Leftover Surprise

No, it's not a mysterious combination of things from the freezer, and it isn't served the day after Christmas.  I'm talking about leftover yarn, and a surprise for an eight-year old.

When my brother and I were little, mom would sometimes wrap a handful of small toys (the happy meal kind) in layers of tissue paper - a surprise ball.  We'd tear through layer after layer and every now and then a little toy would be revealed until we got the the toy at the center.  Fun!

Well, she's at it again - this time with yarn.  If you, like me, and apparently like mom, have a hard time throwing out those leftover balls of yarn too small to realistically do anything with (but it's YARN - how can we throw away YARN?!?!) then here's the recipe for Leftover Surprise.

  

Tie the end of the first tiny leftover ball to the arm of a very small toy.  Wrap the yarn around and around, and when it runs out tie another leftover ball on.  Every now and then, hold a little page of stickers or a penny or another small toy on the ball while you continue to wrap the yarn around.  When you have run out of prizes, or yarn, or patience, attach a tag to the end and write "To Charlie, Love Nana".  That's what mom wrote, but of course you might write something different.

Serves one.  But entertains several.  When it's all unwound, the toys and trinkets are treasured, and the leftover yarn apparently becomes some kind of alien for Star Wars figures to defeat.  The fun never ends!