Making your own rattles is easy and affordable! I got the idea from We Wilsons, so it’s nothing new, but I needed to make some rattles for my amigurumi and here’s how I did it…

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• Small plastic pill bottle
• Beads
• Duct tape
• Stuffed toy. I used CritteRattles.

Make sure you choose a bottle that will fit inside your toy, with space for stuffing around it. I got these little pill bottles from a local pharmacy. I used 8 beads per rattle, and I noticed that these small wooden ones (about the size of a BB pellet) had the best sound.

With the beads inside, tape the bottle up with duct tape to seal it so you can still wash the toy without getting water inside the bottle.

Pad it with enough stuffing to conceal the shape, insert it into the toy and sew it up! I crocheted handles for my rattles and put the bottles inside with some stuffing before attaching cute animal heads.

How easy was that?!

These are the finished rattles that I made for my nephew. My brother asked me to crochet a set of them for his shiny new baby. Little J – being an infant – naturally loves putting everything in his mouth, so we chose features for the animals that would be especially pleasing on the tongue! I’m looking forward to his verdict on all the mouthwatering pointy bits.

From a design perspective, I was especially excited about figuring out the shaping for the jester hat and the contours of the elephant’s face, and I must say I am very happy with how they came out – I think they’re super cute!

I had so much fun making these guys. If you would like to make your own, go grab a copy of the pattern:

PIN IT!