Another year is drawing to a close, and we can hardly believe how fast the time has flown! We thought we'd do some reminiscing about this past year at Hazel Village. Whether you discovered us only yesterday or you've been a Hazelnut for many years, we are so happy you're here now! ♥️

 

January

The year began with the launch of Oliver Mouse's Formal Capacities Collection! Our dear friend Oliver likes to be busy. His main Village Duties are carrying the mail and reporting the weather, but he also keeps track of important Village records, and takes great pride in serving his friends the tastiest tea.

Our favorite detail in this collection was Oliver's official hat with 4 interchangeable patches, which can be swapped out depending on what Formal Capacity he is currently doing. 

The Last Frost Collection in late January was a small one, but very fancy: three special beaded and felted pieces made by our talented artisan partners in Nepal.

 

February

In February, our first visiting animal of the year arrived: Margot Cat!  Margot enjoys all things cozy and crafty, like rug hooking, spoon carving, baking and eating cakes.

This little tabby and her confectionary collection were a smash hit for our small business! You can watch our behind-the-scenes YouTube video to learn about the designing of Margot's collection and the unexpected events of her launch day. 

The Tapestry of Spring Collection was an ode to Phoebe Fawn, the Village's orchestra conductor. This collection featured a special-edition Phoebe with Liberty of London ear linings!

March

In March we released the Meadow Breezes Collection, our big seasonal wardrobe refresh! These items kept the animals well dressed for all their spring foragings and summer meadow picnics. 

Four new mini animals arrived in late March, along with a Camaraderie Cargo Vest which allowed a Villager to carry all of them at once. How efficient! 

April

April began with an auspicious occasion: the Quilting Collection launch! This was our first ever full collection to be entirely Hazelnut-exclusive. We even invited the Hazelnuts to join us along the journey of creating these items. You can read about this process in our behind-the-scenes Hazelnut Blog post!

Hazelnuts are members of our customer loyalty program. To learn about the perks and see how you can reach Hazelnut status yourself, check out this page! 

April was a very eventful month at Hazel Village! Our visiting friend Leonard Blue Jay was scheduled to arrive on April 8th, but due to an unforeseen wrench in Leonard's plans he was delayed until early summer. Fortunately, Jeremy Owl was kind enough to model some of the doll clothing and accessories that we had created for Leonard. These items became the Industrious Projects Collection! 

We've collaborated with our friends at Winter Water Factory many times in the past, and were delighted to do so again this year. These four pieces were handmade in our Brooklyn workshop using WWF's cheerful prints on 100% organic cotton. Matching childrenswear was sold on WWF's site. 

May

The members of the Hazel Village Turtle Society go on s-l-o-w hikes through the forest, observing turtles and discussing conservation of turtle habitats. This year, they decided to have their very first Turtle Parade! 🐢🐢🐢

We highly recommend watching this YouTube video to see the behind-the-scenes of our Turtle Parade photoshoot and join our adventure to spot some real life turtles here in Brooklyn. 

You can find our Turtle Parade Banners craft tutorial here!

The Garden Bounty Collection celebrated the splendor of the Village garden. The animals had much success in their gardening this spring, so naturally they wanted to honor the boisterous garlic bulbs and crunchy cucumbers by dressing like them.

June

In June, the animals welcomed their new friend Leonard Blue Jay! Leonard’s interests include crochet, crunchy snacks, and moving piles of materials around (rocks, sand, sticks, etc.). He really puts the “log” and the “sticks” in “logistics”!  

On hot summer days the Hazel Village friends love to go to the lake beach, where the water is cool and the breeze is fresh. In late June, we released some nice new clothes for them to wear! 

July

In July, the animals celebrated the return of their old friend Peaseblossom Unicorn with a magical Rainbow Festival! Rainbow-colored refreshments were prepared, and a Grand Rainbow Dance was performed with aplomb.

The animals dressed up as flowers in all the colors of the rainbow, while Peaseblossom dressed up as the storm itself. She taught the other animals the wise words she had learned at Princess School: Not ‘til stormy skies clear will a rainbow appear! 

The Storybook Collection was inspired by three figures of Hazel Village legend: Lady Littlepaw, Sir Hazelnut, and Fluffy, the Non-Sharing Bunny Pirate. The costume pieces in this collection could be mixed and matched to create new characters and tell new stories. Three cheers for imaginative play!

You can read the folk tale of Lady Littlepaw's quest to find the fairy plums in this blog post!

August 

In August, the Villagers welcomed another new friend: Marigold Donkey! Marigold is a lepidopterist – that is, a studier of butterflies. She would like you to know that Golden Alexander, a meadow flower, is the favorite food of swallowtail caterpillars.

You can learn more about Marigold in our behind the scenes video: Marigold Donkey and the Mission to Save the Caterpillars

Arthur and Lucas's Sunflower Garden Collection was a tribute to our beloved lamb and bunny pals. Arthur Lamb and Lucas Rabbit live in two little houses built side by side, because they are the very best of friends. They share a small garden patch and plant the same thing every year – giant sunflowers.

As of the day we are writing this blog post, the very special Garden Friendship Vest from this collection is still available to purchase! 

September 

In September, Charlotte Bear returned with the Bee Appreciation Collection! The animals were delighted to see their old friend Charlotte again. There was much enjoying of honey on bread, and everyone did their best bee dances. 

We donated 10% of our launch day sales for Charlotte and her Mini Bee dolly to The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund, a nonprofit organization that establishes high-quality habitat to ensure pollinator populations thrive 🐝

The Autumnal Essentials Collection included a large assortment of items to refresh the animal's everyday wardrobe for the fall and winter seasons! Almost all of these cozy pieces are currently available on our site. You can explore them under Animals & Doll Clothes and Dolly Accessories. 

October 

October began with Owen Fox's Fancy Dancing Collection! This was the debut of Owen Fox's redesign, an exciting change for a much-beloved friend. Owen's new look coupled with his theatrical fancy dancing attire made for a magnificent treehouse recital! 

Next came the Mushroom Festival Collection! The animals had a mushroom tasting contest, performed fungi-inspired dances, and sang songs like “Roll the Puffball," “Toadstool Hop," and “The Juicy Chanterelle." 

If you are looking to add some magnificent mushroom attire to your animals' costume trunk (and we think that you should), the Mushroom Chef Set and Giant Toadstool Costume are available now! 

November

In November, Alexander Opossum arrived for his first visit! Alexander is a greenhouse gardening expert with a passion for cultivating uncommon fruits. Though he was a new friend as far as visiting animals go, Alexander already had many pen pals at the Village and he continues to enjoy regular correspondence to discuss matters of gardening. 

To celebrate the second edition of our storybook, The Gifts of the Year, we released a small collection of items which can be seen within its pages. We recommend taking a closer look at Gwendolyn Raccoon's Friendship Quilt, which is available now. It is both a stunning piece of handmade art and the perfect cozy blanket to keep your Villagers snug all winter! 

December 

The Wintry Splendor Collection featured 5 items designed to keep your Villagers fancifully dressed and cozily warm for their wintertide festivities. You can shop these seasonal styles here!

We donated 10% of our launch day sales from the Wintry Splendor Collection to CHiPS, a soup kitchen, food pantry, and shelter for women and young children here in Brooklyn ♥️

Finally, we wrapped up the year with 3 new pocket-size pals: the Arctic Mini Animals. These tiny friends have a special sustainability story, which you can read in our behind the scenes blog post From Blue Jay to Beluga: Creating the Arctic Mini Animals! 

And just like that, then has turned to now! Thank you for reading, friend. 

Snug in their forest homes, the animals reflect on the friends they made and the adventures they had in the year gone by. They tidy up their cottages and vigorously shake rattles full of beans to celebrate the potential of the new year. From the animals and humans of Hazel Village, we wish you the happiest of new years!