Cool Weather, Think Holidays

Cool fall weather is so refreshing after a long summer.  It is time to think about the holidays and perhaps you can solve two problems at once.
As you shift clothing in your closets, what IS that bag on the top shelf?  Grandma's hand knit afghan you treasure but don't use because something might happen to it?  Why not have it turned into a bear you CAN display?  This might be just the solution for family gifts this year also.  One or more items turned into one or more memory bears for those who will treasure them the most.  You can't find anything this perfect in your local store.  Bellybutton Bears

Repost from 2008 - Oregon Trail story available now!

How DID they get their bellybutton?

I'm talking about Bellybutton Bears and their bellybutton. Yes, every single bear that I make has a bellybutton. Even if they have a shirt or something else on, take a peak. There is a bellybutton! First, it sounded cute. Second, it looked cute. Then I wrote a story about how the first one got it's bellybutton. "The Bellybutton Legend" is an original story that I wrote, print and bind. In the works is a series of Bellybutton Bear stories, following them through history. All stories will be 'family safe'. Email [bellybuttonbears@charter.net] to find out how to get a copy of the Original legend AND the Oregon Trail story.
Some folks, when ordering a bear, send their own buttons for eyes and bellybuttons. However, if they do not, I have pounds which I go through until I find just the right ones for each individual bear. Sometimes it takes quite a while, because...they have to fit the bear, the personality, the feeling I have gotten from communicating with the customer.
So there you are - you still don't know how they got their bellybutton do you? hmmmm......

We create bear droppings!!!

at Bellybutton Bears we do more than bears. We create bear droppings!!! Just ask my husband. They end up from one end of the house to the other when I am creating. Just bits of fabric trim, stuffing, loose threads etc but some have been mistaken for caterpillars, worms, scat, spiders etc.
On a more serious note, a related craft is hand-bound books. These are constructed from mat-weight 'boards', covered with fabric and a combination of gluing [two different kinds] and stitching depending on the size of the book. The content part is printed on my computer, and yes I write them as well. If there is a delay in one department, I have only myself to yell at!

Questions folks have asked:

Can we put hair on a bear? If it is real hair, no but we can put a lock in a netting heart on the chest so it can be seen but not lost.
ANY small trinket can also be placed in a heart on the chest or elsewhere.
ANY small trinket or packet of ashes can be placed inside the bear.

Back to hair, if you want dreads on your bear, we can do that! Granddaughter and I experimented last summer. This was a Bob Marley bear for a very special gift.

You have a bear and would like a memory vest for it? Yes!
You only have a small amount of material and need something to coordinate? Yes!

Just ask, because we usually have an answer to make YOUR memories whole.