Build-a-Bear

[RealMickeysGirl]

Do any of you or your children have build-a-bears?

I have a couple that are the mascots for my sorority chapter. One or both will go on vacations with sisters so they are "traveling bears". We get a lot of their clothes from ebay but some we have gotten directly from build-a-bear stores or online.

Have you ever tried to make clothes for the bears? I can sew a little - I have made dresses and book covers and things like this but I don't know if I could make patterns for little bear clothes. I know that some of the pattern companies have bear clothes patterns but I don't want all their dresses to be basically the same.

BTW - one of the bears went on our last cruise and she was a big hit with the crew and CMs. She had her photo made with Cinderella in her Cinderella dress, with Sleeping Beauty in her Sleeping Beauty dress, and with Snow White in her Snow White dress. I even took a pirate bandana that I got up at the hair braiding stand for $2 and made her a little halter top and head scarf for pirate night. People would stop and ask what the bear would be wearing for dinner, for formal night, etc.

She even went sunbathing at Castaway Cay. (Ok - I admit - I had a blast playing with the bear and dressing her up.)

 

[sweet maxine]

That's too cute and too funny! I can't stop laughing about that one!

Last summer I participated in a Pal Mickey swap (lots of fun if you haven't done it before!). I found clothes for Mickey at Michael's before the trip, and even bought a serape at the Mexico pavillion in Epcot. We took pix of Pal Mickey in costume where ever we went. The CM's loved him. I had a patriotic suit and hat for the 4th, and a little backpack of his own. We took pix of him with 3-D glasses at ITTBAB. He also had a little eye patch someone in the swap had left for me, and on the night we had "pirate" theme at our cabin in Fort Wilderness we dressed him up. We put a little lei on him for the luau we had at the cabins. It's just too much fun!

I just love your bear pix! too cute!!

 

[nicki dahling]

My daughter works at Build a Bear and thanks to her I have two bears ( including a scrapping bear ) and my hubby has one also. I even have a bear closet filled with outfits for them. She has several including snow white and the ariel. You should see her bed. She took her's to WDW during our Christmas visit and when we came in from the parks in the evening the mousekeepers had been playing with them. One even had Mickey ears on one night. I have a disney doll thanks to a friend , and may take that with me when we go back in a few weeks. Would make for great pictures at Park Faire and Chef Mickey's.

Cyndi

 

[wtpclc]

That is too cute! Can't help you with sewing, but thatnks so much for sharing. That would have been so fun to do with my sisters!

 

[Redhead3]

I'm leaving for WDW in the morning and am taking my bear. I'll be with two other friends who also have them. Over the past year we've had so much fun with ours, they've certainly had a lot of adventures. Don't even get me started on the clothes and accessories they've accululated... each has it's own suitcase

This trip will be fun because we are planning on taking them to the parks with us for special photo ops, hopefully some with characters. Mine has Jasmine, Snow White and Mulan outfits, so those are the ones I hope for the most. I also have Mickey ears for her (ordered from the Build-a-Bear store in Downtown Disney at Disneyland) so a picture with Mickey would be neat, too.

I'm setting up a website with all the pictures we've taken of them the past year, so anyone who wants to see it, pm me for the link. I'll be adding pictures from this trip in about two weeks.

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

Dio, the bear who went on the trip with us - her sister Tima had to stay home, has mickey ears and a mickey shirt also. She wore those for the sail away party. I hadn't seen the ones for DisneyLand when I got hers so the ones she has are actually the pet ears and tshirt. I did eventually get her the set from DL but I had trouble making the mickey hat fit right so she just wore her pet ears. I have tons of photos of her on the trip. She has a little back pack that she carries a disposable camera in along with her passport (yes, she has her own teddy bear passport - now she even has 2 stamps in it - one from the post office in St. Thomas and one from the post office on Castaway Cay) and her BAB pawpass. The sorority sisters take her photos with her little disposable camera when she travels with them. I get it developed when it is full and get her a new one for her back pack. She has her own little CM 7x7 scrapbook of her travels also.

 

[Redhead3]

Your pictures are too cute! I got the pet shirt last year before I knew about the Disneyland one with the ears. You are right though, it is hard to make the ears fit. I might have to look at the pet ears this trip.

I just made passports for all our bears (I used the one by Jolee's that looks pretty close to real), I thought they would be cute for when we are at Epcot. They don't travel with their own cameras, we just use ours. That is a cute idea, though. I've done one scrapbook of their adventures up through January, but haven't had time to start on the next being as I'm trying to do one of my own!

here is a picture of our bears taken at Coronado Springs in September. Mine (named JJ) is the brown one.
http://www.geocities.com/bearadventures/BABMickey2.jpg

 

[holycow]

Too cute! I can't wait to show my DD your pics! (she has 4 or 5 )


Holycow

 

[robinb]

Can anyone tell me ... where do you get the Disney Princess Bear costumes? My DD would love an Ariel one for her bear!

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

Can anyone tell me ... where do you get the Disney Princess Bear costumes? My DD would love an Ariel one for her bear!

I first saw them on ebay with a starting bid of about $29 - then I went to the BAB website and they have them for $15. I just looked online and the ones they show currently are Woody, Mulan, Cinderella, Snow White, Buzz Lightyear, Sleeping Beauty and Tinkerbell. I believe I have seen Ariel in the past so may be they will have it again soon. I don't know if you can get these at any BAB or if they are only available online and at the DTD at DL store.

They are really cute outfits - Dio has Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White (our favorite). The only thing that I was a little disapointed in was the shoes. They have cardboard bottoms that bend very easily. I think it would have been better if they just left the cardboard out or put in some padding instead. They end up having creases on the bottom of their feet. (I am probably just being picky though)

 

[lewdyan1]

http://www.buildabear.com/

This is the link for the BAB site.

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

here is a picture of our bears taken at Coronado Springs in September. Mine (named JJ) is the brown one.

I love the photo!! They are so cute.

I am also glad to see that I am not the only person who carried a bear around on vacation.
Some people played along and were asking questions about the costumes or where their child could get one and other people acted like I was mental .

 

[Allabtprincesses]

My DD5 had her birthday party at BAB last year. Her birthday is at the end of September, and they had the Disney costumes in the store at the time because it was close to Halloween (told to us by an employee). My DD dressed her as Jasmine. TOOO cute! That's such a great idea, taking them on "adventures"!

 

[Redhead3]

Most of the stores have the Disney outfits, but not all.

From what I remember, the Belle, Beast and Ariel outfits are retired. Jasmine was released only for Halloween last fall. The only ones still available are the ones listed on the website. Mulan was the latest to come out.

RealMickeysGirl -- LOL, we get funny looks too. Some people just shake their head and walk away, but a lot of people are curious to what we are doing. When we tell them about the past adventures and the website, most think it is cute idea and some even want their picture taken with our bears!

 

[snowglobe girl]

When me and DH got married 5 1/2 years ago, we went to Myrtle Beach for our honeymoon. We both did a Build-A-Bear, mine is a bride and his is a groom. We took pictures of each other building them and it was so much fun. We have them sitting on a shelf beside our wedding picture and bottle of wine from the wedding. I've started to put them up a time or two, but they are too cute!!

I've also done a couple with my mom. I've never been brave enough to try to sew my own clothes for them, but give it a try...and if it looks terrible, throw it away and no one will be the wiser!!

 

[bubbasmom99]

That is sooo cute! Thanks for sharing

RealMickeysGirl - I noticed on your ticker... we are going to be on the 12/9/06 Magic too! Can't wait --- it's too long

 

[yummy72]

a mom I know just had a "dress a bear" party for her daughter at Michaels. We have build a bear, but it's about 40 minutes away and she didn't want to transport a million 10 year old girls to the mall that far away. She said Michaels had a list of bday party themes to choose from. Granted it wasn't building a bear, it was dressing it and making matching visors for the girls and their bears, and the quality was nowhere as nice as BAB, but she said it was still fun. so that makes me think michaels might have some clothes there. Probably not as cute but if they were basic maybe you could embellish/customize them yourself.

DD has several BABs. We love them. Recently Kate the Koala had her birthday and BAB emailed DD a coupon/birthday card to print out for Kate. It said to bring Kate and the coupon in for a birthday gift for Kate. Really cute. The BAB website is really nice and kidsafe, DD plays their games all of the time.

Good luck on sewing for them, I tried to make matching plaid flannel nightgowns for DD and one of her baby dolls when she was about 5. I swore then I would never make doll clothes again. I know they have patterns for the 18" dolls (like the American Girls) if you could find something like that to fit the BAB's that would give you more variety.

I can't wait to show DD all of the pics on here with the bears all dressed up.

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

RealMickeysGirl - I noticed on your ticker... we are going to be on the 12/9/06 Magic too! Can't wait --- it's too long

Yea! We will have to get together so our bear friends can meet.

Yes - it is toooooo far way!!

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

some even want their picture taken with our bears!

Our last morning on the Magic, a family who sat at a nearby table for dinner each night enjoyed seeing what the bear was wearing each night and what kind of adventures she went on during the day. They had a young daughter who thought the bear was very cute and wanted to have her photo made with the bear that morning at breakfast.

I slipped her mom a note on our way out with the website info and about how I got most of her clothing from ebay so she could get one for her daughter if she wanted. I hope she does - I think it would be a great surprise for her since she really seemed to like Dio.

 

[Moonbeams]

I'm so glad I found this thread! Both my mom and I have mocha bunnies who have some of the Disney pet clothes, too. They work great!! Here are the girls in their Disney Princess sweaters (Baby size 6 mos -- 4 mos would be better, but is hard to find).

I've heard that DTD at DLR has a BABW store, and since I'm going to DLR in Nov, I can't wait to see what special stuff they have. However, I saw on the BABW site that they now have the DTD t-shirt on their web site and that it can be embroidered. So I'm torn. Do I get the bunny a shirt off the site and get her name on it? Or do I wait until I go to DTD? What other unique stuff do they have at DTD that they don't have at BABW? Anyone have any idea?

Also, you can design your own t-shirt for your BABW friends at Zazzle.com. They are affiliated with BABW.

RealMickeysGirl -- Where did you get the passport?

Someone else said they made a passport for theirs. What kit, if any, did you use?

Thanks!

Jennifer