Stuffed animals from yard sales

Last year I had a huge yard sale and I was amazed at just how many dog owners that came by to buy the kids' old stuffed animals as toys. At first I was a little heartbroken because well, we had a lot of memories in some of them and would have assumed they would be picked up by some new little kid.

By the end, though, I was out there helping them tug on eyes and accessories to make sure they weren't joking hazards, ha!! It was so awesome to hear things like "oh Gidget is going to absolutely love tearing the head off this one!"

 

Haha! So be sure when you sell stuffs you detach yourself from the memories shared with it. I also love stuff animals. I have two Snoopy stuff pet, one dress in lime green Easter bunny outfit, and the other one naked. Stuff toys are also good to donate to institutions or orphanage. Here in our country, especially on yuletide season, you will see many box accepting toys to give to children’s home.

 

I am not fun of stuffed toys but I like stuffed animals.
I do have very few like dog and pig.
Yes it sounds fun that they are excited to see how they pets would tear them apart. LOL

 

Hehe, yeah. We kept any stuffed toys that had -major- memories attached, but it was still a little shocking, ya know? I'd never seen/heard of dog owners doing that before, but it obviously makes sense. Very cheap toys that they'll love and it's not a huge deal if you have to toss them out after a couple weeks because you only paid a quarter or two.

And our local shops are overflowing with stuffed animals and actually ask people to -not- continue donating them simply because they don't have the room for them and people rarely buy them. Generally those who shop there or get donations from the places need the necessities and not more toys for their kids.

 

I guess you're right. But with kids, they would always want new toys be it second-hand. I guess the old ones should be recycled and turn it into, like, pillow cases or storage bags. It could be use or be sold to spend for the necessities.

 

I think buying stuffed animals at yard sales is a great idea for doggies. Tried that last year because mine are always trying to take the grandbabies stuffed animals. Well, seems like my doggies only like to steal and play with stuffed animals that belong to the kids. Purchasing new toys does nothing for them. I think they like the smell. Yes, I wash used stuffed toys. Removing the plastic eyes and button noses is a good idea. Like it was stated above, shoppers like to spend money on pets and love watching a dog tear up stuffed animals.

 

Oh well. Better that they tear up stuffed animals than home furniture like the upholstered ones and the pillows.

 

Recycling is a good idea. I am not into stuffed toys. Actually can't remember ever having any. But I do have old clothes with lots of memories. So I convert them into floor mats and wipe cloths. Kind of like use them to the last shred. If I were to keep all the old clothes with memories, I would need a whole room just to store them. So I make do with the memories in my head instead.

 

I had a limited number as a kid. The piles we were getting rid of are from when we took in the kids a few years ago and everybody under the sun assumed they needed toys. :S And their grandma would send stuffed animals for every holiday, which is weird, because she never seemed to be into them before. It meant we ended up with a ton of them over a short amount of time (multiply each holiday by 3-4 kids). Most of them didn't have any memories, but some certainly did, so it was a little weird at first. Then I was just thrilled to get rid of them!

We keep only the very most special clothes (like the most worn as a toddler, a special occasion/event, whatever) and cut the fronts off...or a tiny scrap. My mom used to make t-shirt/memory quilts, so we always had the intentions of doing one for ourselves, too. My entire childhood is summed up in a tiny grocery bag of scraps, lol. The rest was donated or turned into cleaning rags.

 

Here's a totally unscientific observation. I think kids who are into stuffed toys big time are suffering from hug deprivation. Like they don't get enough hugging from their parents. And parents who are into giving stuffed toys big time are suffering from substitution delusion. Like they delude themselves into thinking that giving their kids stuffed toys would be a good substitute for the hugging which they should be giving the kids.

Like I said, a totally unscientific observation. Probably biased, too. Biased as in suffering from stuffed toy envy since I never had any when I was a kid. The full-sized stuffed toy which some people said was my wife doesn't count.

 

Victor, you're not alone. My mom could totally relate to you. She told me when she was a kid that her dolls were coke bottles and that she'd take torn pieces of clothing and sew it to make little dresses for them. If you weren't able to own one, you're not alone.

My dogs love stuff toys too. And they usually rip it apart before the day ends. I also love buying from yard sales because they're cheap. One time, I was able to get a very pretty pillow for $2.50. Thankfully, it's still in perfect shape.

 

Well at least they'll be used, right? I'm sure the dogs were definitely thankful for having some new toys.

 

My dogs would end up eating the stuffing, which is dangerous. Careful your dogs aren't swallowing what they're tearing up or they could end up with an intestinal blockage. My neighbor had to have his dog put to sleep because the dog got a blockage from eating carpet .

 

^ Definitely be careful. That's why most of them were so set on making sure the eyes or arms couldn't be ripped off, because they didn't want them to get injured. As soon as a toy gets ripped apart, you should really dispose of it immediately anyway because of the exact reason you mentioned.

That's really sad to hear about the carpet causing that.

 

That is very definitely something to keep in mind. That's why I gave Candy a coconut to chew on. The fibers of the husk are all biodegradable. Anyway Candy was too smart to eat that.

 

My Homer has never been interested in stuffed toys. He couldn't care less about them. I gave him some of my old toys, but he completely ignored them. It's weird because usually, he loves destroying things. He always tears up tissues.

 

My dog only seems interested in shaking Beanie Babies because they make a rattling noise. He also likes toys that squeak. If the toy doesn't make some kind of noise, he ignores it.

 

Maybe try throwing them for him? Homer doesn't ignore his toys only when I use them to play fetch with him. He loves chasing things and he always runs really fast and barks cheerfully, we have a lot of fun when we do this