Show and Tell: Kat Brunnegraff's Baby Square Bears

3:00 PM on 06.11.2010   |   Brian Szabelski

 As I stated before, upon first seeing Kat Brunnegraff's Baby Square Bears, I immediately said "Awwwwwwwwwwww!" The little handmade series of plushes had just the cutest expression, because hey, who doesn't love adorable creatures with a look of shock on their face? I knew I had to eventually get one. Or two. Or four. Plus, I was helping out a local artist in Kat (who I have since met, and she is quite cool), so I figured, "Eh, why not?" It's a win-win for everyone.

I waited patiently for them to come out, and when they did, I pounced. No, not literally, that's a metaphor. But a short time later, a package arrived in the mail, and inside? The two newest members of my little plush family.

Hit the jump and check out more about these adorable, cuddly critters!

So here they are, Panda and Brown Bear. Guess which one is which. Both are pillow-shaped with little ears sewn on them, and perhaps most importantly, feature Kat's cute designs, right down to the little shocked expressions on their face. 

What makes these two little guys so specifically special, at least, is that they're "first-edition" Baby Square Bears: I ordered them almost as soon as they went up for sale, though I couldn't nab the Blue Bear and Polar Bear. The adorableness? Well, that's just an added bonus.

They were actually a bit smaller than I expected, even though they were only supposed to be 5" tall. Being only about the size of my hand, though, meant I could easily take them places I couldn't take a bigger plush, and besides, they fit nicely in your pocket if you're wearing cargo shorts.

Wanna know how you can tell they're hand-printed on fabric and not mass-produced in some factory?  If you take a look at Brown Bear's face, you can see some of the small imperfections where the printing didn't quite stay on. But they're still only really noticeable up-close like this, so they're not too terribly jarring. And on top of that, since each one is handmade, it's almost certainly just an issue with this little fellow, as Panda looked quite fine.

The backside continued the stripe pattern from around the front and even has a little tail on the back. So very cute! And better yet, the actual stitching is fairly well hidden except for a little bit of the final stitching on the bottom, which was added after the little fellows were stuffed. However, since you're not likely to be looking down there, it's not really a problem, either.

According to Kat: "Baby Square Bears always have a shocked expression on their adorable little faces because everything surprises them! Spider on the floor? They're surprised! Come home from work? They're surprised! Take them on a vacation? They're surprised!" So, perhaps with the bears outside, it was time to check that theory. What do you think of that big blue sky, little guys?

Yep, they're surprised at it. But this is their first time out in the outside world, so they're perhaps expected to be surprised. But they were also intrigued and wanted to explore this "outside." I figured it couldn't hurt them, so I tagged along for the trip into the great unknown.

The bears frolicked around a bit, first coming upon this big circular thing that was hollowed out inside. I explained to them that it was called a drain pipe, and they immediately wanted to go play inside of it. I thought better of letting them play in whatever runoff was in there from last night, so I encouraged them to go explore a bit more.

They did just that, wandering around and taking in everything they saw with such surprise. Even door stops were new and exciting things to them!

Panda has apparently never seen a rock before. Hate to break it to you, little fellow, but that's nothing to really be THAT surprised about. They're everywhere.

Panda also got to experience real flowers, a first for him. I'm not sure whether he was surprised by their smell or that they weren't plastic, but as you can tell, those little surprised expressions on their faces make for some great and sometimes rather humorous photos!

In the meanwhile, Brown Bear got away from me. I happened to find him inside checking out the release valve on the boiler, staring at it with that ever-present gaze. And that's when I figured it might be time to take the bears back home for the night. Something about their curiosity possibly making my place explode in flames didn't sit well with me.

Want to pick one up? Then head on over to Kat's Etsy store, where each one is only $10. As far as I know, there's no limit yet on how many she's making, but you can never be too sure, so head on over and pick one, or two, or four up today!