Fun with felt

My husband fell in a lake. He survived, but the phone did not. In the aftermath of that adventure, I find myself with a plethora of rice. So I'm making bean (rice) bags! 

I can throw them in the freezer for all the scrapes the kids MUST have ice for and not worry about finding puddles later.

 First up - Ladybug bean bag

You need:

black felt

Red felt

Scrap of white felt

You also need either needle and thread or fabric glue if you don't like to sew

First, print and cut out the pattern, found here

Next, trace the cut outs on the appropriate fabric and then cut those as well. You will need two of the black body shapes, two red wings, two white eyes, and your choice of black wing spots (you just arrange spots however many you want, where you want them). I like to outline in chalk. I have lots and it's easy to clean up.

I used some masking tape to lay everything out where I wanted it, then started from the outer layer and sewed my way down. 

By working your way down, I mean I started with the spots on the wings, then the wings on the body, next the eyes, and finally sewing the top to the bottom. 

I liked the look of the white thread on top, but if the patchwork type of theme isn't your thing, feel free to use thread that matches your colors. Because I had the white thread outlining my shapes, I chose to go around the bottom of the wing instead of actually sewing to the body where it hangs over. You can glue it if your worried about your ladybug flying away, but I'm not worried about it. 

Don't forget to leave an opening so you can fill up with rice. How much rice you add depends on how stiff you want to bag to be. For more flexibility, add less rice, and to barely move, stuff all the rice you can in before sewing shut.

Then just pop in the freezer to be ready for all the inevitable bonks your kids get.