Fun with Felt Friends!

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Rating: 5/5

When I am not at home playing with my own zombie kittens, I can be found wondering through the local B&N. On such a day, I had decided to peruse the craft section, in search of cute, infections scrap booking designs.
The result? A MUCH DIFFERENT FATE! I came across The Cute Book by Aranzi Aronzo, a company that "makes what it feels like the way it feels like and then sells the stuff." Their visions were certainly ones of vicious cuteness.

I first bought the book immediately for one of my best friends as a gift, knowing she would adore the white, felt bunny on the front cover. But as her little army of felt mascots grew, I knew I had to get myself a copy.

The hardcover book features many different felt mascots to choose from, including Serious Monkey, Mechani-Panda, The Kidnapper, and other interesting characters, each one having their own little story, pattern, and step by step, picture instructions. The beginning of the book covers the basics for those new to sewing/crafting, and the end of the book offers suggestions on alternative uses for your new felt friends. The authors add in their own twisted wit and humor to almost each and every page, making the book especially enjoyable.

Xombie Ruling
The designs are very easy and fun to work with. While the instructions are best used for felt, creativity and a copy machine/scanner can help you extend to many other fabric realms of creation.

Example on the Left: A resized pattern helped create my suspicious bunny, whom was concerned by the fact that I gave her to my niece on her 1st birthday (and was mostly worried about the cake and ice cream that would certainly accost her fur before the day's end).

The start up costs of taking up the craft are minimal (felt, embroidery thread, needles, stuffing), and the time spent on each animal will decrease as you gain experience handling the little critters.
The patterns are part of the book, so tracing or copying is a must, and the 'actual' size of the patterns calls for some innate dexterity, though my fine motor skills have improved by working on my mascot projects.

Truthfully, these cute critters are infectious and, and you will desire to fill the world with them. This book is so awesome it is HARD TO SHARE!