Make a draftbuster to keep out the chill

#Middlebury

It’s a new puppy! It’s a soft toy! It’s a draftbuster! Yes indeed, it’s all three, and the adorable soft puppy will love to come into your home to keep some of winter’s chilly drafts from breezing through doorway cracks and windows. It’s super easy to make, practical to use and fun to give for a holiday gift. Make a litter! No matter where the people on your gift list live, they’ll love to bring one into their home.

Here’s the stuff you’ll need:

• A pair of new, long tube socks
• Scraps of fabric, fiberfill or outgrown leggings and tights with elastic waistbands removed for filling
• Needle and thread in the color of the tube socks
• Decorative craft supplies such as buttons, felt, pompoms, ribbon and fabric paint

Here’s the fun for adults and kids to do together:

1. 

   Make a fun draftbuster like this one to keep out the winter chill.

   STUFF the two tube socks with scraps of filling material. Show your child how to place the filling all the way to the toe end of each sock first and continue to fill until it almost reaches the cuff area.

2. SEW the socks together at the cuffs (overlap them an inch or two) with a whipstitch to form a long tube.
   Tip: If you are making it to fit snugly in a windowsill, measure the length of the space first. Proceed to fill the socks to equal the total length of the draftbuster when the two socks are combined at the cuffs.
3. CREATE the head of your puppy. First, sew large buttons on one end to make eyes. We added two tiny blue buttons on top of the center holes of two white buttons, and sewed them together first before attaching to the face. Sew or glue on felt for floppy ears, pompoms for a nose. Create a mouth with fabric paint. Tie on a bright ribbon to make a collar. Add a felt tail, too.

Give your puppy a name, such as Buster, and tuck it in a windowsill or along the bottom of a closed door to help keep out a chilly draft. Or, if you’re giving a puppy or a litter of puppies away for homemade holiday gifts, add a name tag to the collar ribbon with puppy care instructions.

NOTE: This craft and the completed puppy contain small materials that are potential hazards for children 4 and under.

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”

© 2019 Donna Erickson
Distributed by King Features Synd.