I’m excited to share this craft project with you today simply because it was so much fun for me. I can’t wait to do more!

When I saw these Crayola Scribble Scrubbie animals in the craft aisle at Target I just thought they were adorable. They stood out to me because they are definitely the kind of thing I would have wanted as a kid. For some reason though, they lodged themselves in the back of my brain. I did not see this particular pack at that time, but when I stumbled across them later the tall skinny cat (Fiona) struck me.

At first I was reminded of the vintage tall skinny cat figurines which I love, but then it hit me…

“Oh look, it’s Jiji!” And then, as luck would have it, there was Lily right there with him.

“Kiki’s Delivery Service” is one of my top favorite Studio Ghibli movies (and favorite movies period) so this conveniently shaped duo was too perfect to pass up.

Crayola Scribble Scrubbies are small animal figurines covered in a fuzzy velvety material which can be colored on with washable markers. They can then be cleaned and brought back to white to color on again. Crayola has various playsets with different washing facilities such as a grooming truck, bathtub, vet’s office, and others, as well as expansion packs that only have the animals. They currently come in the animal themes of pets, safari, and peculiar pets (magical creatures). This is an expansion pack with the characters “Fiona” and “Missy.”

I was interested in a permanent transformation for these characters, so I selected fabric paint for their bodies and acrylic paint for their eyes.

All-in-all I used:

• Crayola Scribble Scrubbies
• Tulip Soft Matte Fabric Paint
• Craft Acrylic Paint
• Matte Mod Podge
• Paintbrushes

To avoid the little hairs in the velvety material sticking to one another and looking matted and also to ensure all sides of the fibers were covered in paint, I applied the paint in a circular, scrubbing motion rather than in typical back-and-forth brushstrokes. As you can possibly tell in the picture above, the density of the material demanded several coats of paint.

I didn’t take any pictures of painting the eyes, but for that I simply used acrylic paint and once they were completely dry, I sealed them with a couple of coats of clear matte Mod Podge.

I’m especially thrilled with the way Jiji turned out. I think he’s perfect… or purrrrfect. 🙂

Lily being a long-haired cat isn’t quite as good because the material itself is “short-haired.” If you’re a better artist than me – which is most people – then maybe you could do better.

My favorite thing about this project was: NO PREP WORK! I’m not a big fan of painting most of the time and that’s because I dislike prep work. With the fabric paint I could just dive right in and I didn’t worry about any extra steps with the eyes since it was such a small surface area.

There you have it, my Scribble Scrubbie makeover: Fiona and Missy to Jiji and Lily. I hope to do more of these soon!

If you’re looking for another Studio Ghibli fan craft, check out my pom-pom soot sprite keychains.