This is a promotional post for Budsies. A promotional product was received in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.
I absolutely couldn’t wait to get started on our Budsie. But what are they? Well, Budsies are a company that turns your child’s artwork into a real life stuffed toy. How cool is that? The only thing that bothered me was that my 2.5 yr old son isn’t really drawing “things” as yet. On the Budsies website it says that they don’t mind if the artwork is abstract, and to give their designers a chance to work with it. But surely that couldn’t apply to just random scribbles?
So I tried a few options of how to get the artwork from my son (2.5yrs). First I glued on googly eyes to a piece of paper and drew a circle around them. Then I suggested he added nose, mouth, hair, arms and legs. For a first attempt, I was actually quite impressed, and nicknamed it “red nosed monster”.
Then we tried the exercise again another day, and got another random monster.
Budsies also offer some templates as starting points – definitely worth a try for us so I printed off “Nosy”. F was in random scribble mode again, and this was his finished artwork:
This was NOT going well. How was anyone going to make a stuffed toy from these scribbles? But I felt inexplicably fond of his first attempt, and sent that off to the designers. The very next day it was approved! I just couldn’t imagine how the toy would turn out, but I had to be patient. Each toy is custom made; the design needs to be approved, then is sent to the seamstresses, and then must pass creative approval and stress testing. The company estimates that this takes 2-4 weeks.
In the end we waited a month for it to be made, then an extra few days for shipping. And it is SO cute! I confess that I was a little concerned about how it would look, but actually it was rather adorable. The toy is super soft and squishy – lovely to hug!
I showed it to F and at first he wasn’t sure. Then I held it up next to the original artwork and I think he understood!
It’s now become a firm favorite!
Buy It: I really think that this company has great potential, and I was so glad I was able to try out this service. These plush toys would make great gifts but order soon for the holidays as they are currently selling for $59.99, a special online price.
Win It: Budsies is generously offering (1) Budsie to a lucky winner!