Building A Bear

Building a bear to some is a task only God can do, but they apparently didn't know that the Build-A-Bear Workshop (BABW) existed. I have seen the BABW several times, but never really watched a bear come to life. Do you remember the story about the Velveteen Rabbit? In that book, there is a question asked about "What does it mean to be real?" The answer to that was "Real isn't how you are made. It's a thing that happens to you. When a child REALLY loves you, then you become REAL."

This is the story of a bear named Ella and how she became REAL. It all started upon entering the shell side of the store. This is where about 20 varieties of animal "shells" are piled in their individual boxes. There is an example of what they can look like on a shelf just above them. As Katy and I walked down the row of shells, we talked of the different choices. She chose a bear. This bear was white with pink tones in the fur. She saw right away that this is the one she wanted to make REAL.

The next step was to decide if we wanted to give the bear a voice. After listening and deciding that none of us really prefer babies or bears that make noises, we moved on to the stuffing machine. I'd like you to picture one of those old fashioned popcorn trucks (those of you who live in Elmira have seen one in that glass building right near where Panosians used to be). For those of you who might not know what it is, the best way you can picture the stuffing machine is like one of those really big popcorn machines at sporting events.

Now that you have that picture in mind, think of a machine filled with stuffing for these animals. There is a pedal on the floor that Katy was instructed to step on to begin blowing the stuffing into her bear. The man asked her if she wanted her bear fluffy like a pillow. She said that she did. As she pushed the pedal, the man moved the bear around so she would be completely filled up. Once the bear was filled, the man asked her to get a heart for her bear (there was a bucket of hearts). She picked one up, and he said, "Rub the heart on your heart. Now on your head, on your sister's head, and now make your mommy and daddy kiss it. Now you kiss it." Ok, so that's really weird, but what he said next was sweet. "Now, Katy, put the heart inside your bear." She did. Then he told her that she had just given her bear a heart.

After he tied up the bear, he instructed us to go to the air bath table. This is a station where you use a stiff brush and the air from the hose on the table to fluff the bear's fur.

After giving the bear a air bath, we went to go pick out clothes for the bear. Now, you must understand that when it comes to clothes and Katy...it's EXTREMELY important. She feels she must have just the right pants (girly jeans usually), shirt, shoes (or lack thereof), and she has to be the one to pick them out. Now, you an well imagine that this was quite a process. Here's one funny thing...they even have Hello Kitty underware for the animals! She finally settled on the cute pink outfit you see here in the pictures. I wish you could see that the outfit has 3 slits in it - 2 for the ears in the hoodie, and 1 for the tail in the skirt. It's really cute.

Next stop is the computer to create a name and birth certificate for the bear. After about 30 names, some of which included: Lilly, Katy, Erica, Emily, Anna, Rosie, T, and many others, we settled on Ella. Ella was born on December 9th,2006.

This is one of the greatest heartwarming experiences.

You'll see some great pictures here.
1) Ella's butt being filled with stuffing (some "people" need more filling then others so they don't have "boney" butts - I should know - I had a boney butt as a kid!)

2)More filling being added.

3)Ella's first snuggle buggle.

4) The air bath

5)Katy telling her Grandpa all about Ella and how she made her.

6)The proud mommy of a REAL Ella.