My Greatest Gift

Greetings, Precious Moments collectors! Just in time for Mother's Day, we have a very special post to share from our own Director of Product Development. We hope you enjoy...

As a teenager, I was very free-spirited and independent. I was ready to tackle to world, and as a result, I left home at a young age. My Mother was not ready to let me go, but she knew it was what I wanted so she did her best to let me spread my wings.

Over the years, my Mother has found little ways to stay connected with me. She sends me little letters just to say, “I love you,” and leaves me voice messages just to hear my voice on the answering machine. For a while I thought this was silly, and I didn’t really understand why my Mother did these things; but deep down I truly loved it. Now, as the mother of two beautiful little girls, I understand why she did those things to stay close. Sending the little one you cared for and nurtured for years off into the big world is like sending a piece of your heart away with them.

The moment I saw the PM My Greatest Gift collection, I was instantly reminded of the wonderful moments I shared with my Mother. The story each piece tells is so touching and so true-to-life. The sentiment perfectly expresses each touching moment, and the tear is the detail that completes each scene. I believe this collection expresses the special bond of a mother and daughter, because there is noting quite like this unique relationship. My daughters are truly my life’s greatest gift, and I personally own the entire collection in hopes that one day I’ll tell them why they are so meaningful to me. I can only dream that they will share the story with their own children. My favorite issue in the collection is the last one, which I feel is the perfect ending. The title, “Always and Forever My Little Girl,” captures the sum of my feelings towards my own little girls. Plus I really love the shoes; they are super cute!

Children always hold a place in a Mom’s heart, and you never really let them go completely. Through a Mother’s eyes, and in her heart, you will always be her little girl no matter how old you become. I hope that these “Precious Moments” will bring joy to your heart and a smile to your face like they do for me.

Learn more about this collection now!

Big Firsts

Do you remember your first bike? Your first roller skates? How about your first swing set? Many of us can remember these fun firsts—they were bigger, more important toys. These were the toys that lasted for years and had many memories created because of them.

This past weekend we bought our 4-year old son his first bicycle. What an exciting day! What started as a trip to the mall to replace worn out sneakers turned into an excursion to the sporting good store to look at bicycles. Until last weekend, he was riding a big wheel around in the driveway and on the sidewalks in our neighborhood, but it was just too small for him. So he is now the proud owner of a cool new bike and bike helmet.

He LOVES riding it, and luckily, he even likes wearing the helmet. When I was a kid, we didn’t wear helmets, but today is a different time. The fact that he now owns a bike is actually a very good thing for me. It means that I have to go on bike rides with him. It forces me to exercise, which is nice. Admittedly, pedaling around behind a 4-year old isn’t a workout, but it’s time outdoors in the fresh spring air. Yesterday afternoon I rode behind him around the neighborhood on his bike. He stops a lot, and for no apparent reason. Sometimes he tells me he is stopping for gas, even though I’ve told him a dozen times that bikes just don’t need gas.

Here he is on the new bike with the new bike helmet…with the new sneakers, too. I am looking forward to another ride this afternoon!



This morning another member of our Teardrop Eyes team told me about her weekend, which was equally big. Actually, it was much bigger. Literally! She and her husband did what my husband and I never dared to do.

They bought a swing set for their 2-year old daughter. And they decided to assemble it on their own!

“Swing set” really doesn’t accurately describe what they purchased. I’m not talking about a swing set with the A-frame and a couple of swings. “Play set” is the better term. It holds multiple children and can be crawled on. It has a curvy slide, a window box, a sandbox and a second story landing. Not for faint-of-heart parents, these mammoth creations are often sold with an optional set-up charge because toy stores know most parents aren’t brave enough to take on that kind of do-it-yourself project. They actually bought the set a couple weeks ago. After sealing every piece of wood in the set with weather sealer, they were finally ready to begin construction. They boldly started assembly at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. Day 1 concluded around 11:00 p.m., and this was after a couple of trips to the hardware store to buy extra bolts that weren’t included in the kit. (Because if you’ve ever tried to put something of this scale together, you know there’s almost always something missing. And it’s usually something important, like bolts.)

She and her husband are still assembling the play set. They have the actual swing set part complete, but everything else is still under construction. Their 2-year old is getting anxious, too! See, she’s a Dora the Explorer fan, and Dora got a swing set, so she wants one, too!

Here she is posing with the play set as it looks now:



One thing is certain—when this play set is complete, she is in for a treat. As I said before, this is one of those toys she’ll remember for the rest of her life.

If you’re curious about what this play set will look like when it’s fully assembled, you can see a photo of it here.

A Precious Moment Is Worth A Few Very Good Words

The titles for Precious Moments figurines make all the difference, don’t they? It’s part of what endears so many people to them. You can look at the product and think it’s sweet, but then when you turn the figurine upside down to look at the base, the title truly provides the “awww” factor that makes the little teardrop-eyed children so memorable!

For over three decades, Precious Moments figurines have captured the hearts of collectors. Those teardrop eyes are unmistakable and unparalleled, and their titles are a tremendous part of their appeal.

Precious Moments figurine titles often contain a pun that relates to the piece. For example, one of the most well-known Precious Moments figurines, “Love Lifted Me,” shows a little boy and girl on a see-saw.



Here is a more recent figurine titled “Drawing Us Closer Together,” which shows a sweet little boy looking up at his Mother while he draws with Crayola crayons.



Other Precious Moments figurines don’t incorporate titles. Some are more sentimental and focus on relationships. Here is a very popular piece titled, “My Granddaughter, My Joy.” In fact, the title is displayed on Grandmother’s apron, so no need to look on the bottom stamp for the title!



It’s worth noting that Sam Butcher, the creator of Precious Moments, was a chalkboard minister before he began drawing his innocent little teardrop-eyed children. Many of the figurines have an inspirational tone, and so do their corresponding titles. One of the most memorable is “Praise The Lord Anyhow,” portraying a little boy whose ice cream has fallen out of his cone, much to his dog’s delight.



Do you have a favorite Precious Moment figurine? Which one is it, and why is it your favorite? Does the title add to your enjoyment? We invite you to share with us on Facebook!

Welcome!

Welcome to 2010, and welcome to our blog! We want this to be a place to share ideas, information and stories about Precious Moments…those adorable little figurines with the teardrop eyes. With everything going on in the world—especially in our small corner of it—there’s something wonderfully comforting about our collections of porcelain figurines. They remind us of the simple, positive things that still exist all around us. All we need to do is simply keep our eyes open and look for them. We like to think that’s what Sam Butcher intended when he created them over 30 years ago.

So first, a little bit about us. We work at The Hamilton Collection and are a few of the folks behind those little teardrop-eyed children. Under the inspiration of the legendary Sam Butcher, we bring many of these figurines direct to you. We see so many positive things around us each day, and those simple moments and serene gestures are the inspiration behind Sam Butcher’s creations—we simply bring them to life. We all read blogs and are active on Facebook and other sites, yet we haven’t been able to find a place where we can share our passion for our Precious Moments collections. Now with this spot, we can.

So what’s on our mind the first week of this New Year and decade? The holidays! Yes, we admit we’re still mentally lingering in 2009. Of course we grudgingly took our Christmas decorations down. (Is it us, or does the house seem really empty after they’re all put away?) The stale cookies have been fed to the birds, and now we’re just sorting through all the pictures we took with our new digital cameras! (Miraculously, we figured out how to upload them off our cameras and into our computers!)

Christmas is a big time for Precious Moments, and one of our best selling pieces this year was the “Granddaughter, You Are My Sunshine” figurine. Here’s a photo. Isn’t she adorable? She makes us think of love, sunshine, and the sweetness of granddaughters. We hope she puts a smile on your face, too.