Halloween Crafts for Dogs: ty Beanie Baby Tags!

Halloween is quickly approaching, and for many that means finding, picking out, and/or making Halloween costumes.  Here's a quick craft that costs less than $1 and an hour of your time.  I chose to make one for my dog!!

Here is my chihuahua-yorkie mix Jasper in his beanie baby costume! I know if he had been a beanie baby he would've been my favorite!

Here's what you'll need:

• scrap of red felt
• scrap of white felt
• white thread
• needle
• scissors

Optional:

• leather punch
• white puff paint

First thing's first, make a pattern! I folded a piece of paper in half and cut out a perfectly symmetrical heart.  Then I opened up the heart and folded a separate piece of paper in half.  Then I put the open heart over the folded paper, leaving a little of the heart over the side of the fold.  

 Here's what the paper pattern ends up looking like.  You'll need to trace and cut out one in red and one in white, the same size.

 Tracing and cutting out the white, and a better picture of the heart stencil.

Then pin the two together and blanket stitch them together, the whole way around!  I realized I didn't have a picture of me sewing the "ty" on.  To do this, I traced the letters t and y into a piece of white felt, and cut them out. Then I stitched them on to the red part.  I highly recommend you do this before sewing the red and white together.  Hindsight.

Then you'll need to poke a hole to be able to attach it to things.  I used my leather punch [which was actually kinda difficult] because I have one and never really get to use it.  I bought it from Michael's when I was making my purse, so that I could attach the chain.  It was somewhere between $10-15 before my 40% off coupon.  Pretty good deal! I really recommend getting one that has metal tips though.  The plastic ended ones won't cut through ANYTHING.

Just look at his creepy little smile!

Then just attach the tag to yourself or your dog or cat or anything else you can imagine! I used a hair tie to attach it to my dog's collar.  He hated it. But he gets really worried when we do anything to his collar.  I think other dogs, especially those who like dressing up, won't mind it.  

Here are some more pictures of my hunny bunny in his tag.

 He's so adorable,  how could I not take a million pictures? :)

Another way I mentioned is to puff paint on the letters, instead of cutting them out and sewing them on.  I prefer this method, but don't have pictures. The "ty" turns out much brighter if puff painted and is somewhat shiny.  It takes a lot less time than sewing, but it's totally up to you! 

You can also write their name and info inside! Jasper's will say "Jasper Q!" and his birthday :)


Thank you so much for reading my blog post! See you all soon!
♥ Riley

P.S., if you like this blog post and would like to see more, please subscribe :) If you try this or any of my other tutorials, please send me your work, I'd love to see it! 

Oddish Plushies! $1 Craft

Hi Guys!

This time I decided to make an Oddish plushie! Oddish was always one of my favorites! He was so little and cute, I couldn't help but love him forever.  

Without further ado, Oddish Plush!

[Updated 3/3/2014, This is now how I make my Oddishes]

This plush requires two different colors of felt, a needle, thread, paint, and stuffing.  Assuming that you already own a needle, thread, and paint, it will cost you less than $1

 First cut out a pattern! This is also me really excited about my new scissors my grandma got me! ^-^

I used this Oddish as an example of what I wanted the body to look like!
Here is the link to the picture: http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/123/9/1/oddish_by_beyx-d3fjesv.png
Here's the link to the artist's deviantart! http://beyx.deviantart.com/art/Oddish-207498415

 I used the pattern as a very rough example of what I wanted and assumed about 1/4 of an inch seam allowance [a fancy term I've read on some sewing posts].  I'm going to be sewing a seam 1/4 of an inch inward and flipping it inside out.

 Two pieces cut! Ignore the Disneyland parking permits, I was using my binder as a surface.

 Make some leaf shapes on a green piece of felt. 

I didn't cut them out at this point because I was unsure of the size. You will also need two ovals for feet in the same shade as the body!

 I had trouble making knots for the longest time....but I found a pin on Pinterest that really helped! 
Here is the link to her instructions: http://ecb.edesignsfashion.com/2012/04/27/how-to-start-hand-sewing-without-knotting-the-thread.aspx Hopefully you guys find them helpful too!

 What the knot looks like on the other side.

 Not sure why I took this picture? I think I'm trying to show that I'm doing a running stitch.

 Ignore how awful I am at this! I'm still learning. :]

 Leave some unsewn so that you can flip it inside out and stuff.

Oh! And sew on the feet! I highly recommend you do this before you sew the body together.

Sew your oddish closed using the hidden stitch! I learned from this tutorial on Pinterest: http://fernandfreckle.com/tutorial-invisible-seams-the-hidden-stitch/
Then cut out the leaves! Then decide where you want them. He looks a bit like a pineapple here!

 Decided I liked it this way better.  But decide how you like your leaves! I used five leaves but you could have a different number if you'd like!

 Sewed these leaves on using the invisible stitch I mentioned earlier! Not sure if it was the best way, but you can't see the stitches and they hold on just fine!

 Add some more leaves! I alternated the ways they faced to add some dimension.

 A top view of what they looked like!

This is what mine looked like with all five leaves attached to it. Ready for paint!

 & the back of him with the leaves.

 Don't use the marker I did. My hands were so stained from it!

 Paint on red eyes!

 & a mouth! Using a dark pink.

 Then I used a small bit of a lighter pink for the tongue! Add a dot of white to each eye for a shine and then outline the mouth and eyes with black to help make them stand out!

 I then started painting lines down the center of the leaves to look more like Oddish.

 Painting! I find that it comes out the best when I use a very tiny detail brush like the one pictured.

 Here are all the paints I used.  Two kinds of pink [both Tulip fabric paints], red paint [it is puffy, but I squirted it on my binder and used it with a paint brush], a white and a black.

I literally squirted it on my binder. It'll come right off!

 Ta-da! I hope you like this post on how to make an Oddish of your very own!

 All completed!

Thank you from my growing family of Pokemon Plushies! Tutorials for all of these are on my blog! :]
http://milkpolka.blogspot.com/2013/08/pikachu-plushies.html
http://milkpolka.blogspot.com/2013/08/hoppip-plushie-milkpolkamon.html
http://milkpolka.blogspot.com/2013/08/charmander-plushies-5-gift.html
http://milkpolka.blogspot.com/2013/08/poliwag-plushies.html

♥ Riley

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