Sock Caterpillars are easy to make, require no sewing and make great items to sell!
Every year the area Girl Scouts have a bazaar for the troops to make money for activities and outings. In previous years, my daughter and I have attended the bazaar and spent plenty of money, but this was our first year participating in the sales of the bazaar.
As a 2nd grader and Girl Scout Brownie, sometimes it's challenging to get my daughter to make something she cannot keep. We started with these easy necklaces and since that went well, we moved onto sock caterpillars.
I can assure you, my daughter was very hesitant to sell any of these. If it were up to her, she'd keep every single one of them! But I wouldn't let her!
We started this project by stockpiling a few inexpensive and fun socks. We scanned the dollar store and Target dollar spot and seemed to find the best bright and colorful ones.
How to make Sock Caterpillars
Materials:
- socks (I used ladies socks. Remember, 1 pair of socks will make 2 sock caterpillars)
- dry rice (5lbs of rice will fill 8-10 ladies socks)
- yarn in various colors
- google eyes
- fabric fusion glue
- pipe cleaners
- scissors
- measuring cups
Directions:
- Cut 6 pieces of yarn about 8" in length and set aside.
- Fill the sock with ½ cup of rice. This will be your head. Make sure you shake the rice to the to of the sock. We made this a 2 person job, since my 8 year old daughter and I were working together on this project. You can easily use a jar funnel or even a paper plate, curved in half to pour the rice into the sock.
- Secure the head shape by typing the sock tightly with yarn. I wrapped my yarn around my sock several times before tying it in a double knot. You can use rubber bands here, but I opted not to, because eventually the rubber bands will fall apart.
- Continue to create the body by adding ¼ cup of rice and securing the sock with yarn after each addition of rice, to create a segment in the body.
- Once the sock is completely full, you can add the eyes and antennae. Use fabric fusion to glue the eyes onto the sock caterpillar.
- Cut a 12" pipe cleaner in half and curl each end by wrapping it around a pencil. Shape as shown. Apply a strip of glue to the top of the head and attach the antennae. This may take a minute to set, so check back to be sure your antennae didn't fall down. At this stage I move my caterpillars out of the way so they can set and their eyes and antennae can dry completely before anyone begins to play with them.
- Repeat for the desired number of sock caterpillars!
If you are looking for more fun crafts to make and sell, try these:
- No Sew Finger Puppets for Kids are made of party blowers and craft foam!
- Easy Necklaces to Make are a simple project many hands can help with.
- Birdhouse Crafts use old milk containers to create fun places to watch birds eat!
- Easy Pour and Mold Soap can be filled with any plastic trinket to encourage hand washing habits!
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