Anyone who's ever been a little girl will appreciate the significance of this 'instant mermaid kit', specially made to fit standard-sized baby dolls. The result is what maker Amy Karol refers to as the 'merbaby'.
Making one of these interchangable tail fins couldn't be easier, and will provide hours of fun for toys that may otherwise have been left at the bottom of the pile. You can also add a cute, shell-shaped bra top for that authentic Little Mermaid look. All the materials you'll need are velcro, elsatic, wool felt and velour; there's a diagram you can use after the jump, but for full instructions check out Angry Chicken's blog.
As a Londoner, I was delighted by the news that an endangered breed of seahorses had been found happily living in the Thames, proving that this once horribly polluted river is cleaner than it's been in a long time.
So by way of celebration, I bring you this adorable baby seahorse from the multi-talented Futuregirl, whose PDF pattern includes instructions and pattern pieces to make adult and baby seahorses. You can find a link to the pattern here, but if you'd like to just look at some pretty seahorses made by others, there's a great selection of them here.
Nizo Handmade Automata is a collection of handmade toys that move. Each piece is carved and assembled with precision and care so that the toy's crank sends the figure into motion. The characters are whimsical and so fun!
For those of you who love all things big-eyed, round and anime that make no sense but are strangely cute, nobody does it better than Hayao Miyazaki. From the tiny naked rears of ghostly little kodama, to giant school buses shaped like cats, to hardworking soot clouds with eyes, Miyazaki’s films have it all.
And if you love the films, then chances are that you are also a huge fan of the fine art of amigurumi. So combining the cute-but-weird with the fantastic films of Miyazaki would be nothing short of genius. And now someone has. Heaven’s Hellcat, from the sunny South of England, has conjured a crochet Totoro, and the pattern is as free as Princess Mononoke in the forest.
And if you have no idea who Miyazaki or Totoro are then shame on you, quite frankly. They are perfect for rainy nights sitting cosily in front of the TV with some knitting on your lap.
Placing a pair of eyes, a nose, and some teeth on the face of your furry knitted friend can be a surprisingly horrifying experience. It is no mere matter of eyes either side of the nose, and teeth below it. The wrong eye colour, the wrong distance between the teeth, and you can end up staring into the face of a twitchy wild-eyed psycho chipmunk instead of the beauteous beaver you intended.
Knitting the body of a toy should be the hard part. After all those M1s and K2togs you should be left with something that resembles the toy you wish to create in some way. It is just missing the little features that will bring the beast to life. Putting a face on the thing at the end with a tapestry needle and a couple of different colours should be as easy as falling off a log, yes? Well no.
The jury may still be out on whether making felt from your dead cat is a great, resourceful idea or just plain wrong, but making stuff from a living moggy - particularly when the kitty in question will get hours of fun from it - is good news for all concerned. Right? Zack Scott certainly thinks so...
If you're a fan of sock monkeys you'll love this book. Stupid Sock Creatures: Making Quirky, Lovable Figures from Cast-off Socks is a fabulous, fun paperback which provides patterns and instructions to enable you make sock creatures of your very own. These guys are not always cute, some have horns and pretty sinister expressions, but they will keep you amused during , and most certainly after, their creation. Written by John Murphy, it's available from Amazon.co.uk for only £7.16.
Sock creatures are a good way to start off toy making, as they obviously use materials you have lying around the house (i.e. socks!), and they can be made as simple or elaborate as you want. They have a real cult following now, so they can be pricey if you want to buy one someone else has made. Simple answer is to make your own.
Anyone who's ever been a little girl will appreciate the significance of this 'instant mermaid kit', specially made to fit standard-sized baby dolls. The result is what maker Amy Karol refers to as the 'merbaby'. 
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For those of you who love all things big-eyed, round and anime that make no sense but are strangely cute, nobody does it better than 
Placing a pair of eyes, a nose, and some teeth on the face of your furry knitted friend can be a surprisingly horrifying experience. It is no mere matter of eyes either side of the nose, and teeth below it. The wrong eye colour, the wrong distance between the teeth, and you can end up staring into the face of a twitchy wild-eyed psycho chipmunk instead of the beauteous beaver you intended. 
If you're a fan of sock monkeys you'll love this book. Stupid Sock Creatures: Making Quirky, Lovable Figures from Cast-off Socks is a fabulous, fun paperback which provides patterns and instructions to enable you make sock creatures of your very own. These guys are not always cute, some have horns and pretty sinister expressions, but they will keep you amused during , and most certainly after, their creation. Written by John Murphy, it's available from 
