ORDERING, POSTAGE, AND HANDLING

I try always to use already-used mailing envelopes and boxes, so you don't have to pay for those. I do not charge for handling because it is so much fun to handle my stuff! : )
Postage has gone sky high. I try to charge you what it will actually cost me to send your order, no more, no less, but it is hard to set standard rates because the post office figures things by zone or not, depending on the weight. E-mail me what you want to buy and I will estimate for you the postage cost. A few true-to-life costs:
100 Soothing Stars to Concord, NH: $6.50
to California: $16.80
4 Sleepy Cats (or Sleepy People, or combination thereof) to Concord, NH: $4.80
to California: $8.25
2 Hands to Hold to anywhere: $2.60
Up to 20 Soothing Stars, anywhere: $2.55, or 2 Hands To Hold, or 2 Sleepy People.
My e-mail address: AllisonJoyful1(at)netzero(dot)net (You can interpret that. . . Someone warned me that if I print out my e-mail address here I will get all kinds of spam!)

HAND PUPPETS

Hand puppets have long been favorite toys with children and adults alike. From my childhood I remember one particularly memorable performance by my younger brothers and me of CinderAlleyCat, when we even made costumes for the puppet actors. I loved puppets when I was little, and I still do! When I was the mother of young children I noticed that sometimes a puppet on the hand of a child could say something to me that the child couldn't, and needed to.

I make many more hand puppets than are shown here. Here you see (in color) a furry Wolf ($18), a fluffy Sheep, and a Wolf In (removable) Sheep's Clothing ($25). In black and white you see a corduroy Lion, more Sheep, a grey flannel Mouse (standing in front of a therefore invisible tweed Raccoon), a tweed Silly Bird (your hand moves it's felt mouth), and lying down to the right an unrecognizable-in-this-photo white corduroy Unicorn with a golden horn ($20). I also make a velvety Black Cat, a corduroy or velvet Rabbit, a furry Polar Bear and Brown Bear, a furry Snow Leopard, a corduroy Tiger, a velvety Horse ($18). Most of the puppets are $14. Exceptions as marked above.

FINGER PUPPETS

FINGER PUPPETS are great fun for children ages 4 and up. They can talk to each other, act out nursery rhymes, sing "Old MacDonald Had A Farm", be actors in any number of plays thought up by the children who use them, divulge things to a parent that might not otherwise be divulged. My finger puppets are made of felt (except the sheep, which are some nubbly cloth), mostly hand sewn. Faces are hand embroidered. Nothing is glued on, everything is sewn. Shown (left to right): duck, black sheep, dog, chicken, zucchini, horse, sheep, owl. Also available: black cat, dragon, unicorn, wizard, Santa, reindeer, lion, tiger, rabbit. Most are $4.50. Horse and reindeer are $6. Dragon, unicorn and wizard are $9.

KATIEKATS

The design for KatieKats was taken (with her permission) from a paper handpuppet made by a 7 year old girl named Katie. Her puppet had horizontal stripes, so all KatieKats do too. All of these have plain velour backs and striped fronts and are filled with millet. Some have woven cotton fronts, others have velour fronts, all have machine embroidered faces. Katiekats delight all ages, even old people. They are a good handful, can be used as beanbags, companions or soothing toys held in the hand. 5 1/2" tall. $7.

BEANBAG RABBITS

These happy smiling corduroy beanbag rabbits are somehow reminiscent of the 1950s, the time of my childhood. Each holds a hand appliqued felt carrot with embroidered greenery. Their faces, too, are hand embroidered. Filled with "small white beans" (that's actually what the bean package says!), they sit up due to their white pom-pom tails. About 8" tall including ears. $12

PEACE DOLL

Her arms are a pocket that cradles a removable white felt dove, so she holds peace in her arms, near her heart. Her clothing is Indian, African, Guatemalan, Indonesian, or reminiscent of same, so her skin is dark. Her face is simply hand embroidered, and she has a crescent of Persian Lamb hair. Stuffed with fiberfill, she is 8 1/2" tall and costs $15.

CLUTCH BALL

CLUTCH BALL - The best baby gift, in my opinion. Of interest to a baby visually before he or she can also clutch it and wave it around gleefully and chew on the sections. Later on, it can be thrown and caught easily. Good from birth to about age 4, and occasionally beyond. Sometimes these are so beautiful people buy them to give to adults as works of art. Made of cotton cloth in 12 sections, stuffed with fiberfill. I am constantly making new different ones - ones of bright colors, or 1940s prints, or with butterflies, with stars. . . One of my standard ones is of patterns of cloth that remind me of the four elements: earth, air, fire, water. Clutch balls are about 7" in diameter and cost $24.