How to choose the best smiley face dog toy for your puppy? Follow these easy tips for safe fun.

Alright, let's talk about this smiley face dog toy I decided to make. My dog's old favorite was looking pretty sad, basically falling apart, you know? So I thought, why not try making one myself? Seemed simple enough.

First thing, I had to gather up the supplies. Went digging through my craft bin. Found some bright yellow fleece – perfect for that smiley look. Also grabbed some black felt scraps for the eyes and mouth. Needed stuffing, of course, the regular fluffy kind you get for pillows or crafts. And naturally, needle, yellow thread, black thread, and my trusty scissors.

Okay, step one was cutting the shapes. I decided on a simple circle. Took the yellow fleece, folded it over, and tried my best to cut out two identical circles. They weren't perfectly round, let's be honest, but close enough for a dog toy, right? Then, from the black felt, I cut out two small circles for eyes and a simple curve shape for the smile. Just eyeballed these, nothing fancy.

Next up, putting the face on. I took one of the yellow circles and placed the black felt eyes and mouth where I wanted them. Used the black thread and just did some basic stitches around the edges of the felt pieces to tack them down onto the yellow fleece. Took a little patience to keep them from moving around while I sewed, but I got 'em attached.

Now for the main event: sewing the two big yellow circles together. I put the two pieces face-to-face (so the smiley face was on the inside for now). Started sewing around the edge using the yellow thread. I just used a simple running stitch, nothing complicated. Made sure to leave a gap, maybe a couple of inches wide, so I could turn it right side out and stuff it later.

Once I'd sewn most of the way around, I carefully turned the whole thing right side out through the gap I left. The smiley face was now on the outside! Looked pretty cheerful already. Then came the stuffing part. I started pushing clumps of the fluffy stuffing inside, trying to fill it out evenly. Packed it in there pretty good, wanted it to be firm enough to hold its shape but still squishy.

Last step was closing the gap. Tucked the raw edges inside the hole neatly, then used the yellow thread again to stitch the opening shut. Tried to make these stitches as invisible as possible, using a ladder stitch, kind of. Again, not perfect, but it sealed the deal.

And there it was! A lumpy, slightly imperfect, but definitely smiley yellow ball. Honestly, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out for a quick DIY job. The best part? Handed it over to my dog. He gave it a good sniff, wagged his tail, and immediately started carrying it around and giving it a few good shakes. Definitely a success in his book, which is all that matters!