Homemade Beauties By Heidi: Wonderful Wednesday...Cheer Bears

The rest of this week at our house is all about cheerleading. My daughter has a big competition this weekend and the kids are so excited to be going on a mini vacation. As far as my kids are concerned: hotel + travel = good times!

A friend and I are in charge of making some treats for the girls on the squad. Things to make the weekend more special and let them know how proud we are of all their hard work this season.

One of the things our Coaches have used as a motivator this season is "Nado Bear." The girl who is recognized that week for hard work brings home the bear, adds something to it and returns it to the team the next week. She has received a cheer uniform, pom poms, hair bows, earrings...she even had a cast at one point to match one of our girls. The girls have really enjoyed having their chance to add something to her.

So we decided to make each of the girls thier own mini "Nado Bear." We had been on the lookout for some inexpensive options, but unfortunately that just usually means they are cheaply made. That is until I found these:

They are in the Baby Toy Section at Target for $2.49 each...and they are great quality. I knew all I needed to recreate the idea of "Nado Bear" was pom pom's. I had a friend give me a Cheer Bear in High School when I made the squad, so I knew just what to do to make these guys perfect.

I went to Michaels and picked out some yarn to match their uniform. Choosing the correct colors is what makes all the difference in the world, for any project. If the colors are off, the project looks ok, but when you get the colors right...it is almost magical.

I took a piece of the white and a piece of the green yarn and began wrapping them around two of my fingers. The bears are small, so the pom pom's need to be small. It is a little tricky to work with such small pom's, but it is quick work!

I wrapped both pieces around my fingers 15 times. Next, I took another piece of yarn and tied a knot around the center.

Do you know how tricky it is to take photos with one hand while trying to do a project with the other? It is not easy.

Once the center has been tied, the only step left is to cut the loops apart and fluff them up. I used two of the strings to tie a pom pom onto each bear hand.