Make This: Paratrooper Softie Tutorial

I don't know about you, but I have a total love-hate relationship with those dime store trinket-y toys. I love them because they remind me of my childhood and how much I cherished all those bitty toys, but I also hate them because the stuff you find these days is so utterly plastic--and the worst kind of cheapy plastic at that. So, this is my solution to that problem--re-inventing dime store trinkets using thrifted materials so they can last a little longer than the stuff out there today and be a little earth-friendlier.

Which brings us to this: A little tutorial on how to make your very own little paratrooper people (or animals) with their own parachute made from recycled materials--the recycled bit coming from the gaudy thrifted silk scarves that my grandma would have worn (not that I am knocking my granny because she is one of my personal heroes--but that is another post for another day).

But wait--did I mention that I am doing this as part of Made by Rae's Celebrate the Boy month? Well, I am. And also, I am actually over on her blog as you read this--guest blogging about this tutorial and other things. So, make sure you head over there after you read this (that is, unless you have just come from there--in which case, welcome to Chez Beeper Bebe and make yourself at home while I mix you a little drink...). In case you missed my earlier post about the Celebrate the Boy theme, you should know there are all manner of amazing boy-centric tutorials guest-bloggers have been contributing all month long . Oh, and don't forget about Dana and all the great projects she has also been posting over on Made because there are lots there too. All boys all the time--or at least for the month of February.

But back to this tutorial. Here it is if you want to download my instructions and templates for how to make your very own little Paratrooper Softie...

DOWNLOAD PARATROOPER PLUSHIE TUTORIAL

There is even a little landing-pad in there for you to print so you can make a game of aiming your completed paratroopers at a specific landing site. Try it out--see what you think.

And I am a little in love with this tutorial, I must confess--because, as I note at the end of the instructions, this is a versatile tutorial, one that welcomes your innovation--which is why you simply MUST share photos of your finished creations in both the Beeper Bebe Project Flickr group, AND in the Celebrate the Boy Flickr group Rae has started. I know you probably think I am just being effusive for your sake, but I truly cannot wait to make more of these...I feel a battalion of paratroopers coming on over here. How about you?