Every Sabbath afternoon I Skype with my mom and sister. Almost four months ago during one of our
regular Sabbath afternoon Skype chats, my sister, Dawn, mentioned a brainstorm she’d
had for a new product. It was an
animal-shaped bean bag with an attached blanket. She can—and likely will—share her story of
how she came up with the idea, but what she wanted to know was if I’d ever heard of
a similar product. She wanted to patent
the idea and copyright the name--Snugglins, but wanted to be sure it hadn’t already been
done. The idea sounded interesting and
when she showed me the prototype for her product, a kangaroo beanbag with a
pouch perfect for snuggling in, it proved ingenious.
The idea was so brilliant, I figured someone
must have done it. It’s a terrible thing
to say but one tends to think audaciously inventive new products are created by
magical strangers, not people you actually know. But as it turns out this amazing new product
is my sister’s creation and I couldn’t be prouder.
So what makes the Snugglin’s concept special?
Creativity: The idea
of attaching a soft blanket to a cozy bean bag to make the perfect nest to
snuggle up in with a good book (or your favorite device) is innovative in and
of itself. But it’s the execution that
really stands out. Dawn came up with
whimsical, charming ways to incorporate the blanket into each unique
Snugglin. Of course theres the pouch of
the Kangaroo, and wings of the ostrich, bat, and cardinal. But there’s also the tail of the peacock, the
pig’s mud blanket, and the “water” that shoots of the elephants trunk to create
a cozy aquatic wrap. There’s also the
legs of the large birds that serve as a storage stand. One remarkable aspect of
this artistic approach to her chairs, is her willingness to take custom
orders. She told me that she loves the
custom orders because they give her opportunity to continue creating.
 |
| "Desi" the camel started out as a custom order. One of my sister's customers wanted a double beanbag so that she could hang out with her son in their Snugglin. This awesome couch of a camel is the result! |
Craftsmanship: One
of the things I love about Snugglins is their lifelike appearance. Rather than stick with a simple, cartoonish
design that I’ve seen on other animal-style bean bags, Dawn chose to create
creatures that feel like they could come alive.
Her attention to detail is fantastic from the gorgeous, long eyelashes
on the giraffe to the sparkling sequins embedded in the peacocks tail,
each Snugglin is a work of art.
 |
Quality: Snugglin’s
are not factory-made. Instead each one,
is hand-crafted by Dawn. Rather than
choose one type of fabric, buy it in bulk, and make multiple animals with only
slight variation in material and design, she selects materials based on what
she needs for each Snugglin. I’m not
sure how she’ll keep this up as her business inevitably scales up, but I do
know that she is committed to being involved in and overseeing every aspect of
her business right down to the tags on each Snugglin. I have no doubt that this care and attention to quality will remain long after
Snugglins have become a household name.
 |
| "Ossie" the Ostrich on his storage stand and snuggling up to his pal below |
Be sure to Like Snugglins on Facebook and check out the Snugglins website to place your order to snuggle into your very own Snugglin.
No comments:
Post a Comment