DIY: Peep Tic-Tac-Toe

 

My son is IN LOVE with Peep and the Big Wide World. However, finding anything remotely related to this show in terms of affordable paraphernalia is impossible. Then to add insult to injury, the show is no longer being shown on PBS this season. (Thank goodness for YouTube and Netflix!).

Since the items I did find on the official PBS site were a bit too out of my price range for his big 3rd birthday, I decided to make things. Last year he received the three main characters (Peep, Quack, and Chirp) as crocheted dolls. They were fairly easy to make and a huge hit with my son.  This year, I had to be more creative.

The first item of a series of things I'll be making is the Peep Tic-Tac-Toe Sack.

The first thing I did was find some scrap plywood out in the garage and cut it down to about 8" x 8". I then painted it the with the classic green grass color and blue sky color of the show and made the tic-tac-toe grid. I had some space so I painted the names of the main characters, too. I then saturated it with a clear gloss glaze.

I hot glued a piece of black felt to the bottom so as not to ruin any furniture.

The next step was to create the X's and O's. Fortunately, we go to the beach A LOT, and we love to find stones. Especially round ones. I collected as many round/oval, smooth stones as I could find then went through the arduous task of painting them into Peep, Chirp, and Quack. I got this fabulous idea from Chicken Scratch.

PEEP

CHIRP 

QUACK, my son's favorite.

I made five stones of each character. All were painted with acrylic paints, then smothered with clear gloss glaze.

To store the game, I crocheted a drawstring pouch in green and blue. I won't get into the specifics of the pattern, but any type of bag/box will do.

For the finishing touch, I cut out felt characters and hot glued them onto the pouch. Just too tired to sew them. Don't judge.

I absolutely LOVE how the game turned out. I think MonkeyBoy will be pleased with it too. Lots of bright colors, and he gets to learn the love of a new game!

I'm finding that the things I'm making for his party my be a bit advanced for the novice crafter. The second item I'll blog about is an actual canvas portrait I'll be painting personalized with his name for his room. If I have time, I'm also going to paint Quack on a t-shirt. Lots to do in just a few more days to do it!

Until the next!

Yankee Doodle Dandy,

–TYG