Love Glove Elephants

Well, I hope you all are working on some great Valentines' ideas to submit to the contest. Remember, you can also enter the contest simply by leaving a comment here.

Maybe our Valentine project will inspire you a little! Gabi and I made the adorable Valentine elephants in the above picture in one afternoon. Supplies for these cuties are easy to find, and Gabi really enjoyed helping make them and then playing with them afterwards.

So here's how to make the "Love Glove Elephants."

You'll need:

1. a few pairs of winter "magic" gloves - use the ones around your house that don't have matches anymore or buy some like I did. Target had theirs on clearance for 68 cents for 2 pairs. (these are toddler size gloves)

2. beans - we used kidney beans because that's what we had in the pantry, but really you could use any variety of bean. :)

3. hot glue gun

4. felt in various colors to match the gloves - again we used leftover felt from my craft room.

5. google eyes (or buttons would be cute!)

6. yarn - Gabi chose the multicolored skein from my collection.

7. pony beads

8. glitter glue - we used gold.

9. sharp scissors

1) First, fill each glove with beans. This is best accomplished with one person holding the glove open while the other pours in the beans. Be sure to work some of the beans down into the fingers of the glove. Fill the glove, but don't overstuff it.

2) Next, turn in the cuff of the glove completely on each elephant. Use the hot glue gun to glue in place and seal the beans inside.

***NOTE***Gabi had a great idea here. If you wanted to use jelly beans instead of kidney beans, turn in the cuff but don't glue it shut. Then the recipient of the elephant can open it up and take out the jelly beans.

3) Next, cut out large hearts from your felt. These will be the elephants' ears - you will need 2 for each elephant. I cut mine freehand, but it would probably be wise to make one and then trace it for the others.

4) Using the hot glue gun, place a small amount of glue on the tip of each heart and glue it to the base of the glove's thumb. (the elephant's head) Make sure to put one ear on each side of the elephant's head.

5) Then glue on the googly eyes.

***NOTE***Because of the use of the hot glue gun, small children are not able to do much for this project. Involve them by letting them choose colors, count beans, sort the felt hearts, etc.

6) Cut the yarn into 5 " lengths. Tie three strands together and braid them. Before knotting off at the end, slide on a pony bead. To help keep the yarn in place while you are braiding, use masking tape to tape it to the edge of the table.

7) Next, cut out small hearts from the felt. You will need one for each elephant.

8) Arrange elephants so that they are sitting with their legs sprawled out to the sides. Using the hot glue gun, glue the braided tails to the elephants' rears and then glue a small heart at the top of each tail.

9) Finally, use the glitter glue to paint gold toenails on the elephants feet.

There you have it - pink elephants on parade! Remember that although hot glue does a pretty good job of holding things in place, a very small child should not be given one of these elephants. If a bead, bean, or google eye came loose, it could pose a choking hazard to the child.

Every month I receive Family Fun magazine in the mail. It's full of great ideas for kids' activities, crafts, recipes, etc. The February issue featured an article on making a 4-legged octopus out of an old winter glove. I read through the article, and wondered if I could make other animals with a glove. And hence the pink elephants were born!

If you make the Love Glove Elephants, let me know how they turned out. I'd love to see what creative twists you put on these!

(by the way, since I used all materials from home except the gloves, this project ended up costing me only $1.12!)