Wobbly William and Esther Rabbit x

Esther and William were born at 27 weeks and it was over 3 weeks before they were first allowed to wear clothes. Longer still till they wore clothes of their own. This made me realise how important our clothes are to our identity. Clothes tell people so much about who we are and what we do. People remember us by our clothes; we remember events often by what we wore. The clothes I dress Esther and William in now I choose so carefully and I try to photograph them in every single outfit that they wear so that they will always have a record to look back on. When they were in NICU Esther received lots of compliments for the pink and purple suits that she wore while for William the comments came as he grew bigger and started to wear more clothes that suited his developing cheeky character.

All of the above meant that when I heard about Summerland’s Keepsake Critters I knew that I wanted one each for Esther and William. Keepsake Critters are handmade heirlooms from your favourite old fabrics. For Esther and William this means something that they could keep and treasure forever, made out of those special first clothes.

Keepsake Critters are made by hand by Ruth at Summerland. Ruth has been fantastic to deal with. She is easy to talk to and takes an interest in your reasons for wanting to have a keepsake made. Her attention to detail was clear in her communications as well as in the final handmade products. The whole process was quick and easy and a joy to do.

After browsing the Summerland site I chose which Keepsake Critter I wanted each of the babies’ to have. For Esther I chose a Binky Rabbit

With his happy smile, contrast paws and tummy, a powder puff tail and a smart bow tie Binky Rabbit is full of bounce and makes a great present or keepsake.

This seemed to be a traditional, peaceful, gentle character much like my daughter. For my son, William, I wanted something funky and striking, a bit cheeky. It had to be a Wobbly Monster!

With his wibbly wobbly hair, hands and feet Wobbly Monster is a curvy cuddly kind of fella and makes a great present or keepsake.

Once the characters had been chosen to reflect the personalities of each child I had to choose the materials, the garments, the clothes. For Esther I chose one of her very first sleepsuits. It was pink and purple in colour with a Sleepy Elephant logo. For William I chose a sleepsuit that he wore once home from hospital that had an aeroplane logo and the word Whoosh! on it. Both of these garments were outfits that had drawn attention and comments from people who had seen the babies in them. I also sent Ruth two CPAP hats that the babies had worn in NICU to support their breathing equipment. These were items that evoke strong emotions and memories for me and I want them to be treasured by our family for all time to remind us how lucky we are to have Esther and William with us today. Now they most definitely will be.

I sent the chosen articles to Ruth at Summerland and I waited patiently to see what would be returned.

One week later a parcel arrived.

My first thoughts on receipt of the parcel were, “What a wonderful smell!” The CPAP hats had been made into little lavender pillows for the critters. Such a thoughtful touch and each pillow had a baby’s name embroidered into it. I was very impressed with this personal addition.

The hat cushions were the first thing that I could smell but what I saw first were the beautiful bags that the Keepsake Critters were presented in, tied with ribbon and with a tag stating the name of the critter and the garment it had been made from. I carefully opened up the bags to find the bunny and the monster inside.

Our Keepsake Critters are just wonderful! As stated on the website they stand about 25cm high. They are very well made with any additional material carefully matched to the clothing I supplied. The buttons used for body parts are very well chosen and attached and it is made clear that because of these attachments the critters should not be used as toys with children under 6 months.

These beautiful creatures really would make such a special present for your children and grandchildren. What a wonderful idea for a christening or a first birthday? I have already asked Ruth if we might come up with something similar to be made from the fabric of my wedding dress later this year! It is such a great way of preserving something very special that might otherwise spend all its life in a box or a drawer. Now the clothing can be admired and adored in the form of a rabbit or a monster or any of the other critters you can choose on the Summerland site.

Ruth actually summarises the Keepsake Critters best in her own words on the Summerland website.

We all love to keep a souvenir of the different phases of our kids’ childhoods, from the first sleepsuit through to a shirt from a particularly wonderful summer holiday or a favourite cuddle blanket. Keepsake Critters allow you to turn that favourite piece of fabric into a unique family heirloom.
Choose your critter from mouse, rabbit, cat or monster and send me your fabric. I snip, sew and stuff and post send you back a unique keepsake that has given the old pair of PJ’s or baby’s first dress a new lease of life.
Your Critter comes with its very own lavender scented pillow and sleeping bag to keep him safe and cosy on his journey back to you.

This is a present full of love, it gives something old new life, it is to be treasured for all time. It is an heirloom. It is a keepsake.

I bet that we all know someone who would love to receive and treasure such a wonderful, personalised gift of love and memory, a creature to keep, a Keepsake Critter x