I went shopping for some bean bags for the grandchildren for Christmas. I guess my head has been in the wrong place for way too long. The last bean bags I purchased were many years ago and cost me $16.99 each. Not too bad and kids love these things for rolling around on while watching TV. I was looking for something in the girls colors of pink or purple, of course and for one special young man maybe a camo, black or brown, but all definitely needed to be plush. Soft and fuzzy means comfort.
Following my penchant for shopping online, I went to work. Okay, so the first ones I found were not plush, but pleather and the colors were not quite right, but my word these little devils had jumped to $129.99. Where in the world have I been?
I continued on my search and finally found some bags on "clearance" at $59.99, but those colors! And, they were denim! The search went on and on. I found that these wonderful, comfortable little chairs cost in excess of $200.00 and I still could not find my colors.
How hard can a bean bag be to make? I went to work. I wouldn't get them made for Christmas, but I would get them made. I worked my pattern out and found me a piece of fleece - not their colors, but this one was going to be my experiment. Found the pellets on clearance for $17.99. That must be where the cost comes in because the other vendors for pellets started at $37.00. The first step was to make the inner lining, then fill with the pellets, and finally the cozy cover.
The inner lining I made from cotton and adjusted my pattern as I went. It went together pretty well, but was bigger than I wanted. After adjusting I was ready to fill with the pellets. Sounds simple right!? Well, think again. I had left an opening in the top thinking I could just push the end of the bag into the opening, dump the pellets into the liner and stitch it up. Nope! It didn't happen!
Gravity is not stronger than static electricity! (I should have remember those lessons from school, but that was such a long time ago.) Those pellets did not budge, not even one of them! I even tried to squeeze them out - no go. They climbed up the sides of that plastic bag and stayed there. Removing the opening from the liner, I sat and watch those little devils jump around - I think some of them were even laughing! Realizing that there really were not that many pellets (3.5 cu ft) I grabbed a large plastic cup and started scooping them up to pour in the liner. They jumped, slid, and hopped right out of that cup. The trick was out smart these tiny devils! I started to scoop, pause, pour. It worked! I was moving right along until I dropped the blasted cup.
Pellets went everywhere. Plopping down on the floor I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry, but not being much of a crier, I laughed and then laughed some more. Taking a break from the liner filling, I chased styrofoam pellets all over the place. I would get close and they would scramble away.
I spent more time filling the liner than making the whole bag. It was a wonderful project for the day. I am thinking that these will be great for next Christmas and really $59.99 isn't so bad. I would probably consider $129.99. No, I don't think I would cheat myself out of having so much fun.
Be creative! They are not hard to make and can be very entertaining! Until next time . . .
Happy reading!
Belle
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