Variety Makes Me a Happy Crafter!

There are many disadvantages to carrying a wide variety of themes in my teddy bear gifts.  My office/craft room is filled to the brim with little bits of this and that, those cute little things that I add on to the teddy bear, or small pieces of fabric that are "just right" for something.  Lots and lots and lots of lace, buttons, bows, hats, shoes, glasses, basketballs, footballs, ribbon, flowers, balloons - and that only covers about half the room!  It would be easier if I just made angels, or just bears with flowers and not balloons,  just made items for Valentine's Day and not every other holiday I can think of.  Just used beige teddy bears, not white ones, not dark chocolate ones, no bunnies, no lambs, no reindeer.  Easier, yes, but not nearly as much fun!!  I guess you could say I am easily bored, I love doing new things with my bears, or finding another animal to use.  And even though that means I have to have a large variety of supplies on hand, it is worth it to me.  A variety of items to offer means I never know what someone will be ordering next!  How boring would it be to get orders for all the same thing, no fun at at all!   Each order is like a nicely wrapped Christmas gift that I haven't a clue about, opening the notifying e-mail is like unwrapping it.  Such a pleasure!

Bear Family Gifts, LLC - a teddy bear gift for any occasion

New Fall Products for 2011

This week I have added my final 2 new products for the fall holiday season.  Any of my Harvest and Fall products can be used as decor items.  If you like to decorate your home with pumpkins, gourds, scarecrows, and so on, my teddy bears would fit right in.  Many of them come with pumpkins attached, most are dressed in the rich, beautiful colors of fall.  Or you can send them as a gift to someone to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving, or maybe lift their spirits during a difficult time.

Pumpkin Sweater Bear

This is one of my newest products, Pumpkin Sweater Bear.  She is dressed in bright orange pants with a peach colored sweater with pumpkins on it.  She is holding a nice, bright orange pumpkin.

Thanksgiving Angel Bear

The last product is the Thanksgiving Angel Bear.   Her dress is a  soft tan and brown print, showing a Thanksgiving blessing prayer.  You can see a closeup of the words on my website.

I invite you to stop by and take a look and see if a teddy bear dressed for all would fit in your decor or provide a special gift for someone.

Nothing Beats a Happy Customer!

I just received an e-mail from a happy customer.  To a person who makes and sells her own products, there is nothing better than receiving the news that your handcrafted items was received with joy and satisfaction.  Her e-mail went like this - "Thank-you so very much for the beautiful bears.  I received both of them on Monday.  I am very excited to give my girlfriend her bear on Friday as I know she will love it.  I love all of the special personal touches that you added.  It is perfect.  I loved the fabric on both dresses.  Can you tell I love the work you do?  Thanks again Debbie.  Until the next time I order a bear, take care and thanks again M."  I am looking forward to receiving more orders from this customer in the future.  The picture above is one of the 2 Gardener Bears that she ordered.  Order yours here.

Finally Fall in The Midwest

I saw a tree on our street yesterday that had turned it's beautiful dark red fall color.  Finally! I thought, fall has arrived.  I love the cooler weather and gorgeous colors of God's nature.

The fall colors are so hard for me to pass up in the fabric store, that I quit trying.  I took those beautiful fall colors and turned them into clothes teddy bears, no big surprise.

The Harvest Angel Bear was just a delight to put together, and she would look quite nice as part of your fall decorations as well.

The Scarecrow Bear  is a fun little guy, with hay bale and pumpkins from the farm, he even has a little black bird perched on his hat.










All of my current Harvest and Fall Gifts and Decor can be found by clicking on the underlined words.  I hope to add another one or two in a  few days.

The Birth of A Teddy Bear Angel Gift

Kailie's Angel Bear Gift

Several years ago, I was working with other women at my church on the organization of a craft fair. During that time, the granddaughter of one of the women was diagnosed with Leukemia. She was only about 10 years old, my daughter was about that same age, so this really struck close to home. My heart ached for the grandmother, and for the entire family. Her granddaughter’s name was Kailie, and after the craft fair was over, I wanted to send her a special gift. I also wrote a poem that I wanted her to have, so Kailie's Angel Bear was born. Since then, many people have purchased Kailie’s Angel Bear as a way to send a message of caring to someone who needed to know they were thought of and prayed for.

I love being able to dress a bear in satin and trims,combine that with a poem the Lord gave to me, and add personalization to it as well. If you’d like to see just how this bear gift comes about from the beginning of a “naked” bear, to the finished product, check out my progression page here.

Angel Teddy Bear Gift - Special Gift in Time of Need

Pearl Angel Teddy Bear Gift Set

In April of 2003, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Scary stuff for sure.  Seven years later, I'm still here, feeling good, considered free and clear of the nasties.  That didn't happen overnight, and I didn't do it on my own.  Many skilled medical personnel were involved, and over all of them, God did His work, choosing to heal me and give me more time with my family.  And there were many friends who prayed for me, provided food and rides, picked up my young kids at school, etc.  I would never have made it through without all of those factors.  Out of that time was born an angel bear.  Her name is Pearl and she is dressed in pink satin with pearls at her neck, in honor of those women with breast cancer.  I wrote a poem that comes with the angel bear, which was written from the perspective of the friend who walks beside the woman going through breast cancer.  It is a gift that I believe would be cherished by someone who needed to know that a friend was there for them at time when they needed them most.  If you think Pearl would make a special gift for someone, you can read more about her and order her here: http://www.bearfamilygifts.com/pearl.html

You can read more about my breast cancer story here: http://www.bearfamilygifts.com/breast-cancer-story.html

Fall in Love with a Teddy Bear this Fall

It's September, school has been in session for us about 2 1/2 weeks, we are settling into our school time routine. The marching band has been practicing, getting ready for their contests in October, and football, well, football has been going on since the end of school. That's how football works here in Olathe, the home of the Kansas 6A High School Football Champs of 2009. My youngest son is now part of the football world, where you practice for a few hours after school, and in his case, play 2 games a week, and must be ready to play in a 3rd game each week. It's a lot of hard work, lots of sweat (lots of laundry!), and lots of time for me sitting in the stands. I love football, though, so I really don't have a problem attending all of his games that I possibly can. There is nothing better than a Friday night at the football stadium, with just a little fall chill in the air, watching my oldest son in the marching band doing trombone suicides, and my youngest son waiting on the sidelines until his name is called to play. I am a happy camper in the crazy world of high school Friday night football.

Now, you may ask, what does all of this have to do with teddy bears? Well, not a lot, that's just a peek into my world as mom. Many of my teddy bear arrangements come from living in my mom world, and in the weeks to come I'm going to introduce you to some bears that have come along because of things that happen in my world.

Back to football for a moment, I have several Sporting Bears to choose from, most are personalized with name and number, using actual uniform colors as best we can. This is our Football Bear, complete with football and helmet. Have this bear personalized with your son's number on the front and back, name on the back. We can also put smaller numbers on the shoulders/sleeves.

Teddy Bears ready for Spring!

Is spring finally in the air? My teddy bears hope so! They are yawning and stretching, waking up from their winter nap and are ready to be dressed and sent out to do their gifting job. It's a job that they are very good at, just ask them!

Here are some of their favorite spring time gifts.

Graduation Teddy Bears

We offer a variety of graduation bears with choices of robe and tassel color, personalized heart pillow with name and date or other message, also specialized robes with hoods and berets or tams.

Mother's Day Teddy Bears

This is a very cute family of bears that would make a great gift for Mom. We can represent up to 4 generations of the family, all come with name tags. There is a variety of teddy bears to choose from for Mom, or talk to us about a custom bear for your special Mom.

Teacher's Appreciation Gifts

The Teacher Angel Bear pictured would make really nice gift for a teacher who has made a big difference in the life of your child. We have other bears to offer as well, including a Music Teacher Bear. We are open to ideas for other specific areas of education and would be happy to work with you on a gift for a history teacher, science teacher, English teacher, etc.

Easter Bunnies and Teddy Bears

These cute bunnies area dressed up for spring and would make a very nice addition to your Easter and springtime decor. We also have some bears dressed up as bunnies, as well as more bunny gift and decor ideas.

Wedding Bears and Bunnies

If you are in need of a wedding gift, we have some great teddy bears and bunnies that can be personalized with names and date, or just dressed for the occasion. We also have some bears that would be perfect bridal shower centerpieces.

A Teddy Bear for All Holidays

There are several holidays coming up in the next few months. I have teddy bears (and/or bunnies) for all of the major holidays. They can be used as decoration in the home, or as gifts (for all folks 13 or over). You will find links to each of my holiday and gift pages below. Please check them out, you might be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

Even though Valentine's Day is over, I have put all items back on the Valentine's page so that they are available for purchase. Also, I have changed the Sweet Deals page, so you might want to check that out.

Now, for the upcoming holidays. If you like to decorate for St. Patrick's Day, or would like to send a gift to someone who celebrates St. Patrick's Day, I have a few styles of bears designed for the holiday. Some wear vests, others wear sweaters. Some come with shamrocks, some come with the Irish flag. All are dressed appropriately for the holiday.

Easter is on April 4th this year. Again, I have some gift and decorative items in both bunnies and bears. I have bunny ornaments and just cute bunnies dressed for spring. I have teddy bears in easter sweaters, and one in bunny ears! Besides an Easter bunny angel, I also have a lamb angel. I am offering a 25% discount for any item ordered on the Easter page if ordered by March 15th. The coupon code is "bunny".

Jumping to May, I have Teacher's Gifts, Graduation Gifts, and Mother's Day Gifts. It's not too early to start ordering these, particularly the graduation gifts. I hope to have a couple of new products for Graduation coming out in March.

Spring and summer weddings are just around the corner.........

Black Friday Shopping Deals!!

It's almost time for some Christmas shopping adventures! If you shop online, I'm sure you know that Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is a great time to find sales. You don't have to fight the crowds and you can get some great deals, what could be better? To help you find those great deals as well as find some great Christmas gifts (on sale or not), I am posting some sites to visit.

Black Friday coupons from small businesses:
http://www.mypreciouskid.com/black-friday.html

Unique Crafters Club Christmas Fair:
http://www.uniquecrafters.net/craftfair.html

Another site with Black Friday coupons:
http://www.sandists.com/black-friday.shtml

Coupons and deals: http://www.godeals.com/

Bigger stores or well known stores:
http://www.black-friday.net/

My Black Friday special is 29% off any order. This runs from November
27th thru the 30th. Use code "29" to get your discount:
http://www.bearfamilygifts.com/

Do you have pets or pet lovers on your Christmas list? Check out Vir-Chew-All Enterprizez! They have a variety of fun items for your dogs and cats, grooming accessories, treats, and more. Barb also offers some wonderful items for pet lovers, like tote bags, visors, and greeting cards just to name a few. Barb has been in business since 1996 and is dedicated to delivering only the finest products for your beloved cats and dogs. http://www.vir-chew-all.com/

My deadline for Christmas orders is now set at December 1st. I'm offering some great coupon opportunities, and ordering early using those coupons is the best way to get what you want when you want it. You will find lots of gift ideas on my Christmas Gift Ideas page. Custom orders are always welcome and make great Christmas gifts, but they do take more time. If you're thinking "custom" this Christmas, let's start talking soon! You can contact me through the form on my site, that is the best way to get in touch with me. Click here to e-mail me.

Still lots to choose from on my Sample Sale page. Some of these samples are priced at 40% to 50% off the retail price. It's a great opportunity to try one of my bears (or bunnies) and see if you like them for further purchases if you have not purchased any yet. Use code "twit" to get an additional 15% off these already discounted prices. These sweet teddy bears (and bunnies) are in need of a new home.

Coupons for Christmas Shopping!

It's been a beautiful November so far in Kansas. We're not used to 70 degrees in November, but then we weren't used to 30 degrees in October either! Maybe it all balances out in the end.

I know it's not Thanksgiving yet, but I do have to slip in a few things about Christmas shopping. My deadline for Christmas orders is now set at December 1st. I'm offering some great coupon opportunities,and ordering early using those coupons is the best way to get what you want when you want it. You will find lots of gift ideas on my Christmas Gift Ideas page. Custom orders are always welcome and make great Christmas gifts, but they do take more time. If you're thinking "custom" this Christmas, let's start talking soon! You can contact me through the form on my site, that is the best way to get in touch with me. Click here to e-mail me.

Still lots to choose from on my Sample Sale page. Some of these samples are priced at 40% to 50% off the retail price. It's a great opportunity to try one of my bears (or bunnies) and see if you like them for further purchases if you have not purchased any yet. Use code "twit" to get an additional 15% off these already discounted prices. These sweet teddy bears (and bunnies) are in need of a new home. Much too crowded around here, they can't get the special attention they deserve!!

I also have a coupon listed on this page,

http://www.mypreciouskid.com/black-friday.html , along with
other small businesses that are offering Black Friday Specials. (the day after Thanksgiving, in case you are not familiar with that term).

Another website listing some sales, as well as my own is
Unique Crafters Club Christmas Fair:

http://www.uniquecrafters.net/craftfair.html

So,arm yourselves with some fantastic coupons and enjoy shopping this Christmas season!

Fall Back Sale Continued

I have decided to continue the Fall Back Sale for awhile. That means you can order anything on my site, including my samples (that are already deeply discounted) at 15% off. See coupon code below.


This is a GREAT opportunity to try one of my teddy bear gifts for your holiday decor, or Christmas gifts, and see how you like it.


COUPON CODE: use "twit" in the text box in my shopping cart.


Start Shopping Now


Sample Sale Page


Christmas Gift Ideas


Holiday Teddy Bear Decor

Ordering DEADLINES:

For Thanksgiving and Fall Decor, order by November 15th to receive before Thanksgiving.

For Christmas gifts and decor, order by December 1st.

FALL Back Sale - 15% Off Anything!

In honor of getting an extra hour of sleep this Sunday, I am offering a sale (any reason for a sale, right!) From now thru midnight October 31st, you can take 15% off any product on my site. This would be a great time to start Christmas shopping, or purchase for any other gifting need you have. Or maybe this is an opportunity to buy something for yourself. I am including my samples in this discount, so this is an excellent time to try one of my bears if you haven't already.To get the discount, use code "qflea" in the shopping cart (discount voucher box) and 15% will be taken off the price of the products.

Click Here to Start Shopping Now!

Pretty In Pink and SOS

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am making a donation to the American Cancer Society of 20% of the purchase price of any bear from my Pretty in Pink Bears page, or any bear (or bunny) dressed in pink, from now through October 22nd.













Columbus Day Sale - SOS! Selling Our Samples alert!
Go to the sample sale page and order any item shown on that page on October 12th, and take an additional 10% off the already discounted prices.
To get the additional 10% off, use code "tenoff" in the voucher box on the shopping cart screen. This is a great opportunity to try one of my teddy bears and see if you'd like to order more in the future for your gift giving occasions.

Pretty in Pink newsletter

This week's newsletter is online. Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am featuring my Pretty in Pink Bears


Read Newsletter

New Items, New Sale Page

The first day of October already! The fall colors, the fall weather, a wonderful time of year!! I always think of fall as a time when families gather together more because the weather is cooler and it's more comfortable inside. It is one of the reasons why I
like this time of year the best.

Lots of holidays to look forward to, and we have teddy bears for most of them. We still have time to order for Bosses' Day on October 16th. There are only 85 days until Christmas, and only about 60 shopping days on my website until the Christmas cut off.

What's New on my Site:

I've added two more new items since my last blog post. I think you'll like them! The Harvest Angel Bear displays the beautiful colors of fall and would look great on your mantle with other fall decorations. The Tennis Bear is another in the cute sporting bears. We do our best to make the teddy bear's uniform as much like the uniform of the recipient as possible. It is challenging and fun!
I've also added a Sample Sale page to my site. This will be where I offer my samples at discounted prices. There will only be one of each item available at these prices. This will give you a great opportunity to sample one of my teddy bear gifts at a low price. Try one, and you just might like to try some more!

Happy Fall and What's New

Happy Fall!! I really love this time of year, a little cooler, full of beautiful colors, and my favorite holidays getting closer.

What's New on my Site:
I've made several changes, lately, so there is quite a bit new on my site this week. First, I added two products to the Clearance page as a Sample Sale. These were the samples I made to take a picture and add to my site. I will still be selling these products in the future , but I am offering these samples at a discounted price. I have one of each available. Then, I added two new products, the Paramedic Bear, and the Teacher Angel Bear. I have many more angels to come in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. One angel will be Harvest Angel, her dress will show off all of those rich colors of fall.

As I was looking through my category pages, some of them looked, quite frankly, like a jumbled mess. So I reorganized 3 of my category pages. I hope this makes items on those pages easier to find. I have a few more to do, but these were what I deemed the messiest. The newly organized category pages are: Professional Bears, Wedding Bears, and Angel Bears . Take a look and see if there are any bears there you hadn't noticed before, simply because of placement. I have to admit, I found a few I had forgotten about.


When you have a website, the most difficult and important thing is making sure people can find your products. Some websites have a search/find feature, but I've never really known how to install that on my site. So I try to organize my products into categories that I think people would look for, and now I am organizing within the categories for the same purpose. Think of it like the aisles in a grocery store where they have the signs hanging above the aisles so you have an idea where to start looking for what you want. Some stores also have smaller flag signs within the aisle, further tagging the different groupings. That is what I am trying to do. I'd love to know if you think it is helpful or not.

I strive always to make my site easy to navigate and understandable in description. Should you ever have any problems finding anything, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help you.

Teddy Bears and Holidays - A Perfect Match

Teddy bears make great gifts or decor items for many holidays throughout the year. Here are just a few appropriate teddy bears that we offer for some upcoming holidays.


Trick or Treat Bear



Holiday Sweater Bear



Scarecrow Bear



Christmas Ornaments



Christmas Teddy Bears

All of our holiday teddy bears can be found at Holiday Teddy Bears and Bunnies

Featured Product - New Easter Bunny Arrangements

Just in time for Easter gift giving or decorating your home, I offer these two new Easter Bunny arrangements. Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny are dressed in shades of purple, which goes really well with their pink noses and undersides of their ears. Mr. Bunny holds a carrot, Mrs. Bunny has a pail of Easter eggs, probably in readiness for the Easter egg hunt with all the little neighborhood bunnies! I also have bunny ornaments for an Easter tree. I have dressed them in shades of purple as well, but could be dressed in other colors. The male holds a small carrot, the female an Easter egg. See all of my Easter products on my website, including some teddy bears dressed for Easter. Last date to order for Easter is April 3rd. Easter is April 12th.

Featured New Product - Good Patient Bear

Good Patient Bear is one of our newer products, and has already become a popular way to send "Get Well" greetings. The teddy bear comes dressed in a hospital gown (shown in blue, but can be done in other colors as well) and you can choose some different options. One of the cute features of this bear is the "open air" back to the hospital gown. If you've been in the hospital, you know about dealing with that gown that doesn't quite meet in the back. Some of the options include an eye patch, crutch, knee or arm wrap, slippers, and the personalized ID bracelet. You can see pictures of these options on the Good Patient Bear options page.