A bear for your collection but not for the faint-hearted!

As teddy bear artists we are always on the lookout for new and interesting materials to use in our craft.  Different colours, styles and textures.  Mohair and synthetics, there is a wide choice to inspire our creativity.  I have to say however, that I’m not keen to try this new material.  In fact I would go so far as to say, it’s more than a little creepy!

Placenta Teddy Bear

Pictured here is a teddy bear made from a real human placenta!  That’s right you did read that right and if you’re a little unsure of what that is, it’s the organ that’s delivered after giving birth to a baby.  I have to wonder at some peoples’ imagination and a need to be different that takes them into the realms of the weird.

This is one of the “toys” on display at “Doing it for the Kids” a sustainable toy show on tour in Britain at the moment. The placenta teddy bear is said to “celebrate the unity of the infant, the mother and the placenta.”

The Teddy Bear is displayed in a glass jar and was created by designer Alex Green, who supplies a “Twin Teddy Kit” which allows parents to turn their placenta into a one-of-a-kind keepsake teddy bear.  The process involves cutting the placenta in half and rubbing with sea salt to cure it.  Once dried it is then treated with a mixture of tannin and egg yolk to make it soft and pliable.  Then the “fabric” is ready to be sewn into a teddy, which is not intended to be a toy but rather a keepsake of the baby’s birth.

I am always keen to find new and exciting materials for Sambrook Bears to stock but I can safely say, that placenta will not be on sale any time soon!