Most parents know the feeling of their home being overtaken by soft toys as the seemingly benign creatures multiply and colonise whole sections of the house.
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But now there is a way to get rid of them and perhaps unleash a little untapped revenge. And the kids can have fun with it too.
The Tuggeranong Arts Centre, which this year is being inspired by the theme of animals, has been facilitating fun workshops to create the "Home for Unloved Animals" art installation project.
Sculptors Tom Buckland and Rebecca Selleck are leading the free workshops for adults and children in which participants get to re-fashion donated soft toys to "create a new herd".
Participants are invited to "sever limbs off llamas, hack heads off hippos and dismember dinosaurs, then lovingly re-sew them to some other beasts". As well as being fun, the installation is making a comment about waste, excess and over-consumption.
"It's about recycling, re-using things that might be just collecting dust," Tom said.
"You end up with these hybrid, Frankenstein creatures.
"Lots of kids have had fun coming in and pulling apart their soft toys."
The re-worked soft toys will be exhibited in a shopfront at the Anketell Street entrance to the Tuggeranong Hyperdome.
Most of the workshops are also being held in the shopfront, except one on Saturday, January 28, which is being held at the Arts Centre in Reed Street from 10am to 1pm.
The other workshops will be held at the shopfront on Wednesday, February 8 and Wednesday, February 22, also from 10am to 1pm.
Bookings are required for the Saturday workshop only.Please email info@tuggeranongarts.com or ring 6293 1443.
No bookings are required for the Wednesday workshops. Just turn up.
Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult for all workshops.
There's no need to bring a soft toy - they are supplied. But if you do want to donate excess soft toys, please drop them off at reception at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
