A couple weeks ago, my bloggy friend Jen, at Life on the Sonny Side made a comment on my Free Advice Friday post that got my wheels spinning.  She off-handishly asked if I might make something simple, like a DIY ice pack. Hmmm, a DIY ice pack…

Without my consent, my mind immediately set to work.

FACT- I operate on several levels. Conveniently, I also have an auto pilot function for boring tasks.

I’m not going to lie, my first ice pack design was something so awesomely inappropriate that I was almost giddy with…I guess, inappropriateness?  But I thought to myself  “Candy Ass (positive self-talk), your mama just might pass out if she reads this one”.

Damn it, I’m totally dying to tell someone…sooo,email me if you want to know.  But remember, once you read my idea, you can never unread it- let’s just say it’s for men. God, I hope someone asks me before I burst.

So instead, I’ve decided to take the safe route and make something that’s cute, useful, and completely appropriate, I think.

I don’t know about you, but we have an overabundance of crappy stuffed animals from carnivals, the boardwalk, and those money sucking claw machines (If you don’t believe me, read this post or this one).  We also have a klutzy family.  I thought, why not turn shit into gold!

A Stuffed Animal Icepack

Materials:

crappy stuffed animal

Ziplock bag

tape

scissors

water

Is it me or does he look a little worried?
Aww, it’ll be ok little fella.

Instructions:

Step 1 – Make an incision in his belly, keeping it below the bikini line so he’s not self conscious come swimsuit season.

But guess what Bear, it doesn’t matter how many god-forsaken sit-ups you do, that flap is never going away!

Step 2 – Remove most of the stuffing.  Fill your Ziplock bag with water, the amount will vary depending on your stuffed animal’s cavity size.  I judged my bear to be a 36C, but I ended up having to pour about half out (34A, I know the feeling Bear, I know the feeling).  Generously tape along the top of the Ziplock bag then insert in your animal.

*side note- Collin came home from school as I was working on this.  He saw the the bear sprawled out, stuffing everywhere, and me shoving a taped Ziploc bag of water inside of it.  And he asks “what’s for dinner?”. Really? That’s your question?

Step 3 – Either hand sew or machine sew its belly shut, being very careful not to puncture the bag.

Ok, HONESTY MOMENT…Something went dreadfully wrong.  I was about to sew the bear’s belly when I noticed that his fur was wet.  I didn’t want to believe I had a leaker…

Shit.  I had promised Ana that her bear (which she didn’t even know she owned until that moment) was going to become something “special”.  Shit.

Plan B

We call him “Snack Attack Bear”.  Really, it’s the best use of a gutted out teddy bear that I could come up with.

Plan B, for when Plan A was never going to work.

Summary:  I really think that this DIY Ice Pack could work.  It’s like the early boob jobs, it takes a bit of experimenting to find a bag that doesn’t leak.

Summary of the Summary:  As I’m sitting here, I’m wondering why I didn’t use those little gel packs that they use in coolers.  Why the hell did I fill a Ziplock with water? GAWD!

Ok, do all the same steps but replace “Ziplock bag filled with water” with “little cooler thingees” and really, this whole DIY Ice Pack should work.