Snuggle Bunnies for your snuggle bunny

A pretty box! What can it be?



It's Linnea's turn to see. "Hmm.... what is it?"



It's a bunny!



A very soft blue bunny. From Auntie Jill.



Auntie Jill makes Snuggle Bunnies in two sizes - small (6.5") and big (12"). This bunny is small. It is made of super soft blue minky fabric and has silky satin ears. A small minky bunny is $15.00. A large one is $30.00.



The ears are so much fun to play with and the bunny feels soft on Linnea's skin.



Bunny close-up. Linnea asked "Where's his legs?"



A great excuse to read The Velveteen Rabbit. Silly Linnea, stuffed rabbits need lots of love before they grow legs.



Linnea gets started on the lots of love, but first she takes a break to play with those silky ears.



She loves those ears.



"No Arielle, the bunny is mine!"



Arielle gets her turn.



The Snuggle Bunnies are handmade in Wisconsin. The bunnies make a beautiful Easter gift. Bunny, play silk, egg and a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit - perfect. '

The bunnies are available in a variety of colors and fabrics (fleece, minky and organic jersey). I'm cuddling the blue minky snuggle bunny as I write (Linnea has a play date at our neighbor's house) - so soft, and very inspiring :0) Minky just makes you want to keep petting.

The ears can be embroidered with the child's name for an additional $10. A very nice new baby gift.




Auntie Jill also makes custom stuffed animals. So, if you have been looking everywhere for a soft purple zebra... well Auntie Jill is the one to ask. There is also a page "For a Good Cause" that features animals that help raise money for good causes such as breast cancer and Parkinson's disease.

Thank you Auntie Jill. I am definitely cuddling this bunny until Linnea gets home from her play date.

Happy Earth Day - Earth-friendly Penguins from Maggie's Organics

What is that silly Arielle doing?



She's pretending to be Daddy Penguin. "When baby penguins are small, they stand on their Daddy's feet to stay safe and warm." So, this is Arielle trying to keep her Maggie's Organics Penguin ($20) safe from "Polar bears and seals."



Last month, I reviewed Maggie's Organics Sock Monkey, and Linnea adores her Poo-Poo Monkey. Her monkey goes everywhere that she does. Like the monkeys, the penguins are made in the USA by Opportunity Threads, a 100% worker-owned cooperative in Morganton, North Carolina. The penguins and monkeys are environmentally friendly - they are made from excess fabric and irregular socks and are stuffed with reclaimed polyester mill scrap. The eyes are embroidered and the tie-dye snow hat is securely sewn on. The penguin can be machine washed and is safe for children (and Daddy Penguins) of all ages. Arielle named her penguin, Plum.

Here is Arielle with Plum on their way to preschool. The letter of the week was "B" and "Penguins are birds, you know."


So Plum is both educated and cute. Plum also enjoys relaxing with a friend, wildly dancing to Princess music, and long walks on the beach. OK.. I made the beach part up. But, as you can see, Plum is a penguin that loves to have fun.







Thank you, Maggie's Organics for letting us review the latest member of Maggie's Menagerie.

Puppy Love

I wish that this had arrived earlier, because the In the Doghouse Puppy Dog Collection ($89.98) from Magic Cabin Toys is the perfect big gift for the preschool aged child who isn't quite ready for the responsibility of a real pet.




The set includes one snuggly puppy dog made in Latvia by Kathe Kruse, a wooden doghouse made in the USA by Little Colorado, and puppy dog accessories - a cotton velour dog bed, two wooden dog bones, a wooden water dish and a red leather collar with a detachable leash.



Arielle named her puppy Chocolate Tapdancey Licky-Barky. Chocolate is made out of cotton with wood stuffing and has weighted ("tappy") paws filled with quartz sand. Hence, Chocolate's love of tap-dancing. The set is also available with a white puppy with a brown spot over the eye. And, the puppy dog or accessories (if a child already has a special dog) are also available separately.

What surprised me was the size of the set. I didn't read the dimensions, so I was thinking tiny. But Chocolate is just the right size for cuddling and the dog house is 11"x11"x13", so it will need it's own special spot. But, this contributes to the feeling of a real pet.



Chocolate has been Arielle's best friend for the past week, and has attended "show and tell" at preschool where he was much admired, even amid toys with blinking lights and TV characters. She has been giving Chocolate dog food (wooden acorns) and a bone for a treat. She makes sure Chocolate has water and takes him for walks.

When I asked Arielle what she thought the very best toy that we had tried this year was, she immediately said "Chocolate". Linnea, of course, is totally jealous so we tied a ribbon around an old stuffed dog, so she could play as well. Her dog is called "Doggy".



The Puppy Dog Collection is a Magic Cabin exclusive, and I wanted to say a few words about Magic Cabin. Before internet shopping, when my big kids (now 16 and 19) were little, it was much harder to find high quality, natural toys. But, Magic Cabin filled that void. I was a single mom then, and I worked through my vacations so I could buy my kids the "good" toys. They still treasure their Waldorf dolls, and there are some Magic Cabin toys have been handed down to Linnea and Arielle. I get a little nostalgic when the catalog arrives.