Thursday, March 18, 2010

Build-a-Bat

Meet BatBoomer!
This project all came about on Saturday when I was out running errands and I stopped by the fabric store to pick up some supplies to help with Natalie's girl scout badges. Zander asked me "how come you do more creative crafts with Natalie?" A very valid question. So I asked what he would like to make and I came up with a fun idea that seemed to pique his interest. We were going to create a creature out of felt. When we got home I Googled ugly plushies and he was very inspired and quickly drew a creature of his own. This afternoon, I turned his drawing into a little plushy and he couldn't have been happier. I was just beaming on the inside because it has been a while since we have been able to connect like that. Dan is spending lots of quality time with him at Cub Scouts, but I haven't really felt like I have contributed much to his little world lately.

We worked together, cutting the shapes out and he was very good about speaking up if I cut something out that didn't match his vision. When everything was all cut out it was time to sew it all together. Zander said he liked it so far and hoped the sewing made it look good. He stood by me as I stitched it up on the sewing machine. (thankfully, it wasn't giving me fits like it normally does.) He got nervous when I turned everything right side out and there was a hole at the bottom for stuffing it. He thought I had decided to make it into a puppet, but was glad when I explained why it was open at the bottom. At any rate here is his bat! He loves it and has thanked me numerous times. "I've never made my own toy before...Well, you actually made it, but it looks just like my picture!"