Your House Would Be EPIC With This In The Yard!

I thought this was freaking awesome last year, but a Giant Tentacle Monster absolutely tops the Epic Halloween Decorations charts. In this Instructable by username flaming_pele, you’ll see step by step how to make your own Giant Tentacle Monster. There’s a supply list and several pictures, though you will need some of your own ingenuity and creativity to make it work for your own yard. However, the core idea is solid, and the result is TERROR-fic! (I couldn’t help myself.) What are your DIY Halloween decorating plans this year?

Make Your Own Monstrously Cute Coin Purse!

As Halloween inches closer, I’ve been on the lookout for cute monster crafts when I found a version of this little guy on Pinterest (you can find the original pin here on my Pinterest board!), but there was no tutorial attached. So, I made one! You can find the full tutorial on my blog. I hope you all enjoy making this little guy. Be sure to share your monstrously cute coin purses with us!

Lovable Monsters

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I was young, I always wanted a big scary monster to be my friend and carry me around (I wanted a Luck Dragon so bad!). Although I never found any wandering dragons, I have found new ways to create big, lovable monster friends!

While studying abroad in Scotland a few years ago, I got to visit Loch Ness, and, of course, kept an eye out for any sign of long-necked Nessie. I didn’t spot her then, but Hannah from We Lived Happily Ever After has created a great version of her!

Made with only 1.5 yards of felt and some stuffing, (she suggests using the tons of plastic bags that we all have – which is a brilliant idea), this Nessie is big enough for a two-year old to ride, and would make the perfect addition to any geek’s toy room. Full details, great pictures, and a tutorial are available at her website.

The next project is especially for any cephalod-lovers out there! Less expensive than finding one in the deep blue sea, Emily over at the Philadelphia Weekly blog posted patterns for how to sew your own 8-foot giant squid pillow.

Emily recommends 2 yards of felt, 1 yard of polka-dot type fabric to serve as suckers, and 5 lbs of stuffing. If anyone completes this, she’d love to see pictures – email her at eguendelsberger@philadelphiaweekly.com. You can also find the tutorial on Tumblr as well.

Who is your favorite monster? Sully from Monsters Inc.? Ludo from Labyrinth? Falkor from the Neverending Story? Let me know in the comments!

Category: Craft, Geek, Myths & Urban Legends | 1 Comment

August 1

Feeling a little…sluggish?

According to the academic resource Futurama Wiki, a brain slug is “a species of space parasite that attaches its jelly-like body to the skull, presumably the brain of a human, and controls them. The specimen is green in color and consists of a translucent jelly-like body complete with two feelers and one large eyeball…The easiest way to tell if someone is infected would be the Brain Slug mass which sits atop of their head.”

Should you wish to make someone think he is infected, just perch one of these crocheted Brain Slugs on his noggin. Hilarity is sure to ensue.

This project makes me think of another amigurumi project – Baby Monsters by Allison Hoffman, aka CraftyIsCool. I made some in red for co-workers for Valentine’s Day, and called them “Love Monsters“. Naturally they were a big hit.

LINKS OF INTEREST

Crocheted Brain Slug from MostlyNerdy Crochet
Crochet Baby Monsters from CraftyIsCool
More amigurumi projects on GeekCrafts
More monster projects on GeekCrafts

Category: Craft, Geek, Toys, TV | 1 Comment

June 18

Round Up: 5 Fun Yo Gabba Gabba Crafts

Is Yo Gabba Gabba geeky? I’m not sure, but it is on a lot in our house, and I am geeky, so I say yes. Plus there is a magic robot on the show, and who can complain about a show that takes a couple minutes here and there to teach kids how to beat box? Not me. So I scoured the web for five of the most fun Yo Gabba Gabba crafts (one for each character, excluding DJ Lance Rock).

1. Felt Muno

Muno (he’s tall and friendly!) is perhaps the most recognized Yo Gabba Gabba character, which is why Catango, on Craftster, remembered him when left with two hours before a birthday party, and no gift! Yes, that’s right, in two hours, she went through her fabric, googled Muno, and stitched this awesome Felt Muno doll together for a friend’s child (who, of course, picked it up and danced around with joy)!

Big kudos to Catango for whipping this guy together under pressure! Procrastinators bow to you!

2. Foofa Tee Shirt

Foofa (she’s pink and happy!) is an odd little monster with a head shaped like a tear drop, and a big flower on her head, a big hit for little girl Gabba fans.

You can find this adorable Foofa Tee Shirt in the CarouselCraftsWI Etsy shop, along with all the other Yo Gabba Gabba monsters. The face is felt applique, with a machine zig zagged border–and the finished product is awesome (the model is pretty cute, too).

3. Brobee Fleece Soaker

Brobee (the little green one!) is a fuzzy, long armed monster that is best known for having a party in his tummy.

BugOnARug makes these awesome fleece soakers featuring Brobee and all your other favorite monsters and you can get them from the BugOnARug etsy shop! For those not “in the know” a fleece soaker is a type of cover for cloth diapers, and fleece shorties are a popular choice for parents using “fitted” cloth diapers.

4. Toodee Amigurumi

Toodee (she likes to have fun!) is what seems to be a cross between a cat and a dinosaur. She seems to get into lots of trouble, but manages to get along well in Gabbaland and, of course, have lots of fun!

AlieCat30, a poster on Craftster, crocheted this super cute Toodee Amigurumi as the fourth in her series of Yo Gabba Gabba amigurumis. I personally love the attention to detail on Toodee‘s eyes and whiskers.

5. Plex Cookies

Plex (a magic robot!) is the robot responsible for getting special guest stars, DJ Lance Rock, and even snacks in and out of Gabbaland.

Edeliu826 bakes and decorates these Plex Cookies that you can purchase by the 2 dozen on Etsy. You don’t have to read Geek Crafts very often to know if there are two things we love, they are robots and things we can eat. Plex Cookies fit both of these requirements!

Category: Craft, Geek, Girly, Music, Toys, TV | 1 Comment

January 2

Monsters Invade New York City

December twenty-eighth came and went, and most New Yorkers went about their lives, blissfully unaware that their city had been taken over by ten sultry, lingerie modeling, miniature monsters. For the next several days, these monsters would hide out in random, unassuming spots in the Big Apple, awaiting discovery–and when they were discovered? Well, they did what any well meaning monster would do, they directed the finder to Find A Monster where they could find out their monster‘s name, basic information, biography, and a coupon for Bare Necessities!

Find A Monster is taking guerrilla marketing to a new, and pretty geeky level. This was the first Find A Monster experiment, lasting a few days–but if you follow @findamonster on Twitter, you’ll be the first to know about the next Find A Monster campaign and get clues to discover a mini-monster of your very own. Why monsters, though? JPD Studios, the marketing company responsible for the New York City monster invasion wanted to combine art and guerrilla marketing–and why not monsters? When Krista, from JPD Studios spoke with me she said,

…we chose monsters for this project because there’s no predefined idea of what a “monster” is. This allows for the artists’ creativity to be fairly limitless and we can easily tailor the monsters to a specific theme. Our monsters range from scary, funny, silly, cute, pretty, sexy, evil. Plus, everyone loves monsters!

And isn’t that the truth? I can’t wait to see what the next Find A Monster campaign is, and what they’ll be wearing!

Category: Craft, Games, Girly, Horror & Gore, Toys | 1 Comment

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