Teddy Bears - Why Not Make Your Own?

A really great present to get for your own child or a relative's is a teddy bear that you've made yourself. Basic teddies are actually surprisingly easy to make, but you're free to put as little or as much effort in as you want. If you spend a long time on it, you can make a teddy to rival anything put out by the big teddy manufacturers.

Although there are many fabrics and methods you can use to make a teddy, probably the best is knitting with yarn. It is easy to find yarn in a very good teddy-like shade of brown, and teddy knitting patterns are readily available all over the Internet - search for 'teddy knitting' to find whole sites devoted to knitting teddies and other soft animal toys.

Once you have the pattern, you need to find a good stuffing for the teddy. Cotton wool is an easy to find, cheap and soft material, but you can stuff a teddy with almost anything you want. Avoid man-made materials and stick to the natural stuff and you shouldn't go far wrong.

When it comes to making the eyes and the nose, plastic buttons will do, but the best material to use is glass beads. Two black glass beads will give your teddy beautiful, friendly eyes, and they don't even cost all that much from most craft stores.

To finish the teddy off, you can tie a silk bow around its body or its hair, to make it look like a really pretty present. Fix it in place with a few threads so it can't come untied, and it can become a permanent feature of the teddy.

One warning, though: making teddies can be very addictive! Once you've made your first one, it's tempting to just keep on going. But then, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?

Teddy Bears and Their History

There are few toys that really stand up to the test of time, and teddy bears are one of those toys. Their massive popularity has endured for generations, and undoubtedly will continue for generations to come. But stuffed toy bears have not always been part of our toy collections. This is a phenomena that began in the twentieth century, sparked by circumstances that may be surprising.

Teddy bears are named after former President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt, "Teddy" being a shortened familiar form of the name "Theodore". In 1902, President Roosevelt attended a hunting trip with the governor of Mississippi along with a number of others. During this trip they had a bear-hunting competition, and everybody had killed a bear aside from Roosevelt. Some of Roosevelt's assistants, in an attempt to help him win the competition, themselves captured and restrained a black bear and called for Roosevelt to come and shoot the bear. But he refused to shoot the bear himself, feeling that this violated the spirit of the competition since he himself did not capture the bear. But during the capture of the bear it had been clubbed over the head and badly hurt, so Roosevelt ordered that the bear be put out of its misery.

This incident was widely reported in the media, and was made into a political cartoon in the Washington Post. A toy maker named Morris Michtom saw the political cartoon and decided to create a new toy based on the bear. Capitalizing on the news trend of the moment, he placed one of the cute stuffed bears in his shop window with a sign labelled "Teddy's Bear". The bears became an immediate hit, prompting Michtom to enlarge his business by founding the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. By 1906 large numbers of other companies were producing similar bears, and they became the biggest toy craze the world had ever seen up until that point.

Today teddy bears are still the most basic and universal of all toys, loved by children and even adults all over the world. It seems strange that such a gruesome incident inspired such a craze for cute stuffed animals, but perhaps the joy that teddy bears have given to the world have made something good out of that unfortunate situation.

The Steiff Teddy Bear Story

In 1847 in a small town in Giengen, Germany a baby girl was born. She was named Margaret Steiff. Her childhood vigor was cut short when she contracted polio at the age of 2. Although confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, she became a model for strength and determination.

Margaret excelled in sewing and needlework and became the proud owner of the first sewing machine in Geingen. In 1879, she started her dressmaking business. Her dresses, coats and other clothing products were quickly in demand. In December of that year she came across a pattern for a toy elephant in a magazine. She made these as gifts for her family and close friends. Margaret used her expertise to develop other animal patterns and 1883 added them to her price list as a range of felt items. Her business continued to grow and in 1892 she began making soft filled bears, which would later be referred to as Teddy Bears. These bears resembled real bears, posing on all four paws with humped backs.

Richard Steiff, Margaret's nephew, helped his aunt with design and production of her teddy bears and soft filled animals. An avid art student, he was a regular visitor of the Stuttgart Zoo where he got ideas for animal designs. While touring America, Richard was inspired for a new design during a circus performance. The dancing bears gave him the idea of designing a toy bear which stood upright and was jointed, similar to how dolls were made.

By 1902 the inspiration was reality and Margaret was producing a jointed soft filled teddy bear with mohair plush fur and glass eyes. They were the first jointed teddy bears produced.

In 1903 Richard displayed the new bears at the Leipzig Toy Fair. Unfortunately they didn't generate much interest in the Europeans. As Richard was packing up his display at the end of the fair, American Hermann Berg chanced by his booth. Berg was a buyer for the New York firm Geo Borgfeldt and Company. At about this time in America the story of Theodore Roosevelt's 'Teddy's Bear' was becoming popular. Berg placed an order for 3,000 bears.

By 1904 the Steiff teddy bear had become an American success. They were awarded various accolades including the prestigious Grand Prix award. In total 12,000 bears were sold by the end of 1904 with the trademark button in the left ear.

Publicity from Roosevelt's adventure helped place teddy bears in the hearts of Americans where they remain today. The world record price for an antique bear was made at a December 1994 auction. The winning bid was $176,000.00 for a 1905 Steiff bear. Steiff teddy bears continue to leave their marks today in the hearts of collectors and teddy bear lovers alike.

Add Murals to Furniture Without Picking Up a Paint Brush

Painting on furniture is nothing new. Neither is adding a mural to furniture. But what if you can't paint even a stick figure? Consider this beautiful and sometimes whimsical way to give old furniture new life! One of the most interesting and beautiful ways you can give new life to old furniture is to add a mural design. Offset by the wood of a piece of furniture, a mural can give the piece real drama and excitement.

Designs can range from very elegant backdrops of distant scenery to more whimsical designs such as hot
air balloon, sweet cartoon characters or lounging teddy bears. The fun is in deciding just what you want to add to your piece.

Instead of discarding your next piece of furniture, such as that old, plain dresser or grandmas tired buffet, consider giving it a new look instead.

Even very plain furniture, completely lacking in architectural interest, can become an extreme work of art, worthy of its old place in your home once more with this easy finish. But it's actually older pieces that I love doing most.

Pieces that have recessed panels, carved legs or ornamental moldings offer the most possibility for truly stunning results. These pieces create multiple surfaces for multiple murals.

Decorative artists or those who love to paint and have experience, can easily create murals on furniture with ease. But what about those of you whose interest doesn't lie in creating hand painted designs or you have just been too busy to take a class or develop the skill? The answer is easy as easy as a trip to your local wallpaper store!

Wallpapers today come in the most exquisite styles with what appear to be "hand painted" designs on them. Simply cut out the design area to fit the dimensions of the intended area on your furniture piece and apply!

Mural designs found in magazines, on the internet or in books can also be used by scanning, then print on high quality paper or transfer material and applied to individual panels or repeated across a large, solid surface.

Before beginning your project, ask yourself if the furniture piece might benefit with a coat of paint first. Many times, when murals are used on furniture, the surrounding wood is painted one of the more subtle colors found in the mural.

This new paint color allows the piece to not only get a new, more durable finish, but serves to add color to a room's décor as well.

For instance, let's say that you found a mural of a Tuscan village with soft browns, varying shades of green and a pale blue sky. You might consider painting the surrounding wood with a pale version of sage green to bring out the greens of the mural. Or paint it pale brown then use a color wash of darker brown to give it a more antiqued appearance.

Mind you, the wallpaper design that you choose doesn't necessarily have to be a mural pattern. Consider a damask design or repeated floral pattern. If you love it, then you can certainly use it in the same manner. For additional excitement, consider painting all of the delicate trim in pure gold craft paint to add even more elegance to the piece.

How to Apply Wallpaper to Furniture
1. Lightly sand the intended area to rough the surface. Clean the area of any dirt and dust particles.
2. Locate a full repeat of the mural design on the wallpaper, then cut out a section to fit the intended area on the furniture piece.
3. Spread a thin layer of white glue (such as Elmer's(TM)) on to the back side of the wallpaper cut out and lay on to the intended area.
4. Use a window squeegee to smooth any air bubbles by placing the blade of the squeegee in the center of the pattern then smoothing outward toward the edges.
5. Let dry overnight.
6. To make the mural appear "antique", add a few drops of dark brown craft paint to translucent wall glade and rub over the surface of the wallpaper. Wipe off the excess in the middle only with a dry terry towel by working from the center toward the outside edges. Leaving the edges darker will make the mural stand out and create more depth.
7. Apply varnish over the surface and let dry 48 hours.

Other ideas for this treatment would be:
* Closet doors
* Bath or kitchen cabinet doors and side panels
* Interior Columns
* Inside architectural molding wall frames
* Wooden Planters (use exterior varnish)
This is a DIY project anyone can do! So with this new information, set out on a journey to find an old piece of furniture (check local thrift and salvage stores or even your own attic or basement!) and add a lovely new decorated item to your home today!

© Victoria Larsen 2009. All Rights Reserved

Teddy Bears - Unique Gifting Option

Teddy bears are the most popular and beloved children's stuffed animals and always prefer to buy them more than any other toy or animal. The reason is very simple, namely that the teddy bears will be space to be great companions for children, for their lively and cheerful. People love to decorate their rooms with many bears plush Teddy especially. If you can not understand that a gift to a child what his birthday and then goand for this adorable plush animals that will never fail. You can find them in all the souvenir shops and toys, because they demonstrate a great gift option for almost any occasion. Many people especially his gift toys soft bear beloved on Valentine's Day because they are a symbol of love and care. The girls love to be pampered and treated like a princess. You can definitely make them feel at one with the help of this donation option.

They were invented by a person named MorrisMichtum and novelties and toys sold. It 'pretty funny that some adults crazy for these plush animals, even if they are originally for children. Do you have a hobby of collecting in large numbers. This is a special word to describe the behavior of these people. This word comes from the Greek words "bear" and "lover" and is known as "arctophiles. These toys are sold in large numbers to ensure huge profits for producers and sellers. Do you have a managedmake a profit of $ 1 billion in sales worldwide in the 21st Century all, which is quite remarkable.

It 'been a Teddy Bear Museum, which was open from 1984-2006 in England Hampshire. The museum was founded by a person named Judy Sparrow. Here you will find a wide selection of stuffed animals in these markets in any shape, size, color, design and materials. You can choose which you like and fits your budget. There are many Web sites and sell online stores, the toydifferent and interesting stuffed animals. You can get a good deal if you have an online purchase. If you plan to do the buying for your child then check with him his preference, if he will be like Pooh or Panda. And 'if a better gift for your preferences.

You can find many toy brands on the market, their games, making their own style or unique. Some children, like a particular brand over the other, it is best to ask your childall details in advance. You need to decide the budget well in advance, because these toys very expensive to do a good portion of the resources to invest. However, prices vary depending on the size and brand. If your budget is low then consider buying a size smaller than they cost less. So, these are some interesting facts about teddy bears and ways to acquire them.

East Meets West With Van Der Sloot

I had to stop and think for a moment about the ancient Shaman healers in Peru. Their methods basic, some might say primitive. The style identified the problem, and the solution quickly. The act was as good as words spoken in silence. The shamans took a cloth doll of Joran Van Der Sloot, and stabbed it, one needle at a time, all in an attempt to remove the evil spirits.

As I heard about that ancient attempt to heal pain, I had to wonder about the current modern method using teddy bears, and showing these bears as a sculpture of the MeBear Family.

What if Van Der Sloot had been sculpted in the MeBear Family? What if his Dad MeBear, a affluent lawyer in training to be a judge stood for justice, and the teenager learned about lies, and manipulation, in the name of justice? Would he be viewed as a rebellious adolescent, or a socio-pathic killer who views the world as owing him something simply due to his birth-right?

What if the sudden death of his father, was graphed in a Dad MeBear, carried away in a wagon, and the story of Joran Van Der Sloot told?

Could we project our thoughts onto an object as appealing as a teddy bear when discussing Van Der Sloot, or would we throw any teddy representing somebody who had shown such disregard for human life across the room?

Can we engage in hypnotism of a sort, reaching into truths, behind the cloth of a teddy bear?

What would we learn if we just projected all of our questions onto a family of teddy bears?

What would we learn about how a rich, affluent, good-looking kid could have eyes of steel, and a heart of stone, through the eyes of a teddy bear?

Some say its premeditated, that there should be two murders five years apart on the same day. I don't think so. That's the way the universe works. It's dated and timed. Natalie's energy was probably helping Van Der Sloot to be caught. Energy doesn't die. It changes form.

Remember OJ? 13 years to the day. We learn what we need to learn, when we need to learn it. Otherwise we keep repeating it, until we reach acceptance of that which we do not understand.

Five years to the day of Natalie's murder, Stephanie is murdered. The police say its premeditated due to the same date. I say it's just the way the universe works, when there are lessons to be learned. It's in sync. It was time for Van Der Sloot to be caught.

Matching dates? No problem. These are the magical predictable things that tell us, it's all in the cards. It's all scripted. Vandersloot didn't plan it that way. It's the energy of evil. It can also be the energy of good. The cosmic forces in the universe will take care of Vandersloot.

Joran may travel out of Peru to face trial, or spend his days living in a hell hole in Peru. He may end up in Aruba facing sentence. He may spend his time in the worst prisons in the world, or even dead.

In the end it won't matter. Regardless of the sentence, nothing to life, Van Der Sloot will face the consequences of his debt in this life, because that is the way the universal cosmic energy works. There really is no way around that. Whether Van Der Sloot is viewed from the prism of a doll, or of a teddy bear, evil is the same in the East or West, as are the tools of healing.

Giant Stuffed Teddy Bear and Why Bears Rub Trees

The giant stuffed teddy bear means different things to different people. For some it's a best friend, there to cry on when things get tough. For others it's a playmate that shares both great and small adventures. One thing is certain, however: a giant stuffed teddy bear is the perfect companion for anyone lucky enough to have one.

There have been many theories as to why bears rub trees. Some have thought that female bears do it when they are ready to mate. Others have been of the mind that bears simply rub trees to give themselves a good scratch so as to get rid of parasites. Or, it could be that they do it so sap from the tree will rub off on their fur thus acting as an insect repellent. It's been very tough to test out these theories given bears live at such low densities and the rubbing behavior is quite a rare occurrence.

Over a two year period, Dr. Owen Nevin of the University of Cumbria, used four digital cameras containing infra-red strips to collect rubbing tree data on grizzly bears in British Columbia. Since he had already spent more than a decade logging rub trees already, he was able to set up the cameras opposite those same trees to see which bears were doing the rubbing and when. Along with the use of satellite telemetry equipment, Nevin was also able to track an individual bears' movement.

Nevin said "the cameras show that adult male bears are the most likely to rub trees, and the satellite telemetry tells us that males move from valley to valley in large loops, marking trees as they go, while looking for breeding females." Nevin is of the belief that adult male bears are marking trees so as to get to know each other better. In addition, he thinks by marking a familiar scent on a tree, it could go a long way to reducing the fighting that goes on between adult males. Given males bears can both injure significantly and/or kill each other, when one male smells the scent marks left on a tree by another male, it's a message that he is in another's territory thus it's better to back away so a fight doesn't ensue.

Males bears are known for sometimes killing a female's cubs so as to free up an opportunity to mate with her. Through Nevin's study, it suggests the possibility that young bears rub trees so as to fool males into not killing them. With the cameras that were set up to catch bears rubbing trees, cubs were caught on them being chased away from their mother by large males. Those same cubs went back to the tree the male had marked and rubbed up against themselves - two or three times. By doing this, it made the cubs smell like the big male, which in turn made the male bear believe he was smelling a relative; the likelihood of aggression towards a relative is less prevalent.

A giant stuffed teddy bear has no desire whatsoever to rub up against a tree. The fact that it may never even come into contact with a tree in its lifetime, gives it even less of a need to want to do so. A giant stuffed teddy bear has but one concern in its life: ensuring it's the very best companion its owner will ever have.

Copyright Shelley Vassall, 2010.