Shhh!!!! It's a secret!

I'm dying to share these cute little guys... but they are for a secret santa gift exchange, so if you know any of my kids cousins MUM'S THE WORD. 

In my searches for fun, creative, handmade but not "HAND" made (as in yuck) gifts, I found *this link* to make rice pillows...  I thought they were a good idea, but I was looking for gifts for the under 8 years old crowd, so I almost dismissed them.  Then I had an epiphany.  :)  If they were cute and cuddly, maybe they could be exciting and functional.  So, I began scrounging through my fabric scraps to see what I could come up with.   For this project, Sweetie was my right hand girl... she "designed" a perfect little monster warm hugger. 

Sweetie was ready to carry it around as her own little baby so I thought that was a good indicator that it might be cute enough.  Now for the functional test.  I put our little hugger into the microwave for a minute and pulled her out.  The reactions were priceless.  :)  Sweetie didn't want to stop hugging it, and when I suggested that it could keep feet warm in a cold bed, she thought that would be awesome.  :)   That was good enough for me, so I started on the next one...

I let Goose and Twister check this guy out.  After it was warmed up, I let Goose check it out first... he immediately asked if he could have one too!  He said he needed one for after he comes in from playing in the snow.  Good idea buddy!!  Need to add that to my instructions card.  :)   Twister gave it a big hug and walked off with it, so I think he liked it too.  I just hope the actual recipients are as excited about them as my kids are.  I'm hoping that since my kids have helped design and have tested them out, that they will share their excitement with the cousins they are giving to...  :)   Now I have to see if I have enough rice to make 4 more for my kids too!!  LOL!