Sock Monkey Name Generator

Find your sock monkey name!!!

Have fun & let us know what your sock monkey name is in the comment section below :)

Enter to win our Facebook Contest HERE. The contest starts today April 19 2013 and ends Monday, April 22, 2013 at 7:00 am.

Make sure to visit us this weekend at the Petawawa Showcase!!!

Socky Sunday ~ Rockford Red Heels

We are starting a new feature here at Jumping on the Bed - Socky Sunday!!!

For the first of these posts we are featuring the original sock that inspired the creation of the sock monkey ~ the Original Rockford Red Heel Socks. When you think of a traditional sock monkey this is exactly what you imagine.

These types of toys were influenced by the Victorian Era's craze for stuffed animals & the interest in exotic animals from Africa. Wool socks of this type were first manufactured starting in 1890 by the Nelson Knitting Company in Rockford, Illinois. It wasn't until around 1932 that they began to include the trademark red heel. The Great Depression was what caused people to repurpose worn out socks into these children's toys.

  I love working with these socks. I had a request recently to make a reproduction of a favorite childhood sock monkey for an adult. She had a sock monkey made from the traditional brown colour like the  one pictured at left. I had to use the pattern that was included on the sock packaging in order to make the hat also. The customer was so happy! She had one just like it when she was approximately 6 years old & it had gotten lost. I LOVE MAKING MONKEYS!!!

                                                                       Today the Fox River Mills Company owns the patent on the original Rockford Red Heeled Socks & is keeping the tradition of sock monkeys alive & well. They make these fabulous socks in grey, pink & blue also. Their website includes other fun monkey style socks, sock monkey kits & even John Deere licensed socks (as well as many other high quality socks). Anything purchased from their website is totally worth the cost of shipping it from the United States.

There is just something so fun about making this type of sock monkey. Whether it is giving an adult a long, lost friend or introducing a child to a brand new life-long friend there is the feeling that you are connecting with past generations and making a toy that someone will love for a very long time :)

We Were Blue...Were You?

Each April 2, Autism Speaks celebrates Light It Up Blue along with the international autism community, in commemoration of the United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day. Light It Up Blue is a unique global initiative that kicks-off Autism Awareness Month and helps raise awareness about autism. In honor of this historic day, many iconic landmarks, hotels, sporting venues, concert halls, museums, bridges and retail stores are among the hundreds of thousands of homes and communities that take part to Light It Up Blue.

My personal favorite is seeing some of our beautiful Canadian landmarks lit up in this way.
 

While this blog post is not part of our featured Community Charity Champions we do still feel that much more awareness needs to be raised on this topic.
 

Chances are you know someone who has autism or someone with a child who has autism as approximately 1 in 95 children are born with some form of this neurological disorder.
 

Personally I have had the privilege to meet 3 amazing kids with autism ~  both through personal acquaintances and co-workers. Lighting it up Blue isn't doesn't only support people with autism, but also the families and workers who support and care for them.

 

Sock Monkey Mamas lent it's own support by creating a special sock monkey just for the occasion. Just as other causes have a special ribbon that represent them the autism ribbon is very unique. It features brightly coloured puzzle pieces ~ which is just what our sock monkey looks like :)

 

We names our monkey "Blue" to honour this special day (which coincidentally is also the birthday of our Monkey Mama Linda!!!). Blue went to live with a very special little guy who has autism. We are really looking forward to pictures of them together!

 

For anyone interested in getting a glimpse of what it is like for a person with autism you should watch the movie Temple Grandin starring Claire Danes (one of my favorite actresses). This movie was recommended to me by the head of the local autism chapter and is truly inspiring. Here is one of my favorite Temple quotes:

 

 

“The worst thing you can do is nothing.

 

(re: teaching children with autism)”  

― Temple Grandin

E.B. is Pro S.M.

 

 

I LOVE long weekends with my kids! This past weekend was extra special as Easter is one of the holidays we like to make extra special for the children...not to mention it was Miss Baby's FIRST Easter!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Since 2006 I have been doing a special Easter hunt with the kids where they each receive a special stuffie (usually of the long-eared persuasion), but these critters must be found using clues in the form of photographs. Each photo shows the bunny hiding somewhere in the house so the kids have to travel from location to location finding subsequent clues hidden with candies and other treats until they find their furry friends and the hunt is over.







This year the Easter Bunny seemed to have caught Sock Monkey Fever too ~ We are CONTAGIOUS PEOPLE!!! In each of the photos all that was visible in each pictorial hint was the location and a pair of ears...the identity of the beloved bunnies remained a mystery...then it turned out they weren't bunnies at all ~ but masquerading monkeys!

Turns out even the baskets this year were sock monkey inspired. We had a fabulous time searching & seeking out the new additions to the sock jungle. I love how they all have the traditional look with the bright & funky colours :) We also had a great time dressing up Miss Brynn as my own personal cutie bunny <3<3<3

 

 

 

 

Hoppy Easter!!!

Bunnies in the jungle??? You betcha! Lots of different bunnies have joined in on our monkeying around and you can bet that the Easter Bunny isn't far behind. We've created sock bunnies, sock bunnikins and sock bun-buns just in time for all kinds of egg-hunting fun!!!

 

Violette and Astrid Bunnikin are attending an Easter tea party hosted by Bluebelle Bunnikin. Everyone is dressed in their Easter best...I wonder what kind of tea they are drinking? Clover? Maybe honeysuckle? Well, they aren't telling me...but I think I overheard some gossip about who the cutest bunny in the burrow was...their secret is safe with me ;)

These full sized sock bunny twins Skittles & Starburst are done up in their best & brightest Springish colours! They are charged up and ready for some egg dying & chocolate hunting adventures. I've had to make sure all the treats in the house are out of reach as they are hyper enough without the added sugar. It is hard to say no to requests for jelly beans when Starburst flutters those eyelashes.

Then there are the bun-buns...talk about a bunch of chatter-boxes. I don't know how many times I have to get up at night & tell them to go to sleep. It is like a full-blown slumber party all the time with all the giggling. These little critters love to play hide & go seek. Did I mention they like to snuggle? My kids think they look like little Easter eggs - too cute!

Since I began this blog at the start of this month the response has been overwhelming! We are up to almost 200 views after only a handful of posts. I would like to offer our readers a chance to vote on my next post topic. For all of you crafters out there - I am offering to create a tutorial: would you like to have a crochet pattern for one of the tutus worn by a Bunnikin OR  would you like a tutorial on how to sew a Bun-bun? Vote by leaving us a comment below, on our Facebook page or by email through our website. I will give everyone a week to vote & will then post the winning tutorial. Have a great Easter everyone!!!

 

THEEND

Community Charity Champions - Katie Bears

We here at Sock Monkey Mamas believe in giving back ~ especially in our community. With this in mind we are going to start a feature we call: Community Charity Champions! Every month we will be auctioning off one of our custom, hand made sock critters to benefit our charity of choice. You will be able to bid online at our Facebook page using a special event invitation. We would really appreciate it if you could help us out  - bid on the item, share our event with others or donate directly to the charity itself!

This month we are featuring Katie Bears! We first came across this amazing charity  last year at the wedding of our close friend Kelsey. In August of 2009 Kelsey's close friend Katie passed away at a very young age. Lynda & Ian Fraser started this charity to honor their daughter Katie's generous spirit. You can find out more about their story HERE on their website.

Katie Bears donates stuffed animals to sick children or anyone else who needs one. The charity is so popular that they received donations of stuffed animals to the point where they ran out of kids to donate them to in Renfrew County. So what did they do? They took their show on the road - donating toys and money to build schools in Jamaica!!! Truly amazing...this April the Katie Bears crew is participating in the 19th Annual Max Keeping Foundation Rock n' Bowl April 6, 2013 AND THEY ARE IN NEED OF SPONSORS!!! Check out how to donate HERE  or check out their Facebook page HERE.

To help out with such valiant efforts Sock Monkey Mamas has created our first ever sock BEAR! We will be auctioning off this bear named Katja (she is a Russian circus bear) to aid in Katie Bear's fundraising for the bowling event. Check out the details of how you can bid on our Events Page.  As always any kind of support is appreciated. Bid &/or share the event on Facebook in support of this fabulous charity!

WE LOVE YOU KATIE BEARS!!!

 

 

Welcome to Our Jungle

Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun & games.  (I don't think there is anything wrong with a little G&R reference in a blog about kids toys...do you?)  As for the fun & games,  roll out the barrel baby 'cause we've got a barrel of sock monkeys!!! Technically a group of monkeys can be called a cartload, a tribe or a troop - but my favorite term is a barrel. A lot of the time that is what I think our house could be classified as - a big ole barrelful of monkeys. 

 

"Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun & games!"






Now when we have our big holiday family gatherings I can visualize the monkey in all of us. All the adults & children get so loud & rowdy that I get this mental image of cartoon-esque overactive primates - arms flailing, wildly screeching and swinging from the chandelier. What causes this I am unsure...maybe we are all undiagnosed hyperactive-hypoglycemics (or hyper-hypos for you Mike Myers/SNL fans)... maybe it's just the excitement of being together. Whatever...if the tail fits...

Since we've started making sock monkeys my kids have a really hard time letting them go to the craft sales & onto their forever homes. If they were allowed - my kids would keep every single one. I can't count how many times I've heard:

 

"Oh, mommy...I LOVE this monkey...can I keep it?"

I have a hard time saying no so I have let them keep SOME of our stuffed friends. There are ones they have become particularly attached to. Belle's first monkey is Strawberry. Strawberry has red rhinestone BLING attached to her & a pretty pink crocheted strawberry on her belly. Then she has Electra Leopard who is the opposite of Strawberry. One seems sweet & innocent ~ the other wild & mischievous. Then there is Splat who was a little camera shy (meaning lost in the melee of my girly's room). She is made from a black knee high sock so her arms, legs & tail are EXTRA long. The name Splat was inspired by the bright, rainbow coloured splotches all over her.

Ben on the other hand has Sockodile & Pete the Pirate. They are extremely unique & the first of their kind. He also has Steve (who is not pictured here). Steve is his absolute favorite & the sock monkey who started us on this crazy journey. He will be featured in his own blog post in the near future.

If you travel back to my first blog entry you will see baby Brynn's first sock monkey made for her by her Grammy. It is a tradition that little girls in our family get a pink stuffie when they are born. Since these critters usually end up with the name Pinkie, I'm guessing that is what the name will be. I can't wait until she begins to talk to find out what she will name her sock monkey or how many she will want to keep for herself like her older siblings.

Kiss Me ~ I'm Irish

This week we would like to welcome a new clan of Irish sock monkeys to our jungle! With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner these critters are the perfect way to add a little green to your day.

We are pleased to introduce Paddy O'Reilly, Mary Kelly, Erin go Bragh and Shaemus Flannigan . If you would like to meet the rest of the clan please visit our Facebook site . There you will also find the prices to adopt these St. Patrick's Party Animals to their forever homes.

There was quite a ruckus in the Jumping on the Bed household when these monkeys were ready for their photo shoot. Mad Irish jigs, wild Celtic dancing and requests for green Kool-Aid were rampant! Paddy declared himself head leprechaun and everyone loved his maniacal, crazy red-bearded laughter. Kelly was in a romantic mood & was looking for smooches just because her button said so. Shaemus and Erin were dancing away like nobody's business!


 

So this St. Patrick's Day ~ May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rains fall softly on your fields...and may one of these sock monkeys bring you luck!!!


 

Introduction to Sock Monkey Mamas

Beds...beds? Oh yes, we have many beds. King, queen, double, bunk, baby and even doggie beds. I can guarantee at any given moment in our household one or more of these beds contains a sock monkey. And there is probably jumping involved.

Welcome to the inaugural blog post for Sock Monkey Mamas! This blog will follow our family adventures in the creation of our new OBSESSION - making and selling sock monkeys!!! Therefore the address for this blog: nomoremonkies.blogspot.ca and the title Jumping on the Bed are both very fitting :)

This is the newest member of our family: Miss Baby. She is only 4 months old now. I love this picture of her and the baby monkey Grammy made her...this monkey came with its own blankie. We will introduce the rest of our crazy clan in future posts.

Thanks for joining us. I'm sure there will be lots of ups, downs & sideways along the way. But we can't wait to introduce you to our human family & extended family of sock critters. We hope you will have as much fun as we do following our progress!!!