea but they do make me laugh.
So grab your felt and scissors and start making yourself your own little manger scene for Christmas.
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