Getting the Right Twinkle in Your Toy's Eyes

[nattypatcrochet]

I have to confess that I have a beef with my neighbourhood. I love Vancouver, Canada –it's my hometown, it's beautiful, great people –BUT I can't find any plastic toy eyes for sale in any craft stores or yarn shops. It's as though no one is making any crocheted or knitted toys anymore. Since I know that that's untrue, it's absolutely frustrating!

 

Crochet and knitting have been coming back into vogue in the last few years, especially with a younger crowd such as myself, so the fact that such an essential toy-making supply is unavailable is dumbfounding.

 

Okay, so I won't bore you with a complete whining session. There is a purpose to my madness and this note. What do you do when you can't find toy eyes in your local shops?

 

1) Clearly you're already web-savvy cause you're here, so Google or Etsy search "craft eyes" and a few options will come up.

2) Use buttons - preferably the ones without holes directly through, but rather loops on the back.

3) Embroider the eyes.

 

Second problem: I've bought my eyes online and now I'm ready to put them on a toy but all the colours I have aren't working. And, I'm the impatient type so waiting two weeks for international shipping isn't really an option for me.

 

Solution: Take your pink or yellow or strangely coloured eye and find a Sharpie (permanent marker). Poke the little plastic eye in the eye with this marker and change the colour. Yellow and pink go to brown quite easily with a little bit of brown ink. Then, take some clear nail polish and quickly coat the back of the eye to cover the ink. *Note: do this quickly and without rubbing so the ink doesn't rub off. This technique has the added bonus that you can stripe the eyes, or add an iris around the pupil, using more than one marker colour.

 

Whew! There we go, that's off my chest. Hopefully that'll help you out when that little impatient beast attacks you too.

[Peggy85225]

Great tip, thanks for sharing.