Remember that pile of fleece?

It became this:

A monster for each of my precious monsters, finished literally at the 11th hour. After I finished the sewing, I dashed around town, snapping photos of them in all our favorite spots, doing all our favorite things. The photos came together in a little book printed at Staples on December 23rd.

When the boys opened the box, they liked them a lot more than I thought they would. Finnian said, "Did you sew these? It must have taken you a long time." He liked his monster the best, which for me was the best because at almost six, he likes to act like a mini grown up at times.  

It was nice to see he's still young enough to love a lovee. 

Not bad for a pile of fleece!

a giraffe for you

Finally, a sewing post! Finnian wanted to make Xavier a giraffe for his birthday, so we did. I used this tutorial: Ms. Cuddles Giraffe. And, I hate enlarging patterns, so I didn't. I increased the amount of mane and embroidered the eyes and heart (because shouldn't all giraffes have hearts on their rears?). It was easy and quick enough for Finnian to help with. Now, Xavier seems to like it more than the platypus we made him last year. It's a keeper.