Featured Teddy Bear of the Week - Anyone a Basketball Fan??

If you are a college basketball fan, you've probably been enjoying the NCAA post season tournament these past two weekends. We watch it very closely in our house, at least some of us do. It is my favorite sporting event of all time. This year, I am fortunate to have the team that I cheer for in the Final Four. My Kansas Jayhawks made it by the skin of their teeth, but they made it!! That is a BIG deal in the world of college basektball.

So, with basketball on my mind, I thought I would feature our Basketball Bear this week. This is our latest uniform, fashioned after the actual uniform of the recipient. We have a small space to work with, but can still get quite a few details in. In this case, the stripes at the bottom of the shorts, as well as along the sides of the shirt and shorts, which doesn't show in this picture. We do the lettering on the front and back by hand and attach to the shirt. The front shows the name of the school, with the player's last name and uniform number on the back. We do what we can to make a miniature version of the actual uniform. This makes a fun gift.

Our customer who ordered this product said, "You had her (customer's daughter) email you pictures of the sport uniform, took a detailed description of the colors and design, and from that created a masterful, beautifully handcrafted bear* in the St. Brendan b-ball uniform, complete with the boy's name!!!"

If you are looking for a special, personalized gift for a basketball player, I think that person would enjoy this keepsake from their days on the basketball court.

*Please note that only the uniform is handcrafted by us, not the actual bear.

How about an online craft fair?

Do you like to go to craft fairs in your local area? You get to walk down the aisles and see all these great looking handmade craft items. But, what if you could stay home and "walk down the aisles" from your computer? Does that sound like fun? No gas expense, no tired feet from all that walking, you can do a load of laundry while you're shopping.... There are lots of advantages to shopping online. So, all that being said, take a look at the Spring Fling Craft Fair put on by the Unique Crafters Club. It will be well worth the time to look at the merchants who offer a variety of handcrafted items. For example, you will find poetry angels, woven baskets, painted items, wood items, teddy bears, stuffed dolls and animals, and more. The merchants are offering discounts when you shop from the main craft fair page. The fair runs from March 1 through May 31st, just in time for your spring occasion shopping - Mother's Day, Graduation, birthdays, sprucing up the house.

Come join me in a game of tag!

Oh my goodness, my blog has been tagged! A blogging friend of mine is involved in a game of blog tag. I have to tell you 5 things about myself and then tag 5 friends. So here goes....

1) The name of my business is Bear Family Gifts. Do you know why?? I suppose because I sell teddy bears and it is a family friendly business with gifts for the whole family would be a good guess. But, actually, it is because I was once a member of a Bear Family! My maiden name was Bear! Can you believe it? I wanted to incorporate my maiden name into my teddy bear business and came up with Bear Family Gifts. I couldn't resist that little play on words.

2)I am a sports junkie! I can't play any sport worth a lick, but I love to watch or listen on the radio to football, basketball, and sometimes baseball. I am enjoying watching basketball almost all day long right now with the NCAA tournament. My favorite team is the KU Jayhawks. Go Hawks!!

3)At one time in my life, I left a job because they were getting a computer!! Now that was back in the "old" days, when we did our bookkeeping by hand, I was so afraid of computers that I left that job for another. A few years later, that business also incorporated a computer, but I was ready to tackle the challenge by then. And look at me now, can't stand to go a day without doing something on my computer. My kids don't believe me when I tell them how afraid I once was of a computer.

4)I enjoy writing poetry and singing in the church choir. Some of my poems are featured with my teddy bear angels, as well as I have some of my longer poems on my website, http://www.bearfamilygifts.com/poetry.html.

5)Last, and most importantly I am a Christian, a breast cancer survivor, a wife and mother of 3 teenagers. Life is full and always interesting.

Here are my friends that I am tagging:
Crystal Creates
Cinna-Minnies
Handmade Doll Clothes
Ragtree Funky Sculpture
Crafters BS

Tag - you're it!

Have fun!

Bunny or Bear??

This turned out too cute not to share. It is the only new Easter gift I will be adding this year as I am running out of time. But, I did think my Happy Easter Bear turned out very cute.

So what do you think? Is this a bear or a bunny? Does it really matter??? If it's too cute for you to resist buying, visit the link and purchase today! Last day to order for Easter gifts is March 14th. This gift comes with a chocolate bunny and a miniature basket of Easter eggs with a little yellow chick just "peeping" over the rim of the basket.

Easter is March 23 this year - seems very early!!

It's Graduation Time - Here are some Fun Gift Ideas!

With the hope of spring dawning (we in the mid west pray that it dawns SOON!), comes the thought that school will be ending soon. I have a junior in high school, so next year at this time, we will be nearing a frenzy of activity surrounding her graduation. What a momentous occasion, what a milestone in her life! Such occasions always make me think of gift giving, and what would be the perfect gift to capture this moment. There are some wonderful graduation gifts that can be given - cash is always good, luggage, other items needed in college, there are lots of things to choose from. My niece is graduating from high school and I have already purchased a special picture frame and a book, but she will also be receiving a special Graduation Teddy Bear.

We offer several teddy bears dressed in a robe with a traditional cap and tassel. If you want the robe in the same color as the graduate's, we will do that if we can - and we usually can. That goes for the tassel, too. We try to make the teddy bear's clothing match the graduate's as much as possible.

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There are variations on this basic design. We have done doctorate's robes with beret type hats instead of traditional caps, and stoles. Again, we try to make the clothing match the graduate's as much as possible. We always include a pseudo diploma and you can add shoes if you want.

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We did a custom doctorate bear that is not on my website yet, but is something we can do for you. The customer chose her degree colors for the stole and chevrons, we added a personalized cross-stitch heart, shoes, a stand, even some eyelashes and a bit of blush to make it very female.

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Maybe the graduate you are buying for is graduating from medical school. We can do traditional robe with cap or beret, etc, and add a stethoscope. You have just made a very personal graduation gift!

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There's another way to approach a graduation gift for someone graduating from college with a professional degree. We offer a variety of Professional Teddy Bears that would make great gifts to acknowledge all that hard work and the wonderful results! For instance, we offer several from the medical field - Doctor, Eye Doctor, Surgeon, Dentist, Nurse, Dental Hygienist and Veterinarian.

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We also offer some other graduation gifts that you might not find anywhere else. How about a Hair Stylist Bear, Chef, Police Officer, Business Executive, Teacher, Computer Analyst, Realtor, Aerobics Instructor, or Car Mechanic? Have some fun with your graduation gifts and let us dress a teddy bear that fits the occasion. We are always open to your ideas, too.