Teddy Bear Workshop Offers Unique Christmas Gifts to Salt Lake Shoppers

If you're worried that a child on your list will be hard to shop for, head no further than the Gateway's Build-a-Bear workshop, where you can turn shopping for a new friend into a fun day out for the whole family.

As opposed to just buying a by-the-books plush for your child, the Build-a-Bear store allows your child to select just what he or she wants in a friend: you can dress your bear up as anything from the standards such as Santa or perhaps a nurse to more exotic and holiday themed outfits such as a pilgrim or a NASCAR driver. You can even order a bear with your favorite NBA player's jersey.

If there's a holiday or occasion, Build-a-Bear has something to offer, from Veteran's Day bears dressed in fatigues to green-furred St. Patrick's day teddy bears. However, don't let holidays limit your design options. There are bridal- and baby-shower bears, track-suited jogger bears with cellular phones, Harley-Davidson bears in leather, and animals for pet lovers such as huskies, collies, poodles, and kittens.

The Build-a-Bear process begins with choosing a bear from the workshop's collection of over thirty animals, some of which start at just ten dollars. You can also record a message or select a voice box for your bear so that, when squeezed or hugs, it will play a prerecorded sound or a message you record. Then, you select a heart to be placed inside the bear with the cotton stuffing, which you can stuff yourself.

The bears at the workshop are made with a patented pre-lace system so that even the tiniest hands can help with the project after stuffing, and after your bear is created you can enter the name in the workshop's Find-a-Bear database, which helps return lost bears to their owners. The database also allows you or your child to print out a custom birth certificate featuring a name of their choosing.

The process at Build-a-Bear is designed to be personal and fun for everyone from children to their parents, and the company succeeds: on any given day, you can enter the store and see people creating their own bears for a gift or for themselves.