Oompa Toys Blog

Customers trying to checkout on our site this morning were meet with an error. This was due to a major outage of our payment processor, Authorize.Net. They are one of the largest companies providing this service and there was a fire at their main datacenter in Seattle. The fact that their backup was at the same facility is really unbelievable. In any case we have created a work around for now that should allow you to checkout normally. Google checkout was not affected, nor was paypal checkout only Visa, Mastercard and American Express were affected.

Please note that people checking out durning this outage will see “atomicbaby” on their credit card bill, one of our sister sites.

We applogize for anyone that experienced this problem.

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Just a quick update… The payment processor we use at Oompa.Com, Authorize.net, has been down for several hours.  Our site was unable to accept credit card payments.  Google Checkout and Paypal were the only two payment options that worked.  We moved to a different payment processor and our site is ready to accept orders once again.  My sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.

- Milanie

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Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Customer Service Questions

We have recently added a new line to the store and it is called Loofah-Art. Loofah-Art products are made with loofah which is a gourd-like plant closely related to the cucumber family. It is not a sea sponge as commonly believed. The loofah used in loofah art is grown naturally and in some cases organically. Once the plant naturally dries on the vine it is harvested and its outer skin is peeled off to expose the inner fibers which form the loofah sponge. The loofah is then seeded, washed and then left in the sun to dry naturally after which it is made into the fun and functional Loofah-Art products. Loofah-Arts products are completely eco-friendly, 100% biodegradable and fabricated from a sustainable agricultural crop. Their humanitarian and economic vision is expanding through their support of impoverished farmers and their families in developing cultures around the world. To view their entire collection visit Oompa.com/Loofah.

Teresa Douglas wrote to us recently. She has a retail store and would like to set up a wholesale account with Oompa. Teresa, unfortunately we do not offer wholesale accounts and we don’t plan to offer these anytime in the near future. However, I do wish you the best of luck in your business.

We receive many questions from customers who use Google Checkout and they would like to know why their coupons don’t work when they use Google Checkout on the website. The answer is our site, Oompa.com, doesn’t communicate or codes with Google. So, unfortunately the two just aren’t compatible with each other. If you would like to use and Oompa coupon, checkout through the Oompa.com website and not through Google Checkout and your coupon will work. Thanks for watching!

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Hello! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Darlene Withousen from Johnson, Vermont wrote to us and she’d like to know if Haba baby toys that are made in China are just the same as Haba toys made in Germany. Darlene, the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’. Absolutely. Haba baby toys undergo rigorous testing by a third party independent laboratory regardless of where they are made. So if the toy is made in China or Germany, they still go through the same testing from a third-party laboratory.

We have started to receive more questions about how expedited shipping works. This is just a review. If you want more detailed information please visit Oompa.com and click on our ‘Help’ link located to the top right and in the left navigation you’ll find detailed information about our shipping policy. However, just to review, this is how our expedited shipping works: If you place an order on a business day, which is Monday through Friday by 12 noon Central Standard Time, that order, if it’s in stock, will ship the same day. If your order reaches us after 12 noon CST, your order will ship the next business day and if there is gift wrapping this will add one additional day to the processing time of your order. But, again, for more detailed information visit our website, click on the ‘Help’ link located in the top right and click on ‘Expedited Shipping’ located in the left navigation.

We are committed to bringing you, our customers, the most eco-friendly products available for children and babies. So, I wanted to review the eco-friendly lines that we carry and just bring them to your attention once again. These include: Keptin Jr., Playful World, Sigikid, Under the Nile, Foundlings, Lana Organic, Fair Indigo, Kathe Kruse, Plan Toys, Mimi the Sardine, Bambu, Fluerville, Eco-Tots, Nest, Caribou and In Modern. To view our expansive collection of eco-friendly baby products, furniture and gear, visit Oompa. Com. Thanks for watching!

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Customer Service Questions

Kendra Schreider from Kalamazoo, Michigan would like to know where the Oko line from Italtrike is made. Kendra this small segment of the Italtrike collection is actually made in China. However, it still undergoes the same rigorous third-party testing that the rest of the Italtrike line makes. So you can be rest assured that it is still safe.

Kristin, from Dulles, Virginia wrote to us and said she would like to know more about the coated canvas that Dwell Studio uses on their backpacks. The coated canvas is made of cotton fabric that has been sealed with polyurethane to ensure that it is water resistant and has a general durability. The polyurethane coating meets or exceeds all U.S., European and ISO standards for safety.

Strollers

Our creative group recently launched our new strollers landing page. This will make it easier for you to find the exact stroller that you need and are looking for. To view this page visit Oompa.com/stroller. And on this page you will be able to view strollers by type and these include: single strollers, double strollers, lightweight strollers, all-terrain and stroller accessories. From our stroller landing page, you’ll be able to drill down by brand and these include Maclaren, Bugaboo, Bumbleride and Micralite so again to visit our new stroller line visit Oompa.com/stroller.

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Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.

Natsumi Yamomoto wrote to us and she said that she was having a problem placing an order from Japan and that she has an international billing address. Natsumi we don’t actually accept international orders on our website. However, if you call during our normal business hours, someone in customer service department will be more than happy to take your order over the phone.
Karen Szorsniac from Melbourne, California would like to know what tune the Kaloo Sable Musical Rabbit plays. It plays Romeo and Juliet by Hector Berlioz.

Oompa Highlights Life Factory

Life Factory was founded by Pam Marcus who is a pediatric physical therapist and Daren Edward Joy who is an interactive designer. Their goal is to provide developmentally appropriate, eco-friendly baby products. All of their products have gone through rigorous testing to ensure the quality, health and safety. Their products are tested to contain no harmful chemicals and they have met or exceeded the criteria ASTM and EN71. Pam Marcus also incorporates new research. Her mission is to educate parents and caretakers about the issues regarding infant development and safety concerns. Every product they produce includes and article on their website about the health and safety, developmental and design aspects of a particular item. To view the entire Life Factory collection visit Oompa.com/lifefactory.

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We recently picked up a number of new wooden toys that are handmade in Poland. Bajo, one of our favorite toy companies, creates a wonderful line of wooden educational toys, baby toys and room decor items. These items are well made and are well priced for toys made in Europe.

Here is a quick list of some of our new favorites.

Colorful ABC Blocks 

Fox Wooden Lacing Toy (comes in different colors)

Learning Stacking Counting Toy

Wooden Logging Truck (comes in different colors)

Check out the new collection at http://www.oompa.com/baby-toys/category/Bajo_ViewAll Let us know your favorites!

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Customer Service Questions

Jennifer Thorpe, from Long Island, New York would like to know if the Bambu bowls can be used with hot food and be put in a microwave. Unfortunately, Jennifer, these are not microwave safe, however you can use them with hot foods.

Lisa Perlman, from Washington D.C. would like to know if she can put her Haba Dream Meadow play mat in the washing machine. Lisa, unfortunately, this item is not machine washable. We recommend spot cleaning it with a damp cloth.

Oompa highlights Mimi the Sardine

Mimi the Sardine is a small, family owned company that is located just North of San Francisco. They have been in business since 1988. They strive to serve customers well by putting earth-friendly, well-made and unique products on the market for children. Their world-class Swedish designs are fun besides all the quality, durability and ease of care make parents happy. Mimi the Sardine uses cotton that has an acrylic coating that is not PVC to make their fabrics permanently water, soil and mess resistant yet the fabrics remain soft and supple. They are easy to wipe clean or machine wash in warm and tumble dry on low. Their coated fabrics meet the Oko Tex 100 standards which certify that the cloth does not contain harmful chemical components. Starting in 2009, Mimi the Sardine is transitioning to using acrylic coated organically grown cotton. To view the entire Mimi the Sardine collection visit Oompa.com/mimi.

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A heartfelt Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. 

- All of us at Oompa

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We’re in High Point, North Carolina to attend the town’s namesake furniture show.  This 100-year-old event is supposedly the largest furniture show in the world.

The enormous, tangled web of a convention occupies over 12 million square feet of space. The dizzying array of vendors is spread out not just in a convention center, but over the entire town. Companies display their wares in 188 buildings total. Some take up temporary residence in drab storefronts, others decided to exhibit in huge, windowless buildings.

The IHFC with 3.5 million square feet sits at the heart of the show.  Each of the 14 floors is a labyrinth of hallways and exhibit spaces with some large exhibitors spilling over to separate levels. To further confuse the uninitiated, several passageways were sealed up – but no one bothered to update published floor plans!

I spoke with the fun people at Little MissMatched. It turns out the owners are big fans of Oompa.com. She gets all her toddler toys from us, as does her grandmother (thank you!). That is always nice to hear. My daughter loves her mismatched socks and prefers them over all her other socks. Keep an eye out for MissMatched furniture line in October 2009 on Oompa.com.

Despite the sheer size and complexity of High Point Market, the Oompa team found a few gems.

We also discovered children’s furniture that is still made in France. It is both beautiful and expensive – but one of the cutest children’s product lines we’ve ever come across. We also identified a few new children’s fine art collections to add to Oompa’s growing collection.

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Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere, I’m the CEO of Oompa. I am in this beautiful city of San Francisco. I used to live here for 7 years and I am here to visit friends and also to say thank you to all of our customers in San Francisco in the East Bay and South Bay and Marin area for continuing to shop at Oompa Toys.

Vernard Stewart from San Jose California wrote to us and she would like to know why there are items that are in the catalogue but not available on the website. We’ve actually changed this. Previously, we decided to make items that we didn’t have a definite deadline for availability, if it was in the catalogue, we decided to make it invisible. However, we have since decided that this wasn’t necessarily the best course of action and if an item is in the catalogue, we have made it live on the site with an estimated availability tagline. So, again, if it is in the catalogue and out of stock, it will still be available for viewing on the website.

Shannon Weber, from South Dakota wrote to us and she’d like to know why there are price difference between the catalogue and the website. Shannon, unfortunately, our manufacturers passed through significant price increases while we were printing the catalogue and there wasn’t enough time, actually, enough money to have the catalogues completely re-printed because we printed several thousand copies of the catalogue. So, if you go to the website, the most recent and accurate prices are available. And again, my apologies for some of the price discrepancies in the catalogue and again it is simply because our manufacturers passed through at the last minute significant price increases to us.

Thank you again to all of our customers in Northern California, specifically San Francisco, Marin, the South Bay and the East Bay for continuing to make Oompa your neighborhood toy store. Stay tuned for more videos from San Francisco.

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Video Text

Established in 1981, Plan Toys started with a small and hopeful factory. Over the years, the company has grown and increased their dedication to having an environmentally and socially responsible company. Today’s Plan Toys creates a plethora of wooden things for children of all ages while still considering the well-being and impact they have on the environment. The rubberwood used for construction is retrieved from trees that no longer produce latex and would otherwise be burned down. The glue is non-formaldehyde, E0 and all dyes are non-toxic and water-based. The engineers, artists and toy designers at Plan Toys go to great lengths to insure your children and the environment are safe. To view our entire collection, visit Oompa.com/PlanToys

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Customer Service Questions

Hi, my name is Milanie Cleere. I’m the CEO of Oompa and I am in the beautiful city of San Francisco where I lived for several years and I wanted to say thank you to all of our customers in San Francisco, the South Bay, East Bay, the Peninsula and Marin for continuing to make Oompa your neighborhood toy store.

Tiffany Bee from Oleander, Texas wrote to and she was wondering what the size requirements were for uploading images for product reviews.

Tiffany, the size requirement is simply that it has to be no wider or larger than 400 x 400 pixels and if it is we may have to crop it but the quality of the image may not be what you expected. So just make sure that your image is 400 x 400 pixels. Also, remember that you earn extra points for uploading you pictures with your product reviews.

Nativa Colitz wrote to us and she would like to know what the particle board that Plan Toys uses is made out of. The particle board is made with MDF which is made with E0 non-formaldehyde glue with rubberwood shavings from other Plan Toys items. So it is basically recycled rubberwood.

Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more videos from San Francisco.

Stay Tuned for our latest manufacturers video coming up next!

Latitude Enfant

My name is Frank Turcole and I am the manager at Latitude Enfant. Latitude creates educational toys. We focus on toys for children from birth through three years. We include a variety of stimulating colors and elements. It’s all these elements that help parents tell stories to their children. To help them create an imaginative world for their child.

The difference between Latitude Enfant and other companies is that we are always trying to create new products. To bring something to the products, to produce something that makes a good present for children. And always this way, we make products that are very educational and unique. With colors and meanings that encourage play in children.

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Customer Service Questions for 04/08/2009

Hi, my name is Milanie Cleere; I am the CEO of Oompa. I am here in the beautiful city of San Francisco where I lived for several years. First off, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our customers in San Francisco, Morin, South Bay, and East Bay for continuing to make Oompa your neighborhood toy store.

Arthur Woolman from Rockville, MD wrote to us: He clicked submit twice during the checkout process. He would like to know if he has been charged twice. Arthur, it is possible that you were charged twice which is why we have checks on the page that say just click the submit button once. However, there is logic that helps prevent customers from being charged more than once, but it is still a possibility. If you feel like you may have been charged twice, give us a call and we definitely look into and remedy the situation.

Kathy Peters from Aurora, CO wrote to us: She wrote that she felt she was not awarded the proper amount of loyalty points for her order and she would like to know what is going on. Kathy, just to clarify, loyalty points are awarded per dollar spent on merchandise and customers do not ear points for taxes or shipping fees that are paid for on the order. But if you receive your statement and find this is still not the case, give us a call and we will definitely look into it for you.

Thanks for watching and stay tuned for more videos from San Francisco in the coming weeks.

Nathan

My name is Guillaume Le Mao. I am responsible for the international distribution of Nathan. Nathan is a company that was founded in 1889. It is a 100 year old company. It is the first company, oldest, and most accredited for producing educational products for schools, primary schools, nursery schools, and also day care centers. All of the products that you will find in our catalog are tested by independent laboratories. The development of products is relatively long and we take the necessary measures to have the guarantee that there are no problems with the safety of our products. Nathan is a great experience in the creation of toys and products for children. It is a company that continues in the United States because Nathan has been in the United States nursery schools since the 1980’s. These products are preferred by educational professionals in the United States. They also continue to be used by educational professionals in Europe and in the world. It’s a company for people who want to be sure of the quality, safety, and durability of their toys.

To view our Nathan collection visit www.oompa.com/nathan

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Customer Service Questions

Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa. I am In the beautiful city of San Francisco, California. I lived here for seven years and I’m here to check out the sites, visit old friends also to say ‘thank you’ to all of the customers in the Bay Area who are making Oompa Toys their neighborhood toy store.

Lori Calderon wrote to us from Corvallis, Washington and she would like to know why we carry toys that are made in China. Many of our European vendors have decided to move their manufacturing to Southeast Asia and China and it is simply to keep the cost of their products down. For example, we look at a line of German plush toys called Kallisto. These retail for significantly more than a line of toys from Jellycat which are designed in the UK. But again, just to clarify, toys that are found on Oompa.com, even if they are made in China, still meet or exceed US and European safety standards. Monica Mareno from Texas wrote to us and she would like to know why her billing address appears during the checkout process even if she has been shopping for a friend from their wish list. Monica, this is something that has been going on for a year and a half and we’ve tried it both ways. We’ve tried it where, during the checkout process, the recipients address would appear during the check out process. Customers wrote in and said they didn’t like that. They would like their billing address to appear. So, we have reverted back to having a registered users billing address appear during the checkout process. However, we are starting to get more phone calls and emails saying they would like it to be the other way. So now, if you are shopping from someone’s wish list, their shipping address will appear during the checkout process. Hopefully this change will make a lot of people happy and if not, we can try changing it back again.

Thank you once again to all of our customers in San Francisco, Marin, the South Bay, the East Bay for continuing to make Oompa Toys your neighborhood toy store.

Stay tuned for more videos from San Francisco in the coming weeks.

Stay tuned for our latest manufacturer video coming up next!

Zo-Li Manufacturer Video

I am Julianna Shaw and I am the founder of a baby feeding and baby care accessory company that is eco-friendly.

Zoli was actually started about six months ago creating innovative, safe, eco-friendly baby products in baby care and baby feeding accessories. Where we are different is that we wanted to actually innovate the products so that we were actually blending function with style. Notice that there are a lot of great products out there but they weren’t really providing the style that new parents these days are looking for. And we wanted a baseline understanding and the philosophy which is the core of our company of being environmentally conscious and using the safest materials that’s available currently in the market. The company is actually named after the two children because they was my inspiration. Zoe is five and Lila is 18 months and Zoe was actually the first one that got me interested in baby products and Lila of course is right at the sweet spot, that age where she is my tester.

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Last week we attended the International Home and Housewares show in Chicago. I recently learned about this show from an email sent by Bambu (a fun line of eco-friendly Bamboo dishes and tableware). This was our first time at the show and it was unexpectedly fruitful.  I had low expectations of finding innovative products for children.  However, to my delight, discovered at least 10 new products or lines that will be an excellent addition to Oompa’s growing list of baby care and feeding categories.

We found great items for kitchen, bath, room decor categories. While we aren’t ready to name any of the specific items or brands - we’ll announce them here and in our newsletter as soon as they’re available!

The best part of the show was the dine + design expo.  This was a rare find in the U.S. and reminded me of the Maison Objet show in Paris.  It quite a bit of will power to not look at every kitchen gadget and to simply focus on finding the hidden baby and juvenile products.

Feel free to comment on any items you’d like to see Oompa offer in our care, room decor and gear categories so we can keep an eye out!

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Our friends from Challenge and Fun have written this update in their monthly newsletter on the plan to save already safe specialty toys. Please find an excerpt below:

The issue for me is one of options and variety.  When the recalls took place in 2007, consumers demanded non-Chinese products.  Many of these consumers are your customers.  Many of you started or built you companies serving these customers.  Some of you may not have heard that another European line of products has disappeared from the USA.  Recently SIMBA (German Company) announced it would no longer ship to the USA.  If we want to keep product diversity, now is the time to let Congress know.

Like many of you, we lobbied to get a stricter federal children’s product standard.  We hoped this would be a law that would improve safety and validate our position as a supplier of high quality products.  However, this law’s complexity and vagueness, does not promote actual safety, and treats all children’s products as unsafe, with a requirement to prove their innocence. 

I have been very disappointed with our government’s unwillingness to find a solution to the serious documented problems this law has already created (ie. no more children’s products in thrift stores, books being thrown out, massive destruction of perfectly good and safe inventories, etc).  They have cancelled two hearings on the matter.  It is now time to remind them who they represent.This is why we are going to Washington.

About the Event:

The CPSIA Rally & Congressional Briefing will take place at 10AM on April 1st at a room in the Capitol Hill Visitor Center (Room HVC201 A&B).  It will feature testimonies from a wide variety of industries, including apparel, all-terrain vehicles, jewelry, toys, crafts, bicycles, and more.  There will be at least 1 or 2 scientists and a variety of politicians speaking as well.  More details about the event are available at the website.  Meetings with Congressmen & Senators will be scheduled to take place after the event.

How You Can Participate:The exciting thing about the briefing is that it will be streamed live over the internet at www.AmendTheCPSIA.com.  The audio will also be available over the telephone (call 312-878-0222, access code 656-413-666).  If you use Twitter, you can interact with those at the event, who will be twittering their experience there.  We want this to be interactive, democratic, and transparent.  We want you to know what is happening at each of the meetings with offices of various Congressmen & Senators.  We will twitter the proceedings of those meetings as well.  This will be your way of being involved in all of these proceedings, even if you are 1000 miles away (or more).

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Customer Questions

Hello! My name is Milanie Cleere. I’m the CEO of Oompa and I am in the beautiful German city of Bamberg. Bamberg is located just North of Nurnberg. Every year in February I come to Nurnberg to go to the International Toy Fair or Speilwarenmesse where I meet with existing vendors and I also look for new products to bring into the United States.

We continue to receive a lot of questions about our wishlists so I thought I would take a moment to review the basics with you. When you become a registered user, our system automatically creates 2 wishlists for you. One is a private wishlist and the other is a public wishlist. The private wishlist is meant to be more of a private shopping list. Somewhere where you, as a registered user, keep track of things you would like to buy on the site. The second wishlist is a list that you can share with your friends and family. The important thing to keep in mind is that friends and family need to click the ‘add to cart’ button from your wishlist page or the item will not be decremented from your wishlist which means that it will appear as un-bought from your wishlist and you may receive two of them.

Kathe Kruse Manufacturer Video

My name is Andrea Christenson and I am the owner of the Kathe Kruse doll company.  Kathe Kruse is a very famous doll company founded by a magnificent lady who was very young when she had her very first child and when the second one was born, the first one said ‘oh mama, I would like to have a baby just like you had’ and so she sent out her husband to find a suitable doll and she could not find it. So he said to her ‘why don’t you sit down and make your own’.

One thing that I wanted to mention that is so special about the dolls is that they are all hand made in Germany. There are no two ones that are alike. They are all individuals, one of a kind and that’s what makes them so special.

All of our materials are tested by a third party and the laboratory is SGS. It is a worldwide operating laboratory which really ensures the safety of the ingredients I use in the product. All the fabrics, wool and stuffing material and as you know we basically use all natural materials.

What we love about our dolls, there are no electronic functions, so they really stimulate fantasy and real role-playing. I really want to suggest to all the parents, have time for role-play with dolls. It is so important to develop your fantasy to also to play out what mom does with little brothers and sisters and to learn how to take care of someone who you really love.

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Customer Service Questions

Hi my name is Milanie Cleere. I’m the CEO of Oompa. I’m here in Nurnberg, Germany at the Spielzeug Museum. I would show you the inside of the Spielzeug Museum, but unfortunately the curators won’t allow us to film inside. I come to Nurenburg every year for the International Toy Fair which is where I meet with vendors and find new products.

Many customers have asked us about the proper installation for Haba mobiles. Just to clarify, Haba mobiles aren’t considered toys, they are considered room décor items. They should be installed out of a child’s reach and not low enough so that the baby can actually touch them or grab them. So again, they are room décor items and should be installed outside of your child’s reach.

We have received a few customer service calls and emails from customers who weren’t happy with the size of the bags they purchased even though we do include the dimensions in the product description. And many people have requested that we show the bags on our website with a child wearing them. So of course, I completely agree and slowly but surely we will be adding images of the bags on children so that you can get an idea for the size in relation to the child.

Thanks for watching! Auf Weidersehen!

The Cheekeyes Manufacturer Video

My name is Rogier van Zijp and I’m the designer with Studio Spoon. Studio Spoon is located in Gouda. It’s a small town in the Netherlands and maybe it is best known for it’s cheese. It all started two years ago. The thing you see with current manufacturers is that the wooden products they make are covered completely in paint. The shame about that is you can’t see the beautiful wood that has been used. The thought behind out product line was to make a product that is new to the market and a product where you can see the wood that has been used. We test all the paints, not only because we have to, but also because we want our product to be safe. Naturally we test on heavy metals, which we don’t want to have in the paints. All the paints used in our products are tested and there are no sharp edges on the product, so children cannot injure themselves. I’m the designer and I look at my designs and I love them! And that is not the only reason. I want other customers, our customers to enjoy the products as well.

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