Since my oldest is just shy of 4 1/2, and since she absolutely adores stuffed animals (which we call loveys), I’ve been thinking that the time has arrived for us to get our first introduction to Build-a-Bear. The folks there treated us to the Build-a-Bear experience, and I wanted to show those of you who have never been exactly what it is like (because if you are like me, you are curious!).
When you arrive at Build-a-Bear, you are greeted with an entire wall of plush figures, just waiting to be stuffed. They come in a variety of price points, which I noticed ran from $16-$25. They do also have smaller plush animals that are already stuffed for $10, just fyi.
Darah picked a pink elephant and Layah chose a lion. Then we headed over to the stuffing section, and Darah got to press on the peddle while the sales associate stuffed each creature and chatted with the girls. I couldn’t help but notice how great the associates at the Chattanooga location were with kids!
After you get your animal stuffed, and before it is sewn up, you get to place a heart inside of it. This was a very sweet moment, and Layah really got into it!
Once the stuffed animals are all sewn up, it is time to take a bath (which is really just blasts of air). There are brushes available for making your lovey look nice and clean.
And now that your stuffed animal is created and clean, it is time to get dressed! This is a VERY fun part of the experience, but let me give a gentle warning to parents that this is also the part of the experience that can get quite pricey. You don’t have to pick out an outfit at all if you don’t want, but the choices are really hard to resist.
We took Layah’s lovey, which she named Rawr, over to the “dressing room” and tried out an outrageous number. It was a hit!
Darah found a Valentine outfit for her elephant (which she also named Valentine). And she also carefully selected a pair of shoes. High heels! 🙂
And no outfit is complete without some adorable hair bows. Valentine even got a hair bow on her tail! Rawr couldn’t be left out of the hair bow fest, either.
Build-A-Bear strikes me as an absolutely PERFECT place for a grandparent to take a grandchild for an extra special date, or for any other special occasion that warrants a celebration. What I really liked about the concept, though, is that children are encouraged to bring their loveys back into the store. They are welcome to give them baths again, and to check out all the great new accessories. They can even play dress up with their animals there, and they aren’t under any obligation to make another purchase. After all, we go to the mall and try on clothes, why shouldn’t our Build-A-Bears? 🙂
And while dressing your animal from head to toe can add up, you can also spread out those purchases over time. Perhaps you buy a tutu on one visit, and a pair of shoes on the next, and build up a wardrobe slowly. The creatures are so lovely on their own that even without their costumes, they are completely lovable.
But then again, this really is pretty cute, huh?
Win it!: I’ve got a $25 gift certificate to Build-A-Bear for one lucky reader! Woo hoo!
Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.
I love the “17 in. Tons of Love Elephant”… It’d be so cute for my daughter Ellie.
My niece would love the 18 in. Pink Hearts Hello Kitty®.
Thanks for the contest.
My daughter would flip over the winter white polar bear! Fits the season, too.
I really like the 18 in. Razzy Berry Kitty
i love the 17 in. Tons of Love Elephant
I would go with cheerful monkey.
15 in. MY LITTLE PONY FLUTTERSHY
I love build a bear. We made a pirate dog last time.
Probably the Red fox
I really love the 15 in. Hugs-A-Plenty Puppy!
i like the 15 in. Red Fox
Sparkles bunny for my daughter!
I like the red fox!
I would like the Lil’ Green Frog Baby Buddy.
i would like the snow leopard bear
We like the Pink Hearts Hello Kitty, it’s so cute! We also like the Sunshine Hello Kitty~! 🙂
I like Pinkie Pie!
I like the 16 inch Midnight Teddy
Tropicolor Teddy!
I like the 16 in. Big Top Bearemy® stuffed animal. thank you!!
I like the Hello Kitty with the hearts for my daughter!
I love the 18 in. Pink Hearts Hello Kitty for my daughter.
I like the 17 in. Tons of Love Elephant, my 2 1/2 year loves to make an elephant noise but we don’t have any elephant toys. She would love this one.
18 in. Pink Hearts Hello Kitty
My daughter would love the Hello Kitty heart!
I like the Girl Scouts Thin Mints bear!
I love the tons of love elephant
We love Fluttershy in our house!
The Pink Hearts Hello Kitty
My daughter would love the hello kitty!
I like the My Little Pony Rainbow Dash.
my daughter would love the 15 in. Hugs-A-Plenty Puppy
I would love to get the tons of love elephant for my granddaughter’s.
She would love All Heart Pawlette
I like the Pink Hearts Hello Kitty for my granddaughter.
My grandson would like the 18 in. Cheerful Monkey.
16 in. MY LITTLE PONY RAINBOW DASH®
My girls would love the 16 in. MY LITTLE PONY PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE®. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway!
We have a naked build a bear right now that could use a wardrobes:)
Fluttershy!!
We would probably chose the 18 in. Cheerful Monkey! He loves Monkey’s a lot!!
pattifritz2000 at yahoo dot com
thank you
Oh I really love the 16 in. Cele-BEAR-ation Teddy!!!
I love the Rainbow Dash My Little Pony for my daughter! thanks!
smallfrys XOXO Kitty
I love the My Little Pony Rainbow Dash.
jtmagmom73(at)gmail(dot)com
I like the 18 in. Cheerful Monkey. What a cute face!
Thank you!
I actually browsed through all of the pages looking! I think I just like the Happy Hugs Classic!
My daughter would Love a hello Kitty one
I like Merry Mouse.
So many to choose from, but always like the Happy Hugs Classic Teddy Bear.
I like the Sweet As Can Be Pink Hearts Hello Kitty
I like the 15 inch Winter White Polar Bear.
My daughter would love the 16″ Elephant! Cute!
coriwestphal at msn dot com
i would chose the pink hearts hello kitty plush
I absolutely love the pink hearts hello kitty build a bear the best.
My daughter would love the My Little Pony Shutterfly!
Love the 18 in. Pink Hearts Hello Kitty®
I would say either the frog or the hippo. James doesn’t have a hippo yet and he LOVEs frogs 🙂
I like the Pink Hearts Hello Kitty!
I think my daughter would seriously love the Tons of Fun elephant! Or maybe even Fluttershy from My Little Pony!
I love the 15in Red Fox!
demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com
I do like this beautiful black bear – 16 in. Midnight Teddy = He is so pretty and classic
I like the 15 in. Lil’ Bunny Big Ears
I like the Huge Hearted Lion.
18 in. Pink Hearts Hello Kitty®
I LOVE both of the girl scout themed bears, but I think the coconut caramel one is my favorite.
My daughter would love the My Little Pony Shutterfly.
I like the Pink Hearts Hello Kitty
My youngest would love the sparkles bunny
My kids would love spongebob
Our current favorite is MY LITTLE PONY FLUTTERSHY®
I like 17 in. Big Hearts Bear, perfect for Valentine’s Day.
I like the pink hearts hello kitty
I like the 15 in. Girl Scouts Coconut Caramel Bear.
Looks like they had a blast! I’ve always been kind of curious about Build A Bear. I think it’s neat that they extended their line with clothing for the animals. Pretty smart! I think the snow leopard is adorable. The sea otter, too!
Pink Hearts Hello Kitty would be a nice addition to our Hello Kitty Collection
i love Snowy Sparkles Bunny, it’s so cute.
I like the All Heart Pawlette Coufur. Thanks for the chance to win!
mrsmchappell at gmail dot com
My daughter would love the Pink Hearts Hello Kitty! Thanks for the chance to win!
I love the “Tons of Love Elephant” but I don’t think my boy would like that one 😉 He would probably choose the White Tiger or Red Fox.