Die Teddy Bear DIE. Stuffed Animal Storage that Works.

I know it's probably not nice to write what goes on in my head on this blog. And the nerve of me to so boldly put it up there in the title.
But, I might really enjoy a stuffed animal bonfire. A lot. Can I get an AMEN?

The girls have given some away. The ugly ones, at least. I may or may not have stuffed a couple in the back of my sweatshirt, danced a little two step ditty across the house and into the garage where I lay them to rest in the secret goodwill box I have. I love my secret goodwill box. It is taller than either one of them so they can't see what's in it without getting a stool. But that could never happen b/c it is surrounded by a bunch of items that again, may or may not be booby traps.

It is located in such a way that if I can just make it to the door I can shoot the item free-throw style into it before the girls can even know I've been in their room.

Oh, the things you learn from a seasoned professional toy stealer. And for the record I am totally aware that giving our things away is a great teaching tool. Except that Mia thinks that stuffed animals have souls, feel pain, and are scared of the dark.

Even though I'd love to torch them all, I am not Mommy Dearest. But I have tried everything. EVERYTHING. And to date, nothing has worked. Big tubs are too big..they get dumped out to find the tiniest one on the bottom. The clip thing that I posted about a while back was a stupid idea, sorry I posted it. They can't reach the top and that's annoying. They always want the ones at the top.

Guess what the number one thing they play with? Their stuffed animals.

So I took on the challenge! Are you ready for another sub-par tutorial?


The girls have these huge floor to ceiling built in book shelves in their room. Directly to the right of this one is the other even wider one. I chose the bottom two shelves of each to use as stuffed animal storage.

Problem was, they kept falling out, right? Duh.

So, I bought some fabric, spent about 2.5 hours sewing, 2 hours constructing and I think I may be on to something.


The panels are mere rectangles cut quite a bit wider than needed for gathering purposes and leaving room to hem. First I hemmed the top (leaving the ends open) attached a safety pin to one end of some elastic and threaded it across the top hem. Gather. Make it a little shorter than you need so that you have to stretch it a bit to get it all the way across the book shelf. Sew elastic in to place on the ends. Trim excess.

(If I had it to do over again, I would have made each panel as tall as each shelf not leaving a couple of inches at the top as you see in the picture. I think they would function better that way.)

Then sew one panel of sticky-back *SEW-ON velcro to the back of the panel down the side and bottom edges.  I should have used the SEW-ON with sticky back Velcro but I didn't. I used JUST sticky back. If the Velcro you buy doesn't say "SEW-ON" you will most likely not even be able to push a needle through it by hand...the sticky gew is very very strong. I broke a needle trying to.

Measure and cut the reverse of the velcro to the exact lengths you sewed on and stick them on to their matching partners (that have already been sewn on to the panel). Peel the paper backing off to reveal the sticky back and stick the entire panel to your bookshelf applying much pressure.

Remove the fabric panel (leaving just one side of the Velcroe sticking to the shelf) and apply more pressure.

Let it set for 30 minutes.

Put the fabric back on and position carefully. Use small finisheing nails to secure the corners and a few down the sides and bottom of the panel.

Now you have a stretchy fabric panel great for little hands to pull open to find their special friend without destroying their entire room.





I know that not all of you have built in wooden book shelves you can nail into. BUT I hope I have at least inspired you to be creative and find what will work for you and your kids. It's all about problem solving and making sure all parties involved are happy. Most importantly...MOM. Because she feeds everybody.

For another Sneak Peak into the girls' room and sub-par tutorial click HERE.

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