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Saturday, October 24, 2015

Bean Bag Bug Eater!





























"FEED ME!"

Help!

As soon as I glued the final doo-dad to the furious face of this little Frankenstein, he shook the walls, demanding food and freedom. What had I created? A few hours earlier he was nothing more than a random pile of cardboard, a yard of purple fuzzy fabric and a scramble of stuff from the bottom of a crafty junk box. But now he was alive! And hungry. And mad! Hungry, mad, and movin' about scary! What was I gonna do?

I pride myself on skills of negotiation. I surmised that Chomper (he named himself that!) might enjoy a steady diet of bean bag bugs; crazy and colorful, leggy of ribbon, peeping through pairs of plastic buttons, pleasantly plumped with a bounty of beans.....

I offered Chomper a lifetime supply of those. In return, he'll politely attend children's Halloween parties, allowing guests to toss bugs at him for points and prizes. They'll aim for that toothy grin, his fancy hat, and the pair of pumpkin buckets he totes about. He'll get to gobble down all he can catch!




We sealed the deal and now we're on the road! Parties, parties, parties!

So, what about me and the monsters I make? Well, in the end, it appears that we get along just fine, thank you very much!














Make a clone of 46" Chomper for yourself from a cardboard box, approximately 16" x 29" x 12"
  • Cut a mouth into front side, and a 6" square into the back, at bottom (to retrieve bean bags). 
  • Cover box with fake fur (1 yard for the above size box). Secure with glue.
  • Cut into fur horizontally along center of mouth and then clip fabric so it can be pushed in and glued or taped to box.
  • Cover 2 oatmeal containers (10") with contrasting fake fur.
  • Cover 2 sturdy wrapping paper tubes with paper.
  • Stuff a pair of gloves with plastic shopping bags.
  • Push gloves onto ends of tubes and tie tightly with ribbon.
  • Punch holes and insert tubes into sides of box. 
  • Cover and decorate a smaller box and glue to top of head.
  • Fill oatmeal containers with gravel or sand and glue to base of body.
  • Glue plastic Halloween eyes and large bottle cap nose to face.
  • Purchase buckets or cover small pails with orange paper to hang on arms.
  • Glue white paper teeth to inside top and bottom of mouth.
  • Glue strips of black crepe paper streamers to inside top of mouth, behind teeth.
  • Decorate with craft trim.
Feed Chomper with 4" bean bag bugs:
  • Cut two 4.5" circles from fleece fabric for each bug.
  • Cut six 3" scraps of narrow ribbon or rick rack for each bug.
  • Place right sides of fabric together and insert ribbons between them so one end of each gets caught in the seam as you sew all around outside edge, leaving 1" open for stuffing. (It's easier if you do one side at a time.)
  • Turn to right side.
  • Fill bug with small dried beans. About 5 tablespoons will do.
  • Hand stitch opening closed.
  • Sew buttons on for eyes. Glue wiggle eyes on top if desired.
  • Gather a 12" strip of 6" wide sparkly tulle at center and sew to center back for optional wings.
This original design, like all blog content, is intended for personal use only. Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. Thank you!




Looking for more crazy home made Halloween party games for kids?
Here's an easy-to-make board to use with sticky darts......








......and a carnival style ring toss game starring a slew of dollar store rats!






23 comments:

  1. Oh wow, you are the creative one. I love Chomper the bean bag bug eater! He is so cute! I am sure the children will love playing this game. happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  2. So clever! I think my favorite parts are those teeth and the adorable bugs!

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  3. What a fabulous creation, and such fun for your grandchildren!

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  4. Well I'm glad you tamed the monster - I'd hate to think of him taking a chomp or two out of your arm. But I think purple monsters are the kindest ones of all and if you tickle him he might even sing a little Halloween song for you and the kiddos. What a happy fun game - and adorable bugs too - my favorite kind of bugs, by the way.

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  5. I just bust out laughing when I arrived here. He is so darn funny and cute!!! :) That fuzzy fabric is wonderful...I want to pet him.

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  6. You are a fun Grandma. Mine used to drink scotch and give me quarters for bringing refills...actually she was a fun Grandma too, just in a little different way.

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  7. You and your artistic talents just blow me away, lady. This is like one of the best ever, and your grands are going to have a ball. But, as I sit here, I keep wondering where you create and store these works of art from one season to the next. :-)

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  8. Awesome monster! That must have been a lot of fur! Do you have tons of fun making these things?

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  9. You have done it again and I love that Chomper has a name and a personality! You do create some interesting creatures -- and a whole lot of fun! Happy Halloween!

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  10. Just when I cannot even imagine you can do anything else...you do it again!!! You are just amazing. Love Chomper.

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  11. Just adorable Halloween decorations! Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  12. Oh my!!!!!!!!!! This is such a clever, clever idea! And, has anybody ever told you that you are a great writer? Talent just oozes out of you en masse! Thanks so much for sharing all of your great ideas.

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  13. This is so darn cute! Seriously, the talent here. This made me smile. Thank you for dropping by Tuesday Talk this week and sharing this fun post.

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  14. So cute and clever! I'm telling my daughter to start accumulating boxes at her place so I can do this with my grandsons next time. They'll love it!

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  15. My grandchildren would love this. This would be a great idea for a Halloween party or just to have fun with the grandchildren. Thanks for sharing on Sunday's Best Linkup. You are one talented lady.

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  16. What an adorable creation, and his teeth are fabulous! What fun your grand-children must have had.

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  17. You are so creative! Your grandchildren are really lucky.

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  18. I agree with the comments above. You are so talented and your grandkids are so fortunate to have such an amazing grandma. I love bug eating monster. It is truly amazing.

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  19. He's the cutest bean bag bug eater that I have ever seen! And the bugs are darling as well. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  20. That's too good ! :-D
    Obviously, you've been featured:
    http://milaslittlethings.com/2015/11/idea-box-thursday-link-party-35.html

    xx
    Mila

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  21. Very interesting to read. Thanks for sharing such a useful post.

    non woven bag making machine

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  22. Great idea for a Halloween bash indeed!

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