WhiMSy love: DIY: 2 Monster Fur Crafts

Earlier this year I saw the most adorable gift bags at Target. (See photo below.) They are American Greetings products & I absolutely died when I saw them. MUST HAVE. But I wasn't willing to spend the $10-$14 that they cost. EEK. So I decided to make my own. For about 2 DOLLARS.

Not only is this a super fun bag for packaging a gift, but it also makes a unique Halloween bag for holding all that candy as you go Trick-or-Treating!

SUPPLIES:

•faux fur

•gift bag (Doesn't everyone have piles of used gift bags stored in plastic tubs under their bed too?)

•felt (I only used black. But add whatever details/colors you want.)

•spray glue

•hot glue gun

•scissors

•ruler

•marker

•googly eyes (These are 1.5", but I even saw 6" googly eyes!!)

I had all the supplies on hand--except the faux fur & the GIANT googly eyes. I was disappointed to not have a great colorful selection of fur at my local fabric shops. Such a crafty bummer. But it still looks cute all the same. (TIP: Be sure to use coupons when buying fabric! Check online, too. I was able to save 50%!)

After measuring your gift bag & marking the measurements on the backside of the fur, it's time to cut. Cut a tiny bit extra on both edges. One tip I learned from the lady at the fabric store: use a vacuum to clean up the loose fur. Otherwise, you'll have a major fuzzy mess. Just vacuum all the cut edges of fabric.

Take your fabric piece outside, along with your spray glue. I love this stuff. Works amazingly. My bag was about 9" tall. A medium-ish size. This step would be helpful with an assistant. After you spray the backside of the fabric with the glue, you'll want to CAREFULLY lay the bag on top of fur, lining the bottom of the bag with one edge of the fabric & CAREFULLY wrap the piece around the bag. It was an awkward process doing it on my own.

You'll have some excess on the top of your bag, but that's ok. Wrap it over the top edge of the bag.

Before gluing on the eyes with the hot glue gun, I cut out a black felt circle a little bit larger than the googly eyes. I didn't want to glue it down to a flat area of fur, so I roughed it up a bit with my fingers & nestled the circle into the fur. Glue the googly eyes on top of the felt circle. Add other felt details, if desired: teeth, moustache, eyebrows, etc.

And that's it!

Here's another quick craft using monster fur, & almost the exact same supplies.

Simply substitute the gift bag with empty cans!

These would be great as party favors, filled with candy & prizes. My daughter even swiped one & is using it as a desk accessory to hold pens & pencils.