Pink Felt Elephant

I bought a bunch of felt this spring, to make some cute little projects.

The first one was this pink elephant, from a pattern in Stitched Whimsy.  She's 11" from the tip of her trunk to the tip of her tail, and 6" tall.  Her inner ears are flannel, but the rest of her is felt.

The ears of the African elephant are nearly 3 times larger than the ears of the Asian elephant.  They have a dense grid of blood vessels that help disperse internal heat.  The hotter it is, the more they flap their ears.  If there's a breeze, they face into it and stretch their ears out in order to obtain the maximum cooling effect.