Felt Pokemon Snorlax Plushie

     Still trying to catch a Snorlax?  Why not make one?  This little critter may not be much help defending your local Gym (or maybe it will; you never know), but it's cut and cuddly, the perfect gift for Pokemon fans of all ages.

My Snorlax defending local Gym, Emera Astronomy Center

Materials:
*2 sheets medium blue "Snorlax colored" felt
*1 sheet cream colored felt
*Scraps of black felt
*Scraps of white felt
*Needle and thread
*All purpose adhesive
*Stuffing
*Metallic marker or chalk

Directions:
*Print out a copy or two (two needed if you want to reuse the template) of the below template, sized to your desired size:

*Cut out the various outside pieces of the template and trace using a metallic marker or chalk two copies of the body from blue felt, one copy of the inner body piece from cream colored felt, and four copies of the foot from cream colored felt.
*Cut out the various pieces, as shown below:

*Sew the cream colored body piece onto one of the blue body pieces like such:

*Sew together two of the foot pieces, leaving a small opening.

*Stuff and then sew the rest of the way closed.  Repeat with the other two foot pieces.

*Place together the two body pieces and start sewing together, sandwiching in the feet when needed.  Leave an opening for the stuffing.  I left a fairly sizable one at the outset so that I could reach and more easily stuff the distant arm.

*Stuff and sew closed.  Since I started with such a big opening, I added a little stuffing, then added a few stitches, added some more stuffing, sewed a few more stitches, and so on.

*Cut out eyes and a mouth from black felt and two teeth from white felt and glue them to the Snorlax's face.  Now your Snorlax is ready!

Felt Pokemon Zubat Plushie

     For the past week and a half or so, I've been playing Pokemon GO and I love it.  It's a lot like a scavenger hunt, which is great, and the AR feature is amazing.  I've been having way too much fun taking pictures of myself with my favorite monsters (e.g below photo).  Anyway, if you're looking to bring Pokemon into the physical world for yourself or your favorite Pokemon trainer, why not try making one from felt?  It's much less expensive than buying the plush toys from a store.  I think Zubats are adorable and they are fairly simple in terms of their features, so I thought I'd try my hand at making one.  Here's how you can too.

Me giving a Zubat bunny ears

Materials:
*1-2 sheets blue felt, depending on how large you'd like your Zubat to be
*1-2 sheets blue felt, depending on how large you'd like your Zubat to be
*1 sheet black felt
*White fabric paint or 1 sheet white felt (for Zubat's teeth)
*All purpose adhesive
*Needle and thread
*Scissors
*Metallic marker or chalk
*Stuffing

Directions:
*Print out a copy or two (two needed if you want to reuse the template) of the below template, sized to your desired size:

*Cut out the various outside pieces of the template and trace using a metallic marker or chalk two copies of the body from blue felt (I made one sans legs for ease, but you may want to keep legs on both for added structural integrity), two copies of the outer ear piece from blue felt, and four copies of the wings from purple felt.  Then cut out, either from the same template or a duplicate copy, the inner ear and mouth pieces and trace two copies of the inner ear onto purple felt and one copy of the mouth onto black felt.
*Cut out all of the various felt pieces, as shown below:

*Using either fabric paint or felt, create teeth for the mouth.  You'll see in the picture below that I used fabric paint, but in the end I wasn't satisfied with them, so I covered them up with felt.

*Glue or sew together the outer and inner pieces, as shown below:

*Fold two copies of the wings together and stitch them together.  This will make the wings more sturdy.  I used a running stitch here, but blanket stitch could work nicely.  Repeat with the other two wing pieces.

*Place together the two body pieces and start sewing together, sandwiching in the wings and ears as needed.  Leave an opening at the bottom for stuffing.  I used a running stitch again here.

*Add stuffing and sew closed.

*Glue on your Zubat's mouth.  Now you're done!

Prop Roque/Croquet Mallet

     Need a prop roque/croquet mallet?  The head on this design is a little small, but if you're looking for an inexpensive prop for a play or costume that doesn't have to be true to life, this may be what you need.

Materials:
*Paper tube (e.g. toilet paper, paper towel)
*Dowel
*Wood grain duct tape
*Black duct tape
*X-acto knife
*Scissors

Directions:
*Use an X-acto knife to cut "+" shape into the center of the paper tube.  The "+" shape should be about as long and wide as the dowel's diameter.
*Gently push the dowel into the "+" shape.  Once you're done, the two pieces should fit together snugly, like in the photo below:

*Remove the dowel from the tube and cover the ends of the tube with wood grain duct tape.
*Wrap wood grain duct tape around the remainder of the tube.
*Find where the hole for the dowel is and cut the same "+" shape in the tape and then push down with the dowel, like before.

*Remove the dowel and wrap that in wood grain duct tape.
*Reinsert the dowel in the hole.  I found that it stayed on fine without any adhesive, but you can always glue it down if you want to make it a little sturdier.
*Decorate the ends of the tube and part of the dowel with some black duct tape for a finishing touch.

Mini Mask Cake Toppers

     For my birthday cake, I wanted it to represent both the masquerade and The Shining themes.  I added the notorious phrase "redrum" in red lettering, sprinkles for confetti, and topped it off with some mini masks I made.  Brian did the icing.  It's not perfect, but then again we're mathematicians, not cake decorators and on the whole I'm pleased with the way it came out.  If you're hosting a masquerade of your own, these mini masks make for excellent cake or cupcake toppers.

Materials:
*Cardstock in a variety of colors
*Scissors
*X-acto knife
*Pencil
*Toothpicks
*All purpose adhesive
*Rhinestones, stickers, and other embellishments

Directions:
*Shrink mask template to the desired size and cut out.
*Trace the mask template onto the cardstock and cut out.
*Glue the mini mask to a toothpick and let dry.
*Add embellishments.  I used the eye hole cut outs for feathers, plus some rhinestones, beads, and stickers.  Now they're ready for your next cake decorating endeavor.