Today’s subject is not going to make everyone happy. I apologize, but I found these curiosities to be completely irresistible. They’re terrible, but in such a hilariously intentional way. Maker Kelly Silva makes her weird and wonderful creatures using vintage mink stoles. You know the ones, the kind with the weird faces that form a circle by biting the tail of the mink before them? My nana had one, and I used to torture my poor little brother by menacing him with it. They really were unpleasant looking little faces, and Kelly hasn’t improved them much. She puts them in fascinating, un-mink-like poses and adds hand-carved acrylic teeth that make the whole thing so much more hilarious and upsetting. I’m sorely tempted to send one to my brother.

Here’s my favorite part. Silva apparently got inspired to try her hand at making sock animals after watching a Martha Stewart segment about the craft. Though Stewart’s example was darling and perfect, Silva was delighted at how terribly hers came out, and completely logically continued making them until she stumbled upon a vintage mink stole in a second-hand shop. A light bulb went off in her head, and she bought it and proceeded to turn it into what she calls a “very odd stuffed mink.” That was it. That was the genesis of this mad creator and her crazy crafts.

These genius sculptures, for what else could you call them, seem to sell out really quickly, and they’re not exactly priced to move, either. Her prices range from $75 all the way up to $700, but she still can’t seem to keep them on the shelves. I guess my brother is in the clear after all. Bummer.

You can check out all of Kelly’s One of a Kind Minks on her Big Cartel site and on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.