Tuesday 18 December 2012

Bringing Bears To Life at Build-A-Bear Workshop ...


One of the earliest toys i can ever remember owning was a soft white bunny with a blue tummy and beans in the bum, he was only small but then again so was i. I think it was a birth present and i remember it being with me in many of the newborn photo's that my mom had around the house. Sadly i haven't spoken to my mom for many years, i would have loved to have been able to add one of the photo's to the post. There's something really magical about cuddly toys, their your night time protectors watching over you when your at your most Vulnerable and during your most intimate times.


Yesterday we took the boys to our local Build-a-bear workshop to make a bear each, we had told them a few days before so they were very excited. Opeie's a bit to young to understand fully but the word 'Bear' gets him pretty excited none the less. If you remember my posts earlier in the year about buying the 'Hulk bear' and then 'Losing the Hulk bear' then you'll know we have been there before but Opeie's a little older now and more inclined to make his own choices.

The boys had a great experience and i was excited about writing the post but Seth made it quite clear that he was going to write about his experience and if I'm honest i love hearing Seth's take on things.

First though we had to put on our name badges (In great Pauly style i lost mine though, typical)

So here's Seth in his own words...


"Yesterday we went to build-a-bear, i was really excited when i came out of school . I wanted to make a bear with fun trousers. So when we went, there was a very nice man his name was Chris...


  he had glasses and a beard. He told us what to do. Erm.... First i had to help Laura...


 ...to put the fluff in the machine it was good, it was like... I'll show you (Seth then proceeded to stand against the wall acting out what he did which was funny because i was there and saw it anyway, whenever Seth is dictating a post its like he's telling you guys directly, hence the theatrical demonstration). There's like a vaccuum on the side and it just sucks it up.


We chose a bear each, mine had stars on, i picked that one because i really liked it. Opeie picked a rainbow bear. Then we looked at the sounds, i liked the laughing one but i chose to record my own because you can do that. So then i recorded my own, my bear says 'i wish you a merry Christmas'. Opeie didn't have a voice in his he had a beating heart instead. 


Then we filled our bears with fluff, i put my foot on the pedal to make the fluff come out. Opeie didn't like the noise the machine made and he was crying.
 

Then we picked a heart, mine was red and Chris told me to make a wish. What did you wish for Seth? I'm not telling you because it wont come true. Then we stitched him up and i went to the fluffer to make my bear really soft. (I really wish at the time i had filmed seth doing this, he really got in to it and was very loving making his bear extra fluffy) What was the man's name that helped you Seth? Sam, his names Samuel but he doesn't like being called that, he just likes Sam. I wanted to make my bear really really fluffy. (I must point out that being the old timer that i am by the time i had got home i had forgotten both Laura' and Sam's names, my memory isn't what it used to be but luckily i have Seth at hand to fill in the gaps).


Then we picked some clothes, i picked Obi-Wan Kenobi, they did have Batman but i wanted to take a little break from Batman. Chris dressed the bear and put Jedi boots on him and a light saber. My bear looked really cool. Opeie chose a Spider-man costume, i wasn't shocked because he always chooses spider-man for everything. 


Then we made the birth certificate, i had to sit on a giant spring to use the computer and it wobbled. I called the bear 'furry-one kenobi' and i called Opeie's 'the amazing spider-bear' it only just fit on the certificate. Then when we finished it came out of the printer.


Furry-one was put into a box that looked like a gingerbread house and it was designed to colour in (i love how he remembered Chris saying that) which i will do with Opeie tomorrow. 


I had lots of fun at build a bear. When we got home and i went to bed i tucked my bear in and cuddled him then i went to sleep. He got hot in the night and i had to take his hood down and give him a drink of water but then he slept ok. But his cape fell off, i think he took it off in the night while i was sleeping. When i woke up i found out that the lightsaber makes a noise. I wish i could take my bear to school and show William but i will show him when i go to Tae kwon do next."



Very well put by Seth i think. We did have a great time apart from Opeie getting a bit upset but he's not been to well the past few days so it was understandable. The boys came home in high spirits and both boys were being very cute with their bears. Seth, as he said earlier took time making sure his bear was comfortable in bed and Opeie had some vapour rub on his chest as he is poorly and decided that his bear needed some too....


And tonight Opeie fell asleep on the sofa giving him a nice big cuddle...



The thing i found most interesting about the trip is that  each bear can in theory be tracked. If you were to lose the bear and it be handed in they can bring up your details from the bear and get it returned back to you (if only that had happened to Hulk bear). I think its nice to know that there are kind people out there that would return a child's toy.

The build-a-bear experience was great, Everything was explained clearly by the staff and they were 3 lovely people, friendly, smiley and eager to put a smile on a child's face.  We all really enjoyed it, although i think Seth is secretly kicking himself after he noticed that the bear Tae kwon do costume comes with a selection of different coloured belts i think if he had realised that when picking an outfit Obi-Wan wouldn't have got a look in. A trip to build-a-bear isn't just shopping for a cuddly toy it's an experience, a chance to bring your new friend to life and it's very exciting, If you haven't taken your children yet then i would strongly recommend it. Seth has really connected with his bear which he hasnt done with a toy for a while, its very cute to watch him taking care of Obi-one.

Thanks Chris, Laura and Sam for a fun hour or so it certainly entertained the boys and they love their new friends and clearly they will be well protected at night.

Now it's time for this furry bear to get himself to sleep. Goodnight.

 

60 comments:

Leona said...

Wow that is brilliant ! I'd love to take my girls there ! I wonder where our nearest one is in Ireland ? Amazing !!!!

LOTTIE said...

LOVE THIS! WELL DONE SETH :)

Anonymous said...

seth i want a star wars bear dont think it will be as good as yours tho :)

Alice, Elliott and Sam said...

Seth your posts are always the best but shhhh dont tell Pauly because he might cty x x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

think I might start marking your comments as spam young lady!!!

Karen said...

LOVELY Blog Seth, how well written and informative. I am going to take my boys to Build-a-bear this weekend now i've seen this ! Well done on your writing skills too young man. Well done!!! :) Karen.

Joanna said...

Well done seth. What a lovely Blog post. I will be taking Isla and Jessie next time we are near Build A Bear, they like the look of the Hello Kitty on the website. x

John said...

That is great seth! I wish i had a bear as funky and swish as that! I will take my nephew next time he comes to stay! awesome!!!!

Helen and Josh said...

Well done seth bear, you would look good in some of those dressing up costumes, as i can tell you like dressing up with Pauly!

Chris said...

Seth, you'd written a brilliant post today - one of my favourites so far. Love to read about your adventures and it sounds like you had a brilliant time!

SarahSav said...

Thanks for the review Seth! You have solved the issue I had what to get my son for his birthday (3 days after Christmas!) You are most awesome. x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

awwww... thank you i will let Seth know. he seems to be quite popular tonight maybe i should get him to write all of the posts. thanks for reading. x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

thanks Chris, we can always rely on you to be reading. ill try and get seth writing some more over the christmas holidays x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

thank you, i do love a good costume. we were talking in the car before and seth wants us t make our own batman costumes over the holiday so pop back fro a read to see how much mess weve made. hope you have a lovely christmas x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

thanks for reading. if you do take your nephew send us a photo and we will put you on here. hope you have a fun christmas x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

thank you for reading, the hello kitty ones are cute. we wish they had miffy. if you do take your daughters send us a picture and we will put them on here. enjoy your christmas festivities xx

GiftsFromThePirates said...

Seth said thank you very much, he also said 'can i go with them' i think he's got the build-a-bear bug. thanks for reading xx

GiftsFromThePirates said...

im quite sure they are dotted all over the place. it really was a lot of fun for all of us. thanks for reading and i really hope you have a lovely christmas xx

Anonymous said...

I love this! It's so nice to hear of families being kind to each other and Dad's being involved with their children. Well done to you all. I will be taking my grandbabies to build a bear next time they are here from London. Thora

William said...

I love the photos! What camera do you use? x

Lego Lover UK said...

I love those bears they are so cool! I WONDER if they will do a minifigure bear with lego? That'd be cool.

GiftsFromThePirates said...

that's so kind of you to say, i love my boys more than anything and we have so much fun together. thanks for reading and enjoy your visit to build-a-bear if you go xx

GiftsFromThePirates said...

Hi there thanks for reading, the camera is a Nikon D40 were actually looking to get a new one as its quite old now. does take some pretty good pictures though. cheers x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

that would be great ive never looked for one. you can get a mini bear with the pyjama mini figure from a few series ago. thanks for reading. x

Anonymous said...

A big fan of build a bear here too. A beautifully written post. Thanks for sharing x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

Thank you i will pass the kind words on to Seth. hope you have a great Christmas and thank you for reading x

Lego Lover UK said...

That sounds really cool .

Maria said...

I love build a bear ! Have you got any of the Christmas or Disney bears ? When I was little living in Ohio we had a bear shop run by a old couple who cut the fabric & stitch it overnight & then let you go & StuffIt the next day , it was so special to me . Now I live in Kent uk this would be a great place to take my baby girl when she's born in April to get her first bear , thanks for sharing , I found you from Nuby Facebook . Maria x

Maria said...

Oh also have you ever been to America ? They have cool build a bear shops there with a lot of marvel
Comics bears ! Maria x

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed reading your blog Seth and your bear looks fab. Well done you x x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

wow the shop in ohio sounds amazing. do you still have the bear? congratulations on the up coming birth of your daughter, i bet your so excited. we would love a little girl. thank you for reading x x x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

we went to florida in march but we didnt see any build a bears? were planning to get married out there in the next few years so we will definitely go looking for one xxx

GiftsFromThePirates said...

thank you for reading, seth has been quite excited with all the lovely comments. just the motivation he needs to write more. x

Gwen said...

Thank you for telling me all about Build a Bear, Seth. It sounds like such a fun place for children AND grown ups! You explained how you make a bear very well so I will have some idea what to do if I am ever lucky enough to go there. I have two boys. One is called Seth like you! I'm sure my Seth would love to build a bear as he loves cuddly toys. Perhaps I will take him for a treat when it's his Birthday in April. He has a little brother called Noah who is the same age as your little brother, Opeie. I'm sure Noah would love to build a bear too. Thanks for letting us know about how fun it is so that we can share the fun and excitement! Have a lovely Christmas with your family :0)

GiftsFromThePirates said...

Thank you for a lovely message Gwen! I'm sure your Seth & Noah would love the build-a-bear experience, it is very fun!

Seth enjoyed reading your comment! Thank you! xxxx

Sammy said...

That is so informative Seth , love reading your blog, Love Sammy x

Karen oldburys said...

Rhys s great experience off you as a family ! I am going to have to visit this shop ! How adorable are those bears ! My twins would love one !

GiftsFromThePirates said...

thank you for reading, seth really enjoyed his visit. x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

glad you enjoyed the post as Seth enjoyed writing it. the bears are lovely and the boys are both very attatched to them. thanks for reading x

Lottie said...

Love the Disney outfits ! They look very cool ! :)

katie said...

Just wanted to say thank you for posting this , I took my twins to spend their Christmas money this week at Build-a-bear and boy was it good fun! I really loved the way the staff go above and beyond to try and make the 'experience' amazing. We went to the one in London and it was so worth the trip out.

We made a Woody ( from Toystory) and a Hello Kitty for my sons... they loved it so much and i would never have gone had I not read it on your blog....

Thanks so much little pirates. We had a great time and have booked their birthday party there! :) I will let you know how it goes! I think my boys are most excited about getting stickers with their names on most of all, where as I'm most excited about making a princess bear for my niece who is coming to the party.... x Katie. x

MerrySwedePrints said...

I really love the way Seth described everything so throughly! Well done seth! I really want to go to Build-A-Bear now i've read this. I wonder if they do Miffy teddies? x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

If they did we havent noticed them, we would be straight on that. big miffy fans in this house x

Shona said...

Thanks for posting this, I took my 4 children to make bears this weekend. lots of fun!!!!! Thanks for letting me know about the build a bear shop because i didn't know about them living in the highlands! x

Lisa @ cornwall UK said...

We love your blog and we love bears, so we went to build a bear!!!! OH MY GOODNESS They have so much cute stuff!!!! It's like a childrens dream in a store!!! Thanks for sharing, so glad i read it as i wouldn't have thought about going. Lisa.

GiftsFromThePirates said...

glad you guys had a fun time, i think i'll be going back soon as Seth really wants the tae kwon do out fit for his bear. thanks for reading x

GiftsFromThePirates said...

Hi Lisa, really glad you all had a great time. It really is a magical place for children. I love reading that people enjoy the blog and thank you so much for the comment x

Jessica. said...

Thanks for posting this, I read it before Christmas, and today we visited the store in Birmingham and made 3 bears!!! SO MUCH FUN!!!!! :) Thanks pirate people.

GiftsFromThePirates said...

Thanks Jessica, how did you guys dress your bears? im glad reading our post spurred you on thats always nice to hear. thanks for reading xx

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