The perfect gift for a young artist!

I saw an adorable post on my Instagram newsfeed awhile back from an artist that I follow. Mab Graves spends a lot of time with her 5 year old nephew, Ransom, doing artsy things. On this day they designed a baby penguin drawing that was to be made into a plushy. 

Mab had the plushy made at Budsies, a Florida-based company that brings artwork to life. Budsies are custom-sewn plushies created from any drawing or photo. After finding out about Budsies, I had decided that this was the perfect gift for the little man. 

I've been trying for months to get Mills to take the time to draw with me. Being the creative kid that he is, you can't just tell him to draw something cool for you. He'd draw an entire scene in less than 10 minutes and spend most of his energy spinning a storyline to go with it. It was clear that if I didn't reveal a little bit of the surprise then I wouldn't be able to get him to take the time to whip up a detailed colorful drawing. 

We were both cuddled in bed sick when I asked him if it would be awesome to make his own plushy. Mills had attempted to make a plushy out of old baby socks and markers in the past, so I knew that this idea would tempt him. His eyes sparkled with interest and that's where it started.

Here are some progress screenshots.

Check out the videos below of the Zombie masterpiece!!

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Since the plushies are hand-sewn, I had to explain to him that his zombie wouldn't arrive until February. He was a little bummed out until I explained to him that what he helped make was a one of a kind plushie that no other kid in the ENTIRE world would have. This brought a smile to his face and he strictly told me to remind the mailman to be VERY careful with his plushie so that it would not be stolen!

Thanks everyone for checking out this post!