More silly sock creatures have appeared on my dining room table this holiday season. They insisted that they be made for my nieces and nephew, even though we all know that no kid really wants toys made from some one else's old socks. But, since I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they open these monstrosities, I'm glad the silly sock creatures arrived when they did.
I think these creatures are some of the funniest and ugliest I've ever created. I didn't intend for them to be quite so ugly. Until they arrived, I was pretty sure all sock monkeys were inherently cute. The first one I made for my youngest niece sort of looks like cute puppy, so I assumed the rabbit shaped creature would have a similar cuteness factor for my older niece. What's not adorable about argyle socks?
But, once the creature was stuffed, I realized that it wasn't very feminine, and my niece appreciates femininity. The creature sort of looked like it had giant ant antenna instead of cute rabbit ears. Sock creatures really do take on a life of their own. No problem though, since I can feminize with some sparkly pink accessories, as my niece has taught me, and add some personality with funny teeth and googly eyes, right?
As we all know, eyeball placement can define sock creature personality. Luckily I discovered another handy use of the cell phone camera - the ability to try various eye ball placements and then spend way too much time weighing the pros and cons of each image. Personally, I liked the eyeball placement shown on the bottom left, but I decided it was a little too scary and alien for a child's room. Same thing with the cyclops eye on the bottom right. The eyes high on the forehead in the upper right photo give the creature a non threatening expression, but maybe too silly?
I finally decided on the eyes near the lips, to enhance the friendly baby rabbit look. A pink sock with shiny red hearts was turned into a skirt, collar, and antenna bow. Sugar, spice, and everything nice!
For my nephew I decided to use one of Brandon's worn out socks, since I thought a little boy would be most likely to appreciate the gross factor of cuddling up with his uncle's foot essence.
What are little boys made of? Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of! I didn't have snails, but I did have snips. Snips of an old neck tie, and snips of socks to turn into tusks and tongue. And, the creature has a tail!
My nephew's favorite color is yellow, so I incorporated yellow eyes. And, for first time ever, I gave a sock creature a button nose. An artist must follow her instincts.
My plan is to have the kids come to my house and decorate the tree while the adults enjoy some eggnog. I think I will let the kids open their sock creature presents at the tree decoration party, when they won't be overshadowed by the heaps of real toys that are coming on Christmas day. I have predictions about how they will be received by each. We'll see!
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