make something monday :: rice pillow monsters

better late than never right?! A little silly project for you on this winter Friday friends!

Last week I was doodling some silly monsters for the boys when Levi exclaimed - I want to play with my monster!! Well who could deny such a sweet and silly request?? Luckily JoAnnes had fleece on sale..and PS. can I just say I AM IN LOVE WITH FLEECE!! I had never used it before but it is just so soft and forgiving!

I don't really have a tutorial for these since it was all kind of fly by the seat of my yoga pants but here are some photos I took of the process. First I cut cut cut to my giggling hearts content all the pieces I would need to bring the kids monsters to life. Next I used felt and embroidery thread to add the faces and each one got a special little heart since I was planning to give them to my little monsters for Valentines day. I got too antsy to wait though and already spoiled the surprise. Next I sewed the legs together. Go extra big on these since they shrink when turned inside out. Then fill the legs with rice and sew closed.

At this point I laid the pieces together with the legs and arms in place and pinned them together inside out. A quick whirl with the sewing machine, turned them right side out and all ready for stuffing. Originally I had planned to use regular batting but had the hair brained idea to make them into rice pillows so that in the evening (or anytime really) I could zap them in the microwave and make em all snugly and warm to cuddle with. But these monsters are kind of big and took a lot more rice to fill than I had expected. I also added in some lavender tea for scent and after consulting with Jenny (eye pillow extraordinaire) she told me to slowly heat them since they are so big at about 30 second intervals until up to temp. It seemed to have worked great so far, Levi especially loved snuggling with his yesterday afternoon with a movie!

It was a fun silly little project to work on for the week and I am excited to try my hand at more crafts using fleece!! Let me know if you have any questions!