What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Monday, November 30, 2009

The Gift


As is customary with itty bitty's....the wrapping paper was almost as much fun as the gift!

I did it--I made my FIRST EVER stuffed animal! I have to tell you I almost chickened out and gave up (without even starting) half a dozen times. I figured it would be too hard so I might as well not even start. (Isn't it crazy how we can be our own worst enemy?!)

But I just. couldn't. give. up. Not without TRYING, at least. The monkey was too darn cute!

I used this wonderfully easy (and free!) tutorial here: Molly Monkey by mmmcrafts


And I did it! Without pulling out any of my hair in the process! Although, truth be told, I had to talk myself through the stitching around the whole monkey with limbs inside. That was bit scary.

And the stuffing was a bit...tedious.

But overall, it was not only pretty easy but also rather enjoyable! (Even if I did wait until the day before her birthday to get stitching!)

Some changes I made to the tutorial:

I sewed the face onto the felt first, then sewed the felt to the head: all BEFORE assembling. That was one of the last steps, which seemed like a much more difficult time to be sewing features.

I sewed all the felt pieces on. (The tutorial used fabric glue).

I added jingle bells to the toes. (you know Molly needed twinkle toes!)


And I added a bum tattoo with the year: because I hope that one day, Miss Molly will be all ragged and worn thin and a very old Adele' will hand her off to her grandchild with the story of her mother making it for her first birthday. On a day so far into the future that said great grandchild will look at the year 2009 and wonder if people really lived that long ago.

A girl can dream, can't she?


I used french knots for the nostrils and HAD to add the hair, since Miss Addie Mae has herself quite a headful too.


And YES-those are real buttons even though it is for a baby. I have always thought the whole "no buttons on things for babies" rule was sorta silly.

But maybe that is because I grew up with brothers, who successfully swallowed and passed quarters, dollars, and everything in between. (was that too much information?!)

I went to a lot of work and was super excited about it all, but I tried to rein my excitement in with the reality that babycakes is only a YEAR old and will probably think nothing of it and toss it aside for the wrapping paper.

I worried so wouldn't even take a second glance.

BOY. WAS I WRONG!
(which you know thrilled me to pieces!)



I have about 15 more pictures just like this.

If that girl only KNEW how delighted she made her Mama with that reaction!

14 comments:

Father's Grace Ministries said...

So precious!

Grandma Bibby said...

I am so glad that you didn't give up. She is precious, along with the receiver and giver. Great job!

Peggy said...

Ah how sweet! I cried... a good cry, just feeling a bit emotional right now! Thank goodness none of the males in this household are home right now!

You are such a talented seamstress! And I love Miss Adele's expressions!!

A Happy Wife said...

Rebecca,

OK...first...this is seriously TOO CUTE!!!

And, second...I think you have proven that you are far from a "novice" seamstress. Each and every project you post is beautifully and artistically executed.

You are so talented! I love seeing your creations...keep sharing, please!

Kris Zerby

MameyJane said...

As a Mom to a 15 month old, I can so relate! You never know if they will hug or toss!

It's SOOO cute!! Ugh!

I tip my hat ;).

Nanci said...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. . . That is just precious!!!! What a great job! I love the hat, and the monkey's expression is priceless.

Those two little cuties look like they will be bosom buddies.

Hugs and kisses for the Birthday girl.

Unknown said...

SO CUTE! Those pictures of her with the monkey! AWWWWWWWWW!!!

This makes me EXTREMELY jealous. I must learn to sew. :D

Great job, Rebecca!

Amy

Wendy said...

Happy Belated Birthday to Adele' !! I love the monkey, and it brought back memories of my mom making me and my sister amanda our own cabbage patch dolls...they were too expensive to buy, so mom made us ours...mine was done first...manda was so excited for hers to be done that she carried it around without a head for most of the time...(she had a child bike seat attached to her bike, and she used to zoom around the road with her headless doll...hehehe...good memories!) So with that REALLY long post...I just wanted to say...I know that she will have great memories with her monkey! Well Done Mommy! Which reminds me...I still have a Rudolph to stuff and sew...ACK...better get busy!

Kim said...

Aww so cute! She loves her little monkey. :-D. I forgot that our youngest two were only a week or so apart in age!

Liana said...

I LOVE, love, love the monkey.
My son, Noah, adores monkeys - so when I saw this "one of a kind" homemade treasure I have fallen in love with it.
WONDERFUL job!
And Happy Birthday to Adele!

Carrie J said...

That is so adorable! She is a precious little girl. I know that did thrill your heart to get that kind of response from her.

Riahli said...

Oh that made me teary eyed, there's nothing better then seeing your kid love on something you made! That monkey is adorable! I've made sock monkeys before which is a lot of fun. Love how this monkey has an outfit and everything, you are such a crafty lady!!

Larissa Holland said...

Happy birthday, little Adele, and I'm glad you ended up with a monkey triumph! Thank you for the linkage and those pictures were precious.

Abigail said...

I LOVE the monkey!!!!!!!!

Do you need more exclamation marks?

I really love the monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You did such a great job!

Crazy cute.

It's really too much cuteness to handle, especially when you add Adele to the mix.