The Beauty of Growth & Change...

Friends, I am very excited to share some positive changes taking place in the Zoo Family! 

When we started our small business, ZooNique Baby, in 2007 it was soon after welcoming our 4th child to our family. It was the perfect way to help fund our charitable giving and has faithfully done that for over 10 years now. We are so very grateful!

Fast forward to the present.....we are now a family with 6 children, active foster care advocates in our community, and my sewing continues to be focused on charitable giving. Time is limited, as you know, and we have decided that the weight and expense of operating a small home-based business be better prioritized elsewhere. We are saying goodbye to ZooNique Baby, and it will always be a fond memory of family's growing.

I will continue to sew. Sewing is as much a part of me as breath. However, it will no longer be as ZooNique Baby. You can find and follow me as Hopeful Threads, on facebook HERE, Instagram HERE, and a very neglected blog HERE. 

I will soon be changing the name and purpose of my ZooNique Baby facebook page to serve as "THE SHOP" for Hopeful Threads. This is where I will continue to offer my handmade items, but you will be able to see with each purchase what the items are financially supporting. Local friends, for now, I will also continue to have a small selection of items in the gift shop of Echelon Florist in the Rocky Hill community of Knoxville. 

I look forward to this exciting new adventure and hope you will continue to follow along and share with your friends & family!

With love, gratitude & HOPE,

Kristy for the Zoo Family

Individually hand-crafted gifts for your every occassion!

Whether you are brand new to ZooNique Baby or you've been here from the start, it's always important to know the "WHY?" behind what we do. 

This post gives a more detailed explanation of why we started our family business and where our initial inspiration came from. It's one I love to read again and again! 

This post shares some beautiful images and refreshing reminders of what keeps us going.

Additionally, I host a sewing blog with the primary focus of charitable sewing. This blog is called Hopeful Threads and you are most welcome to follow along there as well. One of the biggest and only ongoing projects at Hopeful Threads is the FLUFF Project. The FLUFF Project is especially near and dear to the hearts of our family members, as we work to regularly provide stuffed friends for children in foster care in our community. 

You can read all about the FLUFF Project here. 

So, that gives you a good idea of the heart and drive behind ZooNique Baby. :)

As things have progressed with my Hopeful Threads sewing, it's required I adjust what I'm able to do through ZooNique Baby. Over the years I have done this at different times, and we're once again ready to shift some things around. 

For one, we no longer have a .com web address. The maintenance and energy it took to keep up to date was just not something that was a priority for my time. So, this blog will serve as our online world along with our facebook page....and potentially a few other social media outlets....I'll keep you posted on that of course! ;) 

I take great pride in working with my hands to individually create special gifts for those you love and while the majority of my sells occur locally, I do plan to, at least occasionally, post available items to my facebook page. Keep watch there if interested.

I want to thank you all for your continued support of our family business! Your help has allowed us to be able to give countless handmade donations within our own community and across the globe! 

Looking forward to what's ahead!

Kristy

ZooNique Baby

CH-CH-CH-Changes!!!

Things are changing....but this is good! :)

In trying to find the best balance and use of our time and energy, the best way for our family to share what we have with our community, we are making some adjustments to the way we do a lot of things. This includes ZooNique Baby. 

We are excited to soon share our plans for a more simplified approach with a more purposeful focus. 

Stay tuned....

:) The ZooNique Family

A Gratitude GIVEAWAY!!!

 Did you see that ZooNique Baby was participating in this awesome giveaway to help support and raise awareness for the work of The Rebecca Foundation's Cloth Diaper Closet? If you haven't entered yet, there is still time, just jump over to the Zephyr Hill blog here to get the details. :)

Well, I was so excited to see that the giveaway had ALREADY reached the 10,000 entry goal this morning, which would provide a donation of covers for the Cloth Diaper Closet from Zephyr Hill blogger, Anne, that I have decided to offer my own little giveaway here as a THANK YOU! :)

 Here's the scoop....

I've not been sewing many diapers lately due to a precious new addition to our family, but I do have a small stack I've been working on for donation to the diaper closet. I'd like to add one of these ADORABLE Suess Thing 1 & Thing 2 diapers to the pile in honor of YOU & YOUR Little One!

The winner of this giveaway will get to choose which of these diapers they would like to add to their own personal stash, and then the other will be donated to The Rebecca Foundation's Cloth Diaper Closet in your honor! :)

Diaper Details:

• Both are Size Medium - Made from a Babyville Boutique pattern with a weight range of 18-28lbs.
• Both are POCKET style diapers.
• Both have an inner layer of white suede-cloth
• The turned and top-stitched diaper has a snap closure, and the red FOE bound diaper has a hook & loop closure.

 To enter, simply follow the Rafflecopter prompts below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway open to anyone eligible, with a US shipping address.

Winner announced Saturday, 6/15/13 and allowed 48 hours to respond or BOTH diapers will be added to the donation pile for the Cloth Diaper Closet. *Please remember, giveaways are suppose to be fun. :) The purpose of this one is to show our support for the Cloth Diaper Closest and our gratitude for those of you that have taken the time to learn more about them and the work they are doing.*

Thanks for showing your support of the GIVING BACK efforts of The Rebecca Foundation's Cloth Diaper Closest!

Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013!!!!

It's time for another record breaking year!!!

The 2013 Great Cloth Diaper Change is scheduled for April 20, 2013.

Get all the details on the Great Cloth Diaper Change website here. 

If you are in the Knoxville, TN area, you can get local details on the Knoxville Natural Parenting Expo website here. 

And follow the Great Cloth Diaper Change, Knoxville facebook page here. 

ZooNique Baby is proud to be supporting this years event again!

We have collaborated with our friends at Echelon Florist and Thirty-One Consultant, Anne Little to donate this incredible prize valued at $150 to be given away to one of the participants at the event!!!

BE THE CHANGE!

Mark your calenders and invite all your friends! 

It's sure to be another great event!

JOIN THE FLUFF!!!

We are very excited to be participating in some super squishy fun all for a great cause!

Fluff For Foster Care at Hopeful Threads

You can get all the details on the link above. 

We are trying to collect as many NEW stuffed toys as we can for the month of April, as a way of celebrating our youngest daughter's 1 year adoption anniversary from foster care!

Will you join us???

Local Friends, Echelon Florist has agreed to be a drop-off location AND they are offering a 10% discount on their in-stock plush toys if you choose to purchase your donation items. 

Echelon Florist

7505 Northshore Drive

Knoxville TN 37919

++ADDITIONALLY++

If you plan to attend this year's Great Cloth Diaper Change on April 20, 2013 at the Knoxville Convention Center, you can drop of your stuffed toys there as well!!! Just bring your NEW items to the Info. Desk at the event and you will EARN tickets for your chance at prizes to be given away throughout the day!!!! 

HOW FUN!!! I just love a win/win like that!

pssssst!!! There will be a super great donation collaborated on by me and a couple of friends....I'll share more later this month, but you are DEFINITELY going to want your chance to win it! 

Be sure and keep up with all the excitement on the Great Cloth Diaper Change, Knoxville facebook page here. 

A very warm THANK YOU from the ZooNique Family!

We appreciate each and every one of you being a part of this special time in our lives!

Feeding Tube Awareness + GIVEAWAY!!!

February 10-16 2013, is Feeding Tube Awareness Week!

For all the details and daily events, be sure to visit FeedingTubeAwareness.org

To show our support and in honor of our most special Lil' Buddy Eli, we are hosting a giveaway especially for our Tube-wearing friends!

When Eli first got his tube, his mommy asked if I could help make him some little "button pads" to help keep his skin dry around the tube, and so together, we came up with these...

Isn't he the cutest thing EVER!?!?!?!! :)

Yea, I think so too!

If you sew, I've created a free tutorial to show how I have made these and you can find it on my sewing blog, Hopeful Threads, here.

If you would like the chance to WIN a DOZEN of your own, then leave a comment on this post and tell me whether you would choose....

Girl Prints

Boy Prints 

OR 

Solid Natural 

+ Your Email (so I can reach you if you win!)

1 Comment Per Person

The WINNER will get a dozen in their choice of the above, and made in the size you feel will fit best....Small 2 1/2", Medium 3 1/2" or Large 4 1/2".

This giveaway is open to US Entrants only. I will randomly select a winner and announce here 2/16/13. PLEASE leave your email with your comment so I can get in touch with you if you win....if I can't reach you, I have to pick another winner....no fun! Feel free to type it like this, info(at)zooniquebaby(dot)com to avoid any unnecessary spam magnets!

WINNER IS....
StephFebruary 11, 2013 at 12:58 PM

boy prints

livngabesmomma@gmail.com

Congrats! Check your email for a message from me! :)

Also, if you'd like to keep up with when I have these available for purchase, I invite you to follow ZooNique Baby on facebook here.