Elmo Christmas Stocking

Just when you thought Elmo couldn't get cuter! Now he's a singing Christmas stocking. Sure to delight your kids and anyone else who sees him! He's a perfect stocking to be stuffed!

~Erin

The Figurines Are Coming! The Figurines Are Coming!

I have been personally collecting animal figurines for I’d say at least 15 years now. It all began when my mother brought me home this adorable little unicorn figurine. I don’t think she realized what that one little figurine would start! 15 years later, I have a lot of figurines and am still collecting.

Because I love animal figurines just as much as I love stuffed animals, I have wanted to carry them in the store since I opened it. Well I am excited to announce that in the coming weeks we will finally be adding animal figurines to our store. The main delay with stocking animal figurines has been finding companies to buy from, a lot of figurine companies will unfortunately not work with internet only stores. But I have found a few companies that will, and more importantly, they make high quality figurines that I will be able to sell for reasonable prices.

Out of the companies I have found to work with, I have placed orders with three that should start arriving next week or so. The companies are Sandicast, Quarry Critters and Country Artists. Sandicast has an adorable line called “Snoozers” which features sleeping animals in adorable poses. In addition they have a variety of sizes of animal figurines and Lady Abbies will mainly carry the small size. They specialize in dogs but also have cats and wildlife figurines. I own a few Sandicast figurines, including the black and white springer snoozer above, so I can attest to the quality, value and sheer adorableness!

Quarry Critters by Second Nature Design are resin animals made to look like they are carved from stone, hence the name. These animals, though usually done in simple grays and browns, are still incredibly adorable due to the sweet faces and expressions they are given. Due to the simple colors of most of their figurines, it makes the splashes of colors added in some all the more vibrant and fun. In addition, they have a new floral line which consists of animals covered in big, bright flowers. Quarry Critters also makes stuffed animals and we will be carrying a few of them as well.

Last but not least of the three figurine companies we will be adding to the store is Country Artists. This is a great line that is full of adorable animal figurines. I have an adorable schnauzer puppy figurine in my collection from Country Artists. The figurines from this line range from incredibly realistic looking animals to whimsical animals. In either case, the detail is fine and the quality is superb.

I will be starting out with a small collection of figurines from each company to see how they do but I certainly hope to offer a wider selection representing each in the near future. I hope you all enjoy them at least nearly as much as I do:)

~Erin

Happy Easter & Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Easter Everyone!

For those of us in Southeastern PA, it feels a little bit more like Christmas. I think weather-wise Easter will actually feel more like Christmas then Christmas did! If that makes any sense:) We were even supposed to have snow today but that ended up going further South. That's a relief, don't want to see anymore of that! Once Spring technically arrives, I expect the weather to automatically change over into sunny 70 degree days. Doesn't usually happen that way, but oh well.

Nevertheless, it is Easter weekend and I hope you all enjoy it with your families and friends!

I have to admit it will be a bit of a weird day for me tomorrow. Easter happens to fall this year on what would have been my Dad's 52nd birthday. Yup, would have been.

Hard to believe it was only two years ago that we were celebrating his 50th birthday with a surprise party. I bought him an inflatable walker and everything, all the stuff to rub in the age - over the hill and all of that. Even harder to believe that at that birthday we didn't even know he was sick. We found out in August that he had esophageal cancer and the cancer was bad. It had already spread to other parts of his body, he didn't even know he had it until he developed a lump in his throat that made eating difficult - which led him to go to a doctor. I don't want to bring anyone reading this down with all of the horrible details, too many of us know what this disease is like already, but it was my first time (and how I wish it will be the last) that I ever dealt with cancer so up close and personal and it was awful.

Dad passed away in November of the same year, just 7 months after his 50th birthday party. Suffice it to say, my mind will be on him a lot tomorrow. I am sure losing a parent at any age is difficult and in many ways I was lucky to have my Dad in my life for as long as I did. But 50 certainly feels young these days. My parents were young parents too, so I guess I had just taken for granted that they would be around for a long time to come.

So, wherever you are Dad, Happy Birthday. I'm thinking of you and I love you.

I would like to end this post with a little something that was read at my Dad's memorial service. I am not sure where it came from and believe it is anonymous, but it resonated with me and if any of you out there reading this have lost someone you loved, perhaps you will find some comfort in these words as well.

When I die, give what is left of me to the children. If you need to cry, cry for your brothers and sisters walking beside you. Put your arms around anyone and give them what you need to give me. I want to leave you with something, something better than words or sounds. Look for me in the people I have known and loved. And if you cannot live without me, then let me live on in your eyes, your mind and…your Acts of Kindness. You can love me most by letting hands touch hands, and letting go of children who need to be free. Love does not die, people do. So when all that is left of me is love… give me away…

~Erin

Welcome Spring & Goodbye Shoveling!

Spring came on Wednesday! And although it has been raining pretty much since then, at least the temperatures are mild. Unfortunately, last weekend, just when I thought it was safe, my region got hit with one last nasty storm. The worst of the year actually, mainly due to the fact that it pretty much sleeted for hours upon hours, coating everything with layers of ice.

My home has a small driveway, 3 cars fill it to the brim, and we have a small sidewalk out front (luckily we aren't a corner lot) but let me tell you, the ice storm beat me when it came to shoveling out after it. My husband and I didn't even get our driveway and sidewalk shoveled until Sunday afternoon, on our fourth attempt of the weekend to do so. And even then, it was poorly shoveled, but I didn't even know if my arms would ever work again so I decided it was good enough!

Luckily, the temps warmed up on Monday and melted most of what we had left, and now that Spring is here, I hope we won't see anymore snow or ice this year. Or rather, ice, I don't mind shoveling snow so much but the ice was awful. I noticed most of my neighborhood, which is usually quite good at getting into gear after a snow, left their sidewalks unshoveled, even the few with snow blowers.

So even though southeastern Pennsylvania had a fairly mild winter this year, it certainly ended with a bang. I love Spring anyway, love Summer even more, but it is greeted even more openly following a winter ice storm.

That's my round-a-bout way of saying, Welcome Spring! Of course, Spring has its own issues, rain which leads to my yard becoming a swamp, that my two dogs love to run around in and then bring all of that mud inside, all over the floors....etc...oh boy...welcome spring.

~Erin

And Here's Goober the Bear's Video

***For some reason these videos are messing up the sound a bit and it is not syncing with the mouth movement. But please note, Goober's mouth actually moves along quite well with the singing, as does Arnold's to his snoring.***

Okay, I got to it while I was thinking about it! So here's Goober the Bears video debut singing, "Don't Worry Be Happy," while he leisurely reclines and taps his foot.

Even if you don't choose to buy either of these cute sound and motion plush, I hope you at least got some entertainment from watching their movies!

~Erin

Arnold the Snoring Pig, from Gund

***For some reason these videos are messing up the sound a bit and it is not syncing with the mouth movement. But please note, Goober's mouth actually moves along quite well with the singing, as does Arnold's to his snoring.***

Isn't this pig adorable and fun! I took this video of him so that you could see what he actually does when he snores and wiggles in his sleep. Sorry about the quality, looked better on my end before it went through the upload to YouTube, but I think the cuteness of Arnold shines through the poor video! I have a Goober Bear from Gund that sings "Don't Worry Be Happy" and taps his foot, I will try to get some video up of him as well so that you can all see what these guys actually do. I know it can be hard to know what you are getting with sound and motion items when you buy online, so I hope this video helps!

~Erin

March is here and Easter's coming!

It is March, how did that happen? Not that I am complaining, because on March 11th daylight savings time begins and March 21st is the first day of Spring! And even though we had a short (and compared to much of the country, quite uneventful) winter here in South Eastern PA (it didn't really start getting cold until January) I am still looking forward to spring. Bring on the warmth and extended sunshine!

Of course, as it is already March, that means Easter is quickly approaching as well, it falls on April 8th this year. I have quite a few cute items in stock that would make fabulous gifts, find them here. One of those items is JustaBunny, the critter in the picture. Isn't he endearing? He's a beautifully made plush from Gund and he's sure to delight the lucky person that gets to partner up with him for the big egg hunt!

I still have quite a few of my plush Easter presents from years past, usually given to me by my parents and paternal grandparents. I certainly got my fair share of bunnies on Easter, though each was unique and special; my large and simply crafted pink and white bunny, my all snowy white bunny with a cute belly button, my brown bunny holding a carrot that came in its own basket, etc...etc... That's why I love plush, because there are so many wonderful items out there and I know for myself, they are a beautiful way to display items that contain special memories from special times. I can look at most of the plush I own and give you its history, particularly if it was given to me by a loved one...

~Erin