Yesterday I announced that I would be providing a shopping guide for kid's products hand-made by artists, independent designers, small companies and individual craft folks right here in the good ol' USA (and Canada). I don't mean to slight you folks from other parts of the world, these are just the only products I have encountered here in San Francisco.

Today's focus: Stuffed Creatures

Why give your kids the standard Gund-ish stuffed animals or boring Disney characters that every kid on the block has, when you could get them a menagerie of weird stuffed creatures so unusual they'd make the stuffed beasts in Ted Nugent's living room seem downright passé? These plush creatures may be a little more expensive than most mass-produced stuffed animals, but they are hand-made with love and the money you spend actually goes to the person who makes them:

• Teetreesworld (San Francisco)

• Shawnimals (Illinois);

• BiggerCritters (Santa Monica, California);

• Blobbies (Nebrasksa);
• LuDoo Dolls;
• Stupid Creatures (North Carolina: probably the best and most diverse selection of sock creatures in the world; does custom work as well);
• Spasmodica (Chicago, Illinois);
• Sewing Stars (Providence, Rhode Island);
• Toys by Veta (San Francisco);
• Amy Rue's Lumplings;
• Jenny Harada's Stuffed Creatures (Ohio);
• Pepperberry Crochet (Salem, Massachusetts);
• CuriousCreature (Emeryville, California);
• Cuddly Rigor Mortis (New Jersey);
• FunFun (Oakland, California);
• Oddbabies (Chicago);
• Lil' Guys by Small Frye (Seattle, Washington);
• Natalie van Ewert's Whimsyworks;
• CutieCooties (Chicago);
• Longoland; 
• Funkstart (Chicago: the skeleton is cool);
• Moncalin (Los Angeles: I'm not sure if these are hand-made)
• Heyday Fashion;
• Rosa Pomar (not made-in-the-USA, but Rosa chooses such cool fabric I had to include her);
• Tsukiyono (Indiana: My favorite plush creature of all: Stuffed Little Bunny Foo Foo, sadly already purchased by Greg from Daddytypes);
• Cupco Dolls;
• kokoleo (Los Angeles);
• Clarity Miller's punk rock sock monkeys (Olympia, Washington).
• Pluckyfluff "Nozzlers" (Placerville, California)

For even more DIY designer stuffed creatures, check out the storefront sites etsy and pixel girl.

If you know of any other artists/independent designers creating stuffed creatures who you'd like me to add, please leave a comment with their name and URL and I'll add them.

Up next in the Christmas shopping for the anti-consumer series: Toys & Dolls