The Greatest Stuffed Animals Known to (Wo)man
I know I’ve taken a little time off from posting reviews and giveaways, but this one, my friends, is worth the wait.
Some wild animals showed up in my mailbox yesterday. No, I didn’t mail my kids to myself. But Sarah, creator/sewer/artist extraordinaire, of Flaky Friends sent me two of her creations: Lester the Giraffe and Lucky the Turtle. I fell INSTANTLY in LURVE. Head over heels in love. I feel a kinship to these weirdo animals. Kind of like a long-distance-relationship-gone-bad kinship. We’ll always be connected - I can’t quit you.
The first thing I noticed when I held my loves girls’ new stuffed animals is their craftsmanship. These guys are so well-made, you’d swear a high-powered machine with 80 underpaid sweatshop workers had slaved away over them. But thankfully this is not true of the Flaky Friends. Each animal is HANDMADE by Sarah herself. I KNOW!
Sarah started making these crazy critters after her daughter demanded requested a purple stuffed pony, and after searching high and low, she couldn’t find one. So, like any other artist, she decided to make one. (Personally, I would have fibbed and told my girls Santa couldn’t come through and he was an anrgy old man and to quit asking for frivolous things. I kid - I kid.) People - she’s been working at these since January of THIS year. She’s just that good.
The tagline for Flaky Friend’s Etsy store is “Why Should You Buy One? Because You Can!” Ladies (and one or two gents) - I haven’t been this in love with a new product find since TiVo was invented. And that’s saying a lot. (Maybe I’m exaggerating a tad, but I LURVES these animals.) You must go now to buy your Flaky Friends from Sarah before she realizes she’s not charging enough for her artwork. Hello? $29-32 for the medium sized Friends? And by ‘medium,’ I mean 12-15″. That’s practically stealing art from an artist of Sarah’s caliber. Trust me - I’m a stuffed animal connoisseur, and you can NOT find handmade (in the USofA I might add) stuffed animals that are this well made and this adorable and this quirky and this lovable. And at this price.
Discount
So kiddies, I’m off to buy Sven the blue penguin for my penguinalholic 4-year-old. And I’m going to use the coupon code Sarah is passing along to all of us for 20% off everything in her store - HOTMAMAS. Use this code* through September 30, ‘08, but I recommend buying NOW before she realizes she doesn’t charge enough.
Giveaway
For our readers only, Sarah is giving away one of her ‘Out-of-Shell Turtles’ (value of $30). To win the turtle, visit Flaky Friends and comment below with your favorite Flaky Friend. (Sorry, but if your comment does not include the name of a Flaky Friend, you cannot win.) One comment per person, per day - come back daily for your chance to win! Comments are open until Sunday, August 10th, 11:59pm EST. The winner will be posted here on MamasLike, notified via email, and on Prizey.Fetch.
GET YOUR BUMS OVER TO FLAKY FRIENDS NOW and buy one (why? because you can). If you happen to win, and you’ve already adopted your Flaky Friend, no worries. You can start a menagerie.
*Etsy stores do not have the abilities to use coupon codes in their checkout. To redeem your 20% off discount, enter “HOTMAMAS” in the “Notes to Seller” upon checkout and wait for a revised invoice that reflects the discount before you complete your payment. It sounds confusing, but trust me - it’s worth it.

My grandson loves the Greg the Shaggy Sheep Stuffed Animal Softie Plush
I like Roger the Elephant but they are all adorable!!
Thank you.
I LOVE the flower turtles, especially the purple one. They are so cute how they come out of their shells.
The turtles are adorable, but I’m in love with Mephistopholes the Fire Tiger!
I love the giraffe!
I love the Slightly Dazed Tiger, but Bogart is also great!
love the bassett hound we use to have one
The Killer Teddy Bear Plush Stuffed Animal Softie is adorable (but so are most of the others!)
At first I was leaning towards Greg…but then…Seth the Unfortunate Elephant stole my heart. Oh Seth how I love thee.
I love Sven the Blue Penguin and Green Alien from the Planet Flaz!
I love Greg the Shaggy Sheep!
I LOVE the Basset Hound Stuffed Animal Plushie Toy!
Suzie Porker the Jolly Pig for me
i like them all! but to pick one it would have to be shameless cow.
Bogart the camel is so cute! Love him!
Roger the Striped Elephant is my favorite.
I love the giraffe.
I love the ELEPHANTS!!!!!
HOW CUTE!
The giraffe is too cute. Please and thank you.
greg the shaggy sheep is so cute
Patriotic Turtle Stuffed Animal Plushie
The Crazy Yellow Gold Crocodile Stuffed Animal is too cute. Thanks for the chance to win!
James the mallard duck is adorable, but then again, I have always had a thing for ducks though. What a talented artist.
Greg the Shaggy Sheep Stuffed Animal Softie Plush is so sweeet.
Rainbow striped elephant is cute.
I’m all about cats so I’d have to choose Kitty McPhee. Thanks!
Anna’s last blog post..My Sweeping and Survey Taking Totals for July 2008
Greg the Shaggy Sheep is my favorite!
Kari’s last blog post..You Know You Are a Hypocrite When…
That was a tough assignment, but I totally fell in LOVE with Gerty the Good Natured Hippo Plush Stuffed Animal. What a cutie!!! Thank you for the opportunity to win!
I have to laugh!!!! The Shaggy Sheep Dog Stuffed Animal Softie looks JUST LIKE our dog Espn - hair and all!!! Ok, Espn is mostly white with some spots, but the hair on the Shaggy Sheep Dog looks JUST LIKE HIS!!! Too cute!!!!
My kids would love this.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Jolly the Pig here! My youngest oinks for every animal sound. LOL!
Briana’s last blog post..Over the Hump Happenings 8/6
love the turtle.
Stephen Saunders’s last blog post..Scottish trail…
I love the Tiny Jingle Ladybug. How adorable ~ so many cute animals! Great site.
james the mallard!
The turtle is cute. My favorite is Baaab Robertson - Plushy White Sheep.
I like Greg the Shaggy Sheep - he makes me smile!
I love all the rainbow stripe elephants!! So cute! And the girl scout turtles. I wish I had stuck with brownies!
Definitely Greg The Shaggy Sheep
Mephistopholes the Fire Tiger is fabulous!
I agree with Art: Many of these creatures are great, but Mephistopholes the Fire Tiger has me completely charmed!
Greg the Shaggy Sheep would be an awesome addition to our collection of lovies in this house!
i cant decide between morty the lion and greg the shaggy sheep. they are all so quirky and fun!
The Basset Hound Stuffed Animal Plushie Toy is very cute.
I love the cow.
I would have to say all of the animals are very cute but I bet my little girl would like the Purple Pegasus Stuffed Animal Softie the very best. Thanks!!
Heather’s last blog post..Yay for coupons!
I also like the Rainbow Striped Elephant. They are all so cute though!
Greg the Shaggy Sheep is my favorite
The girl scout turtles remind me of when I was in the girl scouts.
I love the rainbow elephant!
My favorite is Svetlana the Purple Penguin, she is soo cute. I also love the Shaggy Sheepdog, if he had brown eyes he would look like my mutt.
I like the Kitty McPhee Stuffed Animal Softie Yellow. It is so cute. They all are.
Thanks for the chance.
Sonya Sparks’s last blog post..Win a belight bag