Merry Funky Sock Monkeys!

Now I know this has nothing to do with food, neither cooking it or eating it, but I swear I do do other things than cooking and eating, and sewing is one of them. And i just loved them so much that I just had to share them!

Every year at Christmas time I love to make the boys a handmade Christmas gift. Its something I plan to do every year. This year it was down to the last hours but I was able to pull it off. Last year I made them blankets that they pretty much use everyday and this year I decided to make them sock monkeys (to go with their sock monkey jammies)! I never knew sock monkeys could be so much fun to make. It was like watching their personalities develop with every limb I sewed on and every button I stitched. I found this tutorial on line to give me step by step instructions and it worked really well, even for someone who does not sew very often.

The eyes on Abes monkey were green (his favorite color) but he made me change them to blue so they were "just like Calebs."

Each pair of socks makes one monkey. I used a pair of men's socks and a pair of women's knee high socks since I was making two monkeys. And just to make them a little funky ( did I just say funky monkey?) I used one sock from each pair on each monkey. It gave them a neat look, not so uniform. I really liked the way they came out. I also stitched each boys initial on the monkeys chest and stitched a little heart on the butt. Kind of a way of telling them it was made with love by their mama.

It amazes me how somone came up with this clever idea of making a toy monkey out of a pair of socks. Its nice to get back to the simplicity of things every now and then. And nice to know they were not made in China too (no lead paint)!