Bean Bag Bug Eater!

"FEED ME!"

Help!

As soon as I glued the final doo-dad to the furious face of this little Frankenstein, he shook the walls, demanding food and freedom. What had I created? A few hours earlier he was nothing more than a random pile of cardboard, a yard of purple fuzzy fabric and a scramble of stuff from the bottom of a crafty junk box. But now he was alive! And hungry. And mad! Hungry, mad, and movin' about scary! What was I gonna do?

I pride myself on skills of negotiation. I surmised that Chomper (he named himself that!) might enjoy a steady diet of bean bag bugs; crazy and colorful, leggy of ribbon, peeping through pairs of plastic buttons, pleasantly plumped with a bounty of beans.....

I offered Chomper a lifetime supply of those. In return, he'll politely attend children's Halloween parties, allowing guests to toss bugs at him for points and prizes. They'll aim for that toothy grin, his fancy hat, and the pair of pumpkin buckets he totes about. He'll get to gobble down all he can catch!

We sealed the deal and now we're on the road! Parties, parties, parties!

So, what about me and the monsters I make? Well, in the end, it appears that we get along just fine, thank you very much!














Make a clone of 46" Chomper for yourself from a cardboard box, approximately 16" x 29" x 12"

• Cut a mouth into front side, and a 6" square into the back, at bottom (to retrieve bean bags). 
• Cover box with fake fur (1 yard for the above size box). Secure with glue.
• Cut into fur horizontally along center of mouth and then clip fabric so it can be pushed in and glued or taped to box.
• Cover 2 oatmeal containers (10") with contrasting fake fur.
• Cover 2 sturdy wrapping paper tubes with paper.
• Stuff a pair of gloves with plastic shopping bags.
• Push gloves onto ends of tubes and tie tightly with ribbon.
• Punch holes and insert tubes into sides of box. 
• Cover and decorate a smaller box and glue to top of head.
• Fill oatmeal containers with gravel or sand and glue to base of body.
• Glue plastic Halloween eyes and large bottle cap nose to face.
• Purchase buckets or cover small pails with orange paper to hang on arms.
• Glue white paper teeth to inside top and bottom of mouth.
• Glue strips of black crepe paper streamers to inside top of mouth, behind teeth.
• Decorate with craft trim.

Feed Chomper with 4" bean bag bugs:

• Cut two 4.5" circles from fleece fabric for each bug.
• Cut six 3" scraps of narrow ribbon or rick rack for each bug.
• Place right sides of fabric together and insert ribbons between them so one end of each gets caught in the seam as you sew all around outside edge, leaving 1" open for stuffing. (It's easier if you do one side at a time.)
• Turn to right side.
• Fill bug with small dried beans. About 5 tablespoons will do.
• Hand stitch opening closed.
• Sew buttons on for eyes. Glue wiggle eyes on top if desired.
• Gather a 12" strip of 6" wide sparkly tulle at center and sew to center back for optional wings.

This original design, like all blog content, is intended for personal use only. Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. Thank you!

Looking for more crazy home made Halloween party games for kids?
Here's an easy-to-make board to use with sticky darts......

......and a carnival style ring toss game starring a slew of dollar store rats!