Cloudpuff Totoro

Let's make totoro, chuu-totoro, chibi-totoro, and soot sprites!

All you need are pom poms of assorted sizes, scissors, a glue gun, and anything you can find to make into eyes and noses. For the eyes, I drew pupils onto the backs of googly eyes using permanent marker (the actual googly eyes would make the totoros look too goofy). For the nose, I rolled brown Sculpey clay into little pellets and baked them until hard.

You will need these four sizes and colors of pom poms:

To make totoro...

To make chuu-totoro...

To make chibi-totoro...

To make a soot sprite...

Basic instructions: Use a glue gun to stick the pom poms together (TIP: Glue them together at the core by spreading the fibers out and applying glue to the center of the pom pom).  Use scissors to snip away at the pom poms, sculpting them into the right shape. Sculpt the arms, ears, and tail before you glue them onto the body.

After all the hard work, you will have cute little totoros to keep you company!

I love how they have an ethereal quality, like they're made of cloud puffs or marshmallow fluff. It makes me think of the scene where Mei-chan is stalking chibi-totoro; upon realizing he's visible, chibi-totoro vanishes into thin air, and Mei-chan has to squat and squint hard to make him re-appear.

歩こう　歩こう　私は元気！

[imported from an old blog]