Colossal Squid Plush

It all started while scrolling through Pinterest, and I found this lovely:

Source

It's ridiculous, huge, geeky, a completely unnecessary extra 'thing' in the house, and I loved it. But what sort of excuse could I conjure up to convince myself to make it? Christmas was coming. 

I much prefer a home-made Christmas. Something about turning your back on commercialism and consumerism and making things yourself just makes me feel freer. I'm weird that way. I'll step into a craft or fabric store any day, but when it comes to actual 'shopping,' I'll run the other way.

My Decembers are dedicated to working on our Christmas tree farm and gift making. Between paper-piecing and pj sewing, I actually made the giant squid. It's one thing to want to make something and actually doing it. I drew out the pattern pieces, cut everything out, and, with the help of my sister, Emily, sewed the silly squid together. We put the last stitch in on Christmas Eve. 

The thought of trying to wrap something of that size was daunting. This sucker's probably over 7 ft tall! So I skipped that step entirely. After my little brother went to bed and fell asleep, I crept into his room with the squid in tow, and gently put it right next to his head so he'd wake up with a colossal squid looking right at him. The next morning, all I heard was, 'Whaa...? WHOA!' And then he ran around the house showing everyone his monster plushie. 

Even when I was working on it, it was obvious that it wasn't a 'normal' project for me. Where would you hide such monstrosity? If I told you where I stashed it, I couldn't hide things there anymore. :P