I’m sure that if you’ve got kids the same age as ours, you will understand me when I talk about their commitment to their interests! Our boys adore anything to do with Mario, Luigi and their friends and enemies, to the extent that quite often I feel like we are living in some kind of Nintendo-created household. So, to encourage their creative skills (other than drawing, they’re not so keen), we’ve been making some Nintendo-related felt toys and badges together. I invested in a lovely colourful pile of Eco-fi felt from The Felted Rainbow which provided all we needed in the way of inspiration, and we were all set.
We talked Danny out of making a Lakitu (can you see why we were glad he changed his mind!) and settled on a Kikwi – a rather cute creature who features in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (are you keeping up?). Sandy and Danny created this together, with a few design hints from me:
Cute isn’t he! For the last few days we’ve also been having to call each other Kikwi names, which can be a little bit hard to remember… of course we get into huge trouble if we get the wrong name. No wonder I am so tired today, my brain can’t cope…
We also made some dinky little badges – another Kikwi:
And this little Mushroom:
For the badges, and the smaller bits and bobs on the toy, we used Fast Tack glue from Abakahn – which can be heat set with an iron when you use on fabric – a really fab product for this kind of thing.
Now, the question is, what the heck are we going to have to make next….? I am worried we haven’t heard the last of Lakitu!
We have Star Wars. I have to find some felt so he can make some light sabers. Your guys did a great job, you could sell those little mushrooms on etsy. My oldest daughter loved Mario games, that was 20 years ago, and the game is still around. Do they like Sonic the hedgehog? He was around then too. How about frogs this new friend of mine sent me some cute ones!
Lisa – they like pretty much everything Mario-related. They are probably playing the games that your oldest daughter used to play 20 years ago – we have all sorts of retro games as well as the new ones. Sonic is cool too – Danny has some excellent Sonic pyjamas!
If pokemon count, i’m gonna have to go with Jigglypuff and wigglytuff- my all-time favourites
Oh, and Kirby would be good, too! Have they played Kirby’s epic yarn? Excellent crafting inspiration there!
Thanks! We *do* have Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Kirby is MY favourite character) – which was a present to them from my friend who is a keen knitter. We all like the fabric/patchwork/yarn theme on that one. I LOVE Jigglypuff!
They’re brilliant, I will have to show my son, who is also Mario-obsessed. Funnily enough, I just put a picture of a Mario Ghost I knitted for him on my blog yesterday. He has already requested a mushroom, but I’ve got to make it in 3D apparently!
Your little Mario ghost is so gorgeous… A 3D mushroom sounds like an excellent plan.
Hee hee, they’re fab!
Thank you Katy. We get an awful lot of fun out of making them, as long as they are not too challenging!
I LOVE the little Shroomy guy
How big is he?
Jen@madeinminch!
Hi Jen, the Mario Mushroom is quite large – maybe 6cm across. I find it’s best to make things big because their fine motor skills aren’t all they could be. Anything too fiddly and we would all get much too stressed.
We have appeared to have avoided such things…so far! These look lovely though Ali x
Thanks! I can’t comprehend how you have avoided Mario… or do you mean you’ve avoided Mario-crafting? A Mario quilt would be amazing – I am sure it’s already been done, in fact…
They’re fantastic!
Thanks Jenny – your fab felt works really well with the glue – very easy to use. It’s very nice to cut too, which helps when you’re doing stuff with kids.
Well done boys, I’m going to show Jonah these he’d love to have a go. I also love that tacky glue, the girls used it on their felt Christmas decorations last year.
Thanks Sasha. Hope Jonah goes for the idea… we find that anything Mario-related creates instant enthusiasm. Their reading and vocab has come on in leaps and bounds since they’ve started getting the Nintendo magazine!
Ah yes we have the pull of those creatures in our house too! Wonderful craftiness (I’m kind of in love with the mushroom brooch – may have try that out sometime soon)
Everyone needs a mushroom brooch! Go for it…
those are so cute! My house is full of Sylvanian Families and lego – loads of making possibilities!
Thanks Charlotte – I wish my lads were into Sylvanian Families, I think they are SO gorgeous. I do like Mario-stuff, especially the cute cuddly characters, but those little woodland folk are pretty ace…