Homemade Stuffed Animals

As a kid, one of my favorite stuffed animals was made by my Mom. I liked the fact that it didn't quite look like any of the toy animals my friends had. Vintage stuffed animals are not impossible to find, but it can be fun to make your own. Here are some ideas for projects:

From Martha Steward Living is this idea to turn old wool sweaters into adorable little farm animals. I like the way the more classic wool prints look with these, but I'm sure more modern prints would work great too. So if you're cleaning out your winter closets, here's a good way to make sure that old sweater your tired of doesn't go to waste. There are directions for a chicken, lamb, and a pig-- I especially like how the pig looks.

If creating something 3D is a bit daunting to you, this sewn felt penguin is more like a small shaped pillow, and easy enough that older kids could do it as a craft. According to the people over at Craft Daisies, this took them only 3 hours while watching TV. So if you are looking for something simple but still cute, this is it.

Then there is the venerable sock monkey. Crazy toe socks are great for these, or wool socks make for a more classic monkey. And once you've got the basic idea down, there is no limit for what other animals you can create. I've seen some really adorable sock octopuses being sold on blogs lately, that I am thinking about trying to do myself.

Hope these are fun!