Favor Bag Polar Bear

This guy was a hit at our Christmas workshop for kids big and small! Who could resist? And starting out with a pre-made favor bag made the rest of the project rather simple.

For materials, you will need:
1 - 5"-tall round-bottom favor bag (we got ours at Dollar Tree.)
1 - cuff from a man's large, white cotton work glove
1 - large handful of poly-fiberfil
1 - 8" x 3/4" length of red fleece
1 - 6" length of 1/8" red ribbon
2 - 1" x 1" piece of white felt
1 - 22mm black bear nose
2 - 5mm black poms or plastic eyes
1 - small decorative snowflake
1 - small rubberband
For supplies, you will need scissors, wire cutter, black Sharpie marker, and glue (hot glue worked best for us, but supervision is needed for smaller children.)

Begin by stuffing the favor bag firmly with fiberfil.

Use the drawstring to close the top. Tie in a knot and cut off the excess ribbon.

Gather the cut end of the glove cuff.

Secure tightly with a rubber band. Trim any raw edges to shape.

Place the cuff (hat) over the gathered end of the favor bag. Lightly glue in place,being careful to leave the bottom unglued to insert the scarf at a later step.

Fold the piece of red ribbon in half and glue the cut ends to the top of the cuff.

Draw up a portion of the cuff to cover the ends of the ribbon and glue in place. This is going to be the top of the polar bear.

Next, use the scissors to snip the ends of the piece of red fleece to form fringe for the scarf.

Tuck the folded end of the fleece into the glove cuff at the bottom (the opposite side as the ribbon.)
Use the black Sharpie marker to draw the mouth. This is basically an upside-down "Y".

Next, glue the bear nose to the front. If your nose has a button stem, use the wire cutters to cut off the stem closely to the button before gluing.

Next, trim the pieces of white felt into a circle. Pinch one side together and glue the pinch together.

Position the felt ears on top of the hat and glue in place. Glue the eyes to the polar bear's face.

Add the snowflake embelishment to the scarf.

That's it! Let me know what you think, especially if you have any ideas that might make it easier for the kids. This was a real hit simply because he's so adorable.

Be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at childmade.com!