Pickled Octopus!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found a use for all those empty peanut butter jars I've been saving.  Well, in the past I filled them with fake catnip pickles, yes (Sweet Gerkins For Sour Pusses) but I wanted something new for the Pennsic War crowd.  That's a medieval event that runs 11 days out in Pennsylvania in August.

With all the great fall sales 50% off on polar fleece I picked up a quarter yard of mottled purple, mottled dark navy and mottled medium blue and spent the day cutting out small octopus shapes.  They go three to a bottle, one of each color, and are super simple to make.

Start with cutting 2 rectangles 3" wide by 7" long.  Put right sides together, go up 3" from the bottom and start sewing up the side, rounding the top and coming back down the other side, stopping 3" from the bottom. You want the bottom area left open.

Turn, stuff the body with fiberfill and catnip, then machine sew across the bottom starting at the area that was stitched, sort of folding it accordian style with your fingers as you go to narrow that area. You could forego the machine sewing and instead just hand stitch a running stitch across that area and pull tight. This gives you a stuffed body and loose bottom area.  Cut the bottom area into 8 'tentacles' with your scissors.  

10mm black beads are then hand sewn onto the lower part of the body/head.  I pinch the fabric around them to sew a sort of furrowed brow above the eye as well, to give character.  

They fit three to a bottle, face them with eyes looking out.  Screw the lid down on the jar and tape a fancy label to the front.  They look great.