bert the farting hippo

carol, grandma and i are really big NCIS addicts. it started with reruns on USA network. now that mimi has a dvr, there is no end in sight.

in the show, one of the characters has a stuffed hippo named bert that farts when you hug it. i really wanted to get one for carol for christmas, but after scouring the internet, i came up empty. some guy in the UK makes them and sells them for $100, but that seemed excessive. thank god for youtube. 

here we have a diy tutorial that's easy enough to understand. the trick is finding the perfect hippo. mine came from one of the many trips eamon and i have made to ikea over the past month. i smuggled it home to mass, and after two surgeries, bert is farting like a fiend. 

needless to say, she loved it, and it was my favorite christmas gift to give.