12 Kids’ Drawings That Became Real Toys, From a Rainbow Bug Named Bows to a Unicorn Monkey

“I don’t really know how to sew, but my daughter had made a drawing she was pretty proud of, so I made it real for her.”

I made the whole thing out of pieces of felt. I have a slightly weird fear of sewing machines so I did it by hand. Took about 50 hours total and a lot of stabbing myself on accident. Didn’t say I don’t know how to sew, just that I don’t know how to sew well. I know the basics of making one piece stick to the other, and a lot of YouTube tutorials for the rest.

[I left out the bow on the left antenna.] The antennas ended up floppy and I thought it might add too much weight so I left it out. Kinda wish I added it though cause she named it “Bows”.

She was so happy, it was awesome! She’s 8 and loves science so I’m hoping maybe seeing something she created on paper come to life (even something so simple) will inspire her to be more confident in the experiments she comes up with on paper can come to life too!

The kindergartners did the hard part: they drew the monsters. Then the drawings went to her eighth graders in ceramics class, and every monster came back in clay, with the crowns, the spikes and the one giant eye right where the kindergartner had put them. Each one now sits on top of the drawing it came from.

“I’m so proud of these creations, I teach some pretty awesome kiddos.”

“Bringing artwork to life! My daughter drew it. I crocheted it!”

My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was in my 20’s. I crocheted a baby blanket for each of my children while expecting. Over the last two years I’ve managed to carve out a bit more time to practice. I started amigurumi with small, simple toys.

I never felt very creative, but through crochet/amigurumi and the encouragement of a very creative friend, I am beginning to find my voice.

I really enjoyed seeing just how similar I could get my project to be to her art work. I embroidered her eyes first, but my daughter asked me to change them to blue. So I did. She said she decided the red eyes looked like she was bleeding from her eyes, and she didn’t like that.

She’s the artist, so she’s in control.

[The hair is] a bit longer than the picture but my daughter requested I make it longer.

She was very happy when I finally got it completed!

“Drawing turned plush!!?!”

[About the note on her drawing, “Can you crochet this please? Yes / No”:] She may have had some help from grandma for that part.

I’m over the moon about this one. At first I laughed inside like, “Sure kid, I can do that.” And then it started to come together and it turned out so good!

I used several bits of many patterns I have collected. I knew I needed a big head so for that I doubled of the yarn and it worked out in my favor. The pink face I was most worried about and totally made that up based on some rag dolls I had made before. Lots of trial and error, frogging and retweaking.

After 1.5 years of crochet and many many plushies made this is actually the first time I ever stepped outside the box and attempted such a request!

I left it on my dresser and called her in for a hug. She turned and saw it and tried to act like she didn’t see it with a big smile. Left real quick to show me what she had for spa day and had my husband move it.

She came in and looked where it was and started searching all over looking for it. She was so excited. “It looks just like my drawing!! I love her! Thank youuu!”

She has a name! Candy. The unicorn monkey.

Never seen her so genuinely happy/excited. My day has been made!

“I made my little sister’s drawing for her 11th birthday.”

This cat is a character from her comics and I asked her to make me a reference image in full color since it’s usually in black and white.

She draws comics basically 24/7, she’s got really good at it.

She draws her characters in so many different expressions and positions that she’s got that stuff down pretty well.

Freehanded. The details are needle felted on, and the mouth is embroidered.

I had to stab it a lot to get it to stick well.

I try to encourage her as much as I can cause I know she’d be great at it!

“Crocheted my daughter’s picture she drew.”

My daughter drew this picture of a character and asked if I could crochet it. I have never worked without a pattern but figured I’d give it a shot! She loved it — that’s all that counts.

It was so fun to see her reaction! She was kind of joking when she said it so I figured I’d give it a go and if it worked- great, if not- she’d be none the wiser.

[The stick on top of the hat:] I actually just did a few basic rows and then folded it into a tube shape.

“My niece asked me to make her drawing into a crochet doll. How did I do?”

[The character is] her own creation.

[The hair:] You can’t tell in the picture, but there are two layers. But I can see how the hair in her picture is longer and fuller. I used a pattern for the doll and hair because I’m not really skilled at freehand.

Making my own pattern is above my skill level so I found a pattern that I thought could guide me through as much of it as possible and I’d only have to figure out how to make the accessories on my own.

“My daughter (4y) asked if I could make a stuffed animal of her monster drawing. She loved it!”

[The things on its head?] Those are ears. I also thought arms at first but before I started, I asked her exactly what everything was

Made sure I picked an easy monster of hers, just started with a beanie hat pattern and went from there, super-easy, all single stitches.

[For the mouth: c]rochet a rectangle, crochet around the rectangle evenly with black, sewed it on the face and embroidered some teeth on there.

My very first freehanded project!

“Made my 7 yr old daughter’s drawing”

It was hanging on the fridge and I thought it was so cute! I knew she would love it if I brought it to life!!

She made it last week at school. It really struck me too! I had it on the fridge cause I just love it so much!

For some reason I woke up thinking about it and I was like “DO IT!”

I love being able to impress my 7 year old!

I kinda can’t believe I made it[.] Wait, no… I can’t believe my daughter made such a cute little character.

[It’s] a reflection of how much I love my daughter.

“Ice Cream Scoops from drawing”

My son drew this picture of ice cream with scoops of different faces, and it was so cute I had to make it out of yarn. What do y’all think? Did I do the picture justice?

He loved inspecting my work as I was going and making sure I stayed true to the drawing.

No pattern used for this one. The ice cream scoops are 42 sts at the widest, and decrease back down to 30 sts before the ruffles.

[The brown scoop] does blend in, but it was supposed to be a sleeping face. I probably should have used a heavier thread or yarn to help it stand out more.

[You missed the purple one!] I know! But I figured it would be way too tall if I added the purple one. I have also entertained thoughts of making the purple scoop stand-alone so it makes sense why it is crying.

My son saw it finished and asked, “Can I squeeze it?”

It is a fun way to “keep” the artwork without having to keep the papers around.

A friend’s child drew a little creature, and Pochi, a toymaker in Japan, turned it into a plush. The crayon outlines became a paper pattern, the body was cut from leftover green fabric, and the mouth was embroidered by hand. Pochi hopes the family will keep it as a record of how their child is growing up.

“今回の動画はお友達のお子さんが描いた絵をぬいぐるみ化させてもらいました [This time I turned a drawing by my friend’s child into a plush]”

“Made a sweater from a childhood drawing!”

I made this pillow when I was 6 years old and I decided to make the actual sweater to go with it to give my daughter both for Christmas. It’s my first cardigan and I think it’s the most wonderful and terrible thing ever and I cannot wait to give it to her! I had to choose between the front or back views for the sleeves, because 6-year-old me made them very different.

The idea was actually suggested by a coworker, and am so happy she did!