Kids both big and little love their woobies.

Soft, silky and versatile, a woobie is another name for a poncho liner, an item quite familiar to those in the Army. Cool in the summer, warm in the winter, poncho liners are perfect for Soldiers - but also perfect for babies.

Army wife Tiers Arnts crafts cozy baby blankets - dubbed Wee Warrior Woobies - out of standard-issue Army poncho liners. She buys them used and broken in at Army surplus stores in the Fort Bragg, N.C., area where she lives, divides them into quarters and adds colorful trim, transforming the drab green fabric into something colorful, creative and unique. 

"The guys are so attached to these blankets," Arnts said. "So when they have one for their kids, they are excited."

The mother of four boys got the idea several months ago when a friend had a similar blanket made. She decided to try her hand at making one for her year-old son, Jaxyn.

"He absolutely adores it," she said.

So she started making them for friends and as baby shower gifts. One of those friends, Casey Stewart, brought hers with her when she PCS'd to Joint Base Lewis-McChord last summer.

"Lots of people asked her where she got it," Arnts said. "So she called and asked if I would be interested in making them for the upcoming craft show."

She came up with the name "Woobie" because that's what her husband Sean, a Special Forces master sergeant, and the members of his team have always called their poncho liners, she said.  Since they are for children, the blankets were dubbed Wee Warrior Woobies.

"Our kids are our little Soldiers," Arnts said. "So they get their own woobie."

But the woobies aren't just for babies. Arnts can create larger woobies (30 x 72 inches) for older children and full-sized woobies for adults (60" x 72"). All can be personalized and trimmed in a variety of fabric choices. 

She can even create a woobie out of a Soldier's personal poncho liner. For instance, customers can send her a father or grandfather's poncho liner (as long as it is still in good shape), and she will create a customized, intimate keepsake. One poncho liner will make four small woobies (30" x 36" each), so "each kid gets a little piece of their lineage," Arnts said.

A variety of Wee Warrior Woobies will be available for purchase at Stewart's Synergy Photography booth at the Lewis Community Spouses Club Holiday Bazaar, which runs Nov. 3, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Nov. 4, noon to 5 p.m. at the MWR Tent, 2272 Liggett Avenue on JBLM Main. 

Cost is $30 for one small woobie or $50 for two.

To see examples or custom order a woobie, visit Arnts' Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WeeWarriorsWoobie or her Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/WeeWarriorsWoobie.