Children’s drawings are super cute and most proud parents hang the masterpieces on their fridges or walls for the whole family to marvel at. After a while, though, they would disappear from view, being replaced by new drawings or simply tucked away in a memory box in the basement. But thanks to Alex Furmansky’s innovative company Budsies, now you can turn the wacky, colorful kids’ drawings into real life stuffed plush toys. Customers email photos of the drawing to Budsies, where a creative team of artists, designers and seamstresses work together to craft the toys.
In 2013, Furmansky got inspired by his younger sister’s cute drawings and had the idea to turn her creations into forever-lasting stuffed animal friends. The response from the customers was amazing and the company has sold more than 8,000 unique plush toys since its launch. Furmansky says that bringing children’s artwork to life and providing a product that’s so different than cookie-cutter mass-produced toys is an incredibly satisfying work. The most challenging part of the work, he adds, is “walking the line between making every toy look adorable, yet remaining true to the child artist’s vision.”
With children’s imagination being endless, Budsies have a lot of work on their hands. Check out some of the one-of-a-kind toys they’ve made so far below!