Build a Bear, Make a Friend #GiftGuide

DISCLAIMER: I was provided with a complimentary trip to Build a Bear to facilitate this post, however all opinions are my own.

When I found out there was a newly designed Build a Bear store opening in my area, I had to go check it out. I haven't actually been in a Build a Bear Workshop since Kaylee was a little bitty thing, so I was super excited to see the new layout and this store surely didn't disappoint. The new store is designed to be the best experience ever, with 8 unique stations, your little one will remember this experience for years to come.

As soon as you walk in, you feel like you're transported into another world, a world where furry friends and kids rule.  At the "Choose Me" station, there are more than 30 varieties of stuffed animals including teddy bears, bunnies, dogs, kitties, frogs and more. Micah, being the indecisive little thing that he is, took forever to choose and kept waffling between the black teddy or the One Direction teddy. Much to Dad's dismay, the 1D bear won and we set off to the "love me" station. The 1D bear was even on sale the day we were there, I love that the Build-A-Bear Workshop  animals are pretty affordable, ranging in price from $10-$30.

At the "love me" station, you can give your new friend a personality all their own. With traits like stylish, fun, artistic, sporty, brave and many more, your little one can personalize his new friend any way his heart desires, then you can head on over to the "hear me" station, where you can listen to and add songs, sound effects or even your own recorded message. Micah chose "What Makes You Beautiful", by One Direction to put in his friend.

The folks at the Build a Bear store were so kind and friendly. Since it was our first trip in quite sometime, Mimi, whom I got express permission from, to use her pics (as long as they weren't all wonky lookin), walked us through each step and made this such an amazing experience for Micah.

Mimi told us stories of the bears and explained the importance of the bar code that she placed inside Micah's new friend. It identifies him in Build a Bear's "Find a Bear" program allowing it to hopefully be reunited to Micah if ever lost and returned to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Thousands of furry friends have been reunited through their exclusive Find-A-Bear®ID program. The barcode also generates a unique code on the birth certificate so Guests can bring their new friend to life online for free at Bearville.com to continue their friendship adventure when they get home.

At the "stuff me" station, your little one's new friend will be filled with just the right amount of stuffing, as hard or soft as he likes, Micah even got to work the pedal that adds the stuffing. This is also where their friend's heart is chosen. From a huge box of hearts, Micah was instructed to pick the one that he felt belonged to his friend.

After choosing the perfect heart, it was time for Micah to take the oath of ownership and promise to love and protect his new friend for life.

Mimi was so amazing, she instructed Micah to warm the heart up a bit to get it started, so he warmed it up in his hands, put it over his heart and promised to love his new friend and then it was time to make a wish. (I just Love this pic, he is wishing soooo hard). When he had closed his eyes just long enough and that one little vein started poking out of his head, he excitedly announced... "BATMAN!". I'm not quite sure what this meant, as he totally did NOT choose the batman costume, but it was so cute, I just had to laugh.

After he was properly stuffed and brought to life, it was time to wash our new friend at the "fluff me" station. The virtual bathtub was a fun, mess free way to get "clean"  and in my case, it shows the little one that bath time can be an O.K. thing.

There were more outfit choices than you can shake a One Direction member at. There were girl choices, boy choices, shoes, headbands, WIGS, yes, they had wigs for the bears too. I was in heaven, until I realized I was not the one making the bear, so my fantasy bear with a long blonde wig, was not to be.

After  your little one chooses their favorite outfit, head over to the "dress me" station, where there's a place for you to dress your bear, including underwear and panties. The day we visited the Build a Bear  store was right before Halloween and they had some really amazing choices for outfits.

Micah finally, after much deliberation, chose a Darth Vader outfit to go with his One Direction bear, complete with shoes & a red light saber that actually lights up. After the "dress me" station you can head over to the "name me" station, where you can pick out your new friend's name and add it to their birth certificate, which will be printed for you at the "take me home" station aka the cash register.

We had an amazing afternoon at Build a Bear Workshop making friends and memories and I am looking forward to our next trip, which will probably be right around Christmas, so Micah can get the black bear with the batman outfit that he initially wanted on this particular trip, but talked himself out of, for the 1D bear.

Another satisfied customer headed home.