This month was Z’s birthday and she couldn’t decide on a single theme.  We ended up with a Tie Dyed Rainbow Sock Monkey Mashup for our party.  Because our house is now known as the “Walters House and Studio of Creativity and Love” (even on Facebook as a check in location), Z wanted to do LOTS of crafts!

The sock monkeys that we made with felt were a total hit.  The girls (and two boys) used the pattern to cut out the pieces and then create their own hats.  I asked them only do the heads at the party since we had time constraints.

To make these, you will need the following materials:
• 9” x 12” craft cuts Kunin Classicfelt in an assortment of colors
• Buttons
• Aleene’s Tacky Glue
• Sock Monkey Pattern

To attach the felt pieces together, the kids used Aleene’s Tacky Glue.  They added buttons from my Laura Kelly collection available at Buttons Galore too.

A couple of the girls slept over and the next morning they added the bodies and designed some accessories.  Through giggling and cutting, gluing and chatting; Z and her friends bonded and created masterpieces that in active play mode turned into characters with personalities and stories.  I listened from the kitchen as they inspired each other in the studio and filled up with joy.

Zoe painted the cardboard back of an old watercolor pad and made it into a background so we could put her monkey on display.

It is amazing what can be done with a simple pattern, felt and a kid’s courage to create without inhibition. Yay for sock monkeys. Yay for felt.  Mostly, yay for kids being creative!

Cheers,

Laura

PS:  We made felt rainbow clouds too as shown in this picture of all of J’s party crafts!  You can find that tutorial and Monkey-Pattern and on my blog.