Christmas shopping for the anti-consumer, Part 2: Plush Creatures

by J.D. Griffioen (Subscribe to J.D. Griffioen's posts)
Dec 8th 2005 1:00PM

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