The mom over at Addled Adventures blogged about the trunk she recently made over as the TARDIS. She passed a garage sale on hermy way home from work and came across a very beaten up trunk. They were actually selling the stuffed animals inside of it and you got the trunk for free. For $5, she bought the trunk and donated the stuffed animals to charity. Someone had painted the outside of the trunk bright green and then used green and pink shelf paper to line the inside.
Mom scraped and cleaned the trunk as best she could, and peeled away all of the shelf paper. Using sandpaper, a paint scraper, and buffer, she worked on the inside until it was clean enough to look slightly presentable.
After spray painting it blue, Mom laser cut the door panels. She designed the windows and door signs, then and laser cut from Rowmark Flexicolor White/Black with 3M backing. The Police Box sign was also designed by Mom and laser cut from Rowmark Flexicolor Black/White with 3M backing.
A Monster to Love is this great online shop where, for every cute little monster doll you buy, Sam, Ben, and their dad Ray, donate a monster doll to a kid in need. They partner up with children’s hospitals and even the World Relief Refugee program out of Atlanta.
I ran across their awesome work about a year ago on Craftsy, including a pattern to make your own monsters to donate to local kids in need, or send off to Ray and his boys in Colorado so they can donate the cuddly little monsters to kids in need.
I try to organize a Monster Making Party at least once or twice a year–they’re fun, and pretty easy to do. Here’s how:
1. I buy a couple yards of fun colored fleece fabric when it’s on sale (usually in the summer). You can get quite a lot of monsters out of a yard of fleece, or even half a yard. Just be sure to shop when it’s on sale! Along with fabric, I’ll pick up a box of stuffing when it’s on sale too (or with a coupon). One box can last a long while and stuff a lot of monsters (probably around 30). I’ll also purchase Safety Eyes for the dolls, which can be attached before sewing, and don’t require any sewing knowledge to install. I purchased my Safety Eyes here, but there are tons of vendors and craft stores out there that sell them. The 18mm sized ones are what I used, and I liked to mix and match colors too. 15 pairs of eyes cost about $15. You can also use buttons for the eyes, but make sure they are SEWN on really well. If the eyes are not sewn on securely, Ray and his boys can’t use them. Do not glue on eyes. Ray and his boys can’t use the monster dolls if the eyes have only been glued on (hello choking hazards!).
All in all, I spent about $40 on supplies for making the monsters, but I did it over the course of a couple of months.
Angie brought her own sewing machine and helped build a couple monsters. That’s my mom in the background stitching away madly.
2. I set up a FB event and ask folks to bring their own sewing machines if they’ve got them, but I also tell folks that there’s plenty of other ways to help too: attaching eyes, stuffing, cuddle testing, and hand stitching are great ways to get even the most novice of crafters involved in a Monster Making Party. Along with the fabric, stuffing, and safety eyes, I also bring along thread, scissors, and hand sewing needles for people to use. If you’re worried about materials cost, you can always ask people to pitch in a couple bucks to help out.
3. I cut out at least some monsters before the party so there are dolls ready to be sewn. I also set up stations for people to work at installing eyes, stuffing the monsters, and hand sewing the monsters closed after stuffing, and even cutting out more monsters if necessary.
Here, my friend Chrystal is stuffing a monster.
Eunice is hand sewing the monster closed.
4. We have music playing, and I ask folks to help out with some food (like chips and dip, cupcakes, and frosty beverages). And I invite folks to come when they can and stay as long as they’d like to. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening.
5. I’ve found three hours to be a great length of time for a Monster Making Party. You can get a lot done, have time to chat, and still steal a cupcake too. Once the party’s over, you’ll want to box up your magnificent creations and mail them off to A Monster to Love! Their address is on the last page of the PDF.
All our Monsters boxed up and ready to go!
If you have your own Monster Making Party, be sure to take pictures and share!!!
More Links of Interest
A Monster to Love: check out this great online shop and see where they’ll be selling their cute little monster dolls next!
Check out the story about A Monster to Love on Craftsy
Be sure to also check out their Etsy shop for geek accessories and art. 15% of all profits go to Hero Initiative, a charity which helps comic book artists.
They are releasing one geek-themed square knitting pattern each week, including references to Sherlock, Battlestar Galactica, Harry Potter, the DC universe, and Avatar. They have also posted a FAQ for the project. The patterns are free, but they are encouraging donations to Child’s Play.
Like any good “a-long” project, it’s fun to interact with others who are working on the same project. It looks like this one has some good participation on Ravelry, with 500+ members in the group.
What fandoms or images would you include in a geeky afghan?
Holy Cricket!! »rc on Design in Technology Education made this AMAZING Harry Potter Monopoly game! I would pay a lot of money for this! And the best part is, he has also uploaded the files to make your own Harry Potter Monopoly, and a post to give you some hints on making your own game! All you need is an old monopoly game, a colour printer (the board has to be printed in two parts), some mod podge (or similar) and a bit of spare time! I am so excited by this! I’m going to spend my afternoon trawling the charity shops for and old monopoly game! I might even make some player pieces out of fimo!
According to Geek Girl Diva over at Fashionably Geek, “Apparently, fans who have been making and selling their versions of the Jayne hat for roughly the last 10 years are being sent “cease and desist” notices from Fox. It seems Ripple Junction now has an official license to make the Jayne hat (shown at right, the one sold through ThinkGeek for $24.99) and that means independent Browncoats who might be making and selling them are now infringing on the license for a simple patterned hat.” BTW, as of 04/13/13, there were 60 handmade Jayne hats for sale.
“Browncoats, we hear your concerns about the cease and desist on Etsy Jayne Hat sellers!
“We weren’t involved in that process, but we have reached out to FOX and we’ve heard what you’ve had to say. As a result, we’ve decided to donate the profits from all Jayne Hat sales on our site to Can’t Stop the Serenity, a Browncoat charity dear to ThinkGeek’s heart that raises funds and awareness in support of Equality Now. We’ll continue making that donation until we run out of stock.
“We hope the Hero of Canton himself would approve.”
This was Think Geek’s udpated on 04/11/13: “So, we got Fillioned.Nathan Fillion tweeted a link to our blog post about our Jayne Hat donation to Can’t Stop the Serenity (thank you, Nathan!) and our blog couldn’t handle the traffic, taking the whole site down with it (thank you, Nathan?).”
