maybe next time she'll ask me to make a can of corn

Last night Christopher and I went shopping for a spring chicken.

To be more specific, we went shopping for materials to make a spring chicken out of, but it's much more fun (also the WHAT?? factor is a little higher) to say we went in search of the chicken itself.

I should probably provide a back-story.

Elizabeth contacted me requesting that I make a stuffed animal she can take with her when she goes to school next month. She wants to hold it and think of me. How sweet. I must say I was slightly surprised she came to me for comfort because the last time she was upset and I tried to cheer her up, I offered her a can of corn. The exact words that came out of my mouth were, "DON'T CRY!!! DON'T CRY!!! I'll get you something to make you happy again! Do you want to can of corn?" I have absolutely no reasonable explanation for offering her a canned vegetable other than it was the very first thing that popped into my head. It didn't occur to me until later that she's allergic to corn. Maybe next time I'll go with a can of peas. 

While I do pride myself in being able to create an egg family and turn paper bowls into ipod-holding turtles named Rocky, stuffed animals are slightly outside of my expertise. After being told that Build a Bear was not acceptable, I did a not so quick Google search for 'easy to make stuffed animals'. After weeding through many sites and viewing many unpleasant-looking monster stuffed animals with googly eyes, I narrowed it down to a donkey, a penguin, or an odd looking dog with a cute collar. And then, my friends, then I discovered the Spring Chicken. He has big feet and floppy wings and is just so charming. He's also unique; I doubt anyone else at school will have their very own spring chicken stuffed animal.

So that's how we came to be perusing the aisles of Joann's last night around half past six. (It doesn't hurt that I had no less than six Joann's coupons with my name on them burning a hole in my wallet. I am powerless to resist when I see "40% off any item in the store".) I tried introducing Christopher to the beauty of the fabric section but he was very distracted by dancing to the song on the radio. Not being one who likes causing or being anywhere near a scene, I pretended I didn't know him. ;-) Actually, he was very helpful and found the yellow and white fabric I'll be using for the body. Once we decided on the appropriate fabrics, we headed to the button department to find some eyes for the chicken. Because we're people who enjoy adding a little spice to life, this chicken is not going to have any ordinary eyes. Oh, no! He is going to feature eyes that are, without giving too much away, NOT ROUND.

We're people who believe in going all out when it comes to spring chicken making.