I just love Easter – egg hunts, family dinners, baskets filled with candy, and little kids in their Sunday best – it is the perfect ingredients for a picture perfect day. Now that I’ve got a little one of my own, of course I’m thinking about what I can fill her Easter basket with and what kinds of Easter traditions I would like to start with her.
The first tradition I would like to pass down is the plush Easter bunny sitting atop the Easter basket just like my mom did for us every year. All five of us kids had one special bunny that would emerge around the holiday and remain out for the weeks after Easter before the decorations were packed up. I was positive I wanted to do the same thing for my kids, and am so excited that I found a company where I can buy a special bunny as we add more baskets around the table, with each addition to the collection as unique as their recipient. Of course, I am talking about Steiff, the makers of classic plush animals since 1880. With their famed “Button in Ear” (or, rather “Knopf im Ohr”) and their supremely collectable nature, Steiff animals are the perfect thing to surprise anyone on your Easter list.
Since Steiff has introduced the adorable Dossy Bunny for 2010, I thought this was the perfect time to get my little one started on our Easter tradition. Dossy is the perfect mix of cuteness and realism with her seated pose and spotted fur, and is a good huggable size. Of course, she is also super soft and cuddly and is perfect for playing Easter all month long.
I love that Steiff has limited edition animals and each of their pieces are created mostly by hand with an attention to detail you just don’t find with other plush companies. This is the reason I have been a huge Steiff fan since I was little and why there was no other present I thought fitting for our daughter’s first Christmas other than the 2008 release of the Classic Mohair Teddy in pink. Since that Christmas morning the pink Steiff teddy has had a place of honor on her shelf. The pink Mohair Teddy has since been joined by a small collection of the Steiff mini mohair animals we’ve picked up in our travels and gave to our daughter for her first big holidays. I love that each animal is representative of a certain season or specific time and my daughter loves that they are the perfect size for playing with in her doll house and in her fairy garden set.
Once I found the Steiff website, I had fun perusing the online catalogue and looking up all the little Steiff friends we’ve acquired throughout the years and creating a wishlist for future holidays. I loved that a good portion of our collection had a specific release date listed, which made it easy to remember when we bought each one and is a great feature if you’ve collected a large number of plush pieces throughout the decades.
If you’re looking to expand or start a Steiff collection, you should start your browsing at http://www.steiffusa.com/
To find a retailer near you, you can check out the Steiff Store Locator here - I will warn you that this is by no means a full list of retailers, since numerous stores near me carry the Steiff animals but only 5 come up on this list for the entire state of
A huge thank you to Steiff for expanding our collection of special critters by sending the Dossy Bunny to be loved and snuggled. No monetary compensation was received for this Rave Review - we just love Steiff and couldn't resist sharing one of our top Easter picks!