03/24/2012 - Rubber Octopus Toy

I have this weird thing where I critique rubber inner tubes. My favorite class of inner tube are the lovely ones that are shiny and wide. Some of the tubes I go through are nasty with bits of the road imbedded in them, filled with a green goo after a flat, or covered in bright orange patches. Those tubes give character to some projects, but they are not my preference. I wrote all that to say that this little buddy is made from my favorite type of rubber.

Reclaimed Material: rubber inner tubes
Other/New Material: none
Tools: scissors, white marker

How I did it: I tied a simple knot in a piece of rubber inner tube. I tucked one of the ends into the knot so that both ends came out the same side to make the legs. I cut the two ends into 24 kind of equal strips by cutting the ends in half so there were four pieces, then again to make 8 pieces. I cut each of those eight strips into thirds. Next I braided the thirds and tied them off to make each leg. I used the white marker to draw on the face. 

What I would do differently:  I was trying to for a "clockwork orange" thing with his eyes, but the execution was not so successful. I need to little bits for faces and also maybe stuff the head with fluff. Zoe is happy with him though.