Charlotte's Journal– Cottontails Baby

Christmas so far.... (behind as ever!)

True to form I still haven't quite finished the Christmas Gift Guide (I know, I know... I despair of myself!) it should be ready in the next few days, but in the meantime I am filling in with an extension of the Black Rabbit Friday offer... hooray!

Remember 10% of all Black Rabbit Friday sales are being donated to SNORS Rabbit Sanctuary - so in buying something from that collection, you will be:

~ Saving money on a lovely toy or gift

~ Shopping small - supporting a small independent toy shop

~ Supporting a wonderful rabbit sanctuary

I have sold out of quite a few of the original wooden play sets in the offer, so if you are thinking about ordering something, I suggest you don't dawdle (which is a little bit rich coming from someone like me, I refer to the gift guide!) - and I will also be adding some more bits and bobs over the coming days too....

This afternoon is one of my days for visiting a rabbit rescue and I had thought about cancelling as I am so busy here, but I'm not going to do that - it's important for my wellbeing and theirs - plus I have a Christmas Fair to prepare for and then attend at the weekend, so realistically the gift guide will be coming out next week now. I am going to put a stake in the ground and promise Monday.... (which I might regret, but I can relax and enjoy the next few days if I truly believe Monday will see miracles!)

In the meantime - lots of lovely things to look through and browse, and THANK YOU to everyone who has ordered so far. Ralph and I truly appreciate it....

Charlotte

x

And Christmas is switched ON!

It may be a little late (isn't it always?!) but Cottontails is finally Christmas-ready!

Find lots of festive collections in the menu, plus I have added a festive touch to the logo bunny and home page illustration.

I have created collections for Baby's First Christmas, Traditional Favourites, Stocking Fillers and Little Decorations. There is also a New Arrivals collection - all the toys I have been busy listing over the past couple of weeks.

Additionally between now and the end of November you will find the Black Rabbit Friday sale - reductions on some gorgeous wooden toys (and I will donate 10% of all Black Rabbit Friday sales to the wonderful rabbit sanctuary SNORS - Special Needs and Older Rabbits - so in shopping the Black Rabbit Friday collection you will be saving money on lovely toys, supporting a tiny independent retailer AND supporting some poorly older bunnies. Definitely a positive way to do some Christmas shopping).

And as soon as we hit December 1st, it will be time for my favourite time in the Cottontails calendar - The Advent Bunnies! (Every day a different bunny is showcased, celebrated and added to The Advent Bunnies collection - like a long-eared hall of fame).

And now it's definitely time to open the mince pies!

Black Rabbit Friday - and support a rabbit rescue

I say this every year, but I am not really a fan of Black Friday. I won't waffle on about why - I'm sure you can imagine - but it definitely harms rather than helps a small toy shop in the run up to Christmas. (And every year it seems to start earlier and last for longer - I mean, it has turned into a whole bloody season now!)

However, I always try to do something that ticks the Black Friday box but also isn't just a soulless sale... so this year I am celebrating Black Rabbit Friday (as I call it) in two ways:

I am discounting some wooden toys - almost all of my Tender Leaf toys are on sale - these are lovely toys for Christmas - gorgeous play sets that all come in nice boxes
I am donating 10% of the Black Rabbit Friday sales to a wonderful rabbit charity called SNORS (Special Needs and Older Rabbits) - a rabbit sanctuary dedicated to offering love and care to older poorly bunnies.

If you would like to read a bit more about SNORS, you can visit the SNORS website - or follow them on their SNORS Facebook page

I will run this until early December, at which point Black Rabbit Friday will end, and I will launch my favourite promotion of the year - The Advent Bunnies!

Fingers and paws crossed the Black Rabbit Friday sale will be a success - and lovely bunnies like Florence (below) will benefit.

And - as ever - thank you to each and every customer who shops at Cottontails, whether for Christmas, Easter, summer to autumn, whether full price or sale - I truly appreciate every single order. Thank you.

The Tale of the Bunny and the Bladder Stone

A heartfelt thank you to Elliot and the team at Vets for Pets Hereford who nurtured Ralph and I through a pretty scary time a few weeks ago...

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness (and pumpkins, squirrels and nuts)

The Autumn Inspiration Gift Guide is published (which basically means a lot of squirrels together in one place...)

Coffee and Thoughts

I'm sometimes so busy putting together pretty-looking posts for social media, I find I spend less time actually writing, and yet this is something I love, so I thought it was high time I make a coffee, sit down and write out a few thoughts and plans...