Hazel Village FAQs


How can I wash the animals?

If your Hazel Village friend gets a little grubby, we recommend the following: First, try spot cleaning with a sponge. If that's not enough, try hand washing in hot soapy water. Rinse well, squeeze all the water out, and air dry. If necessary, you can wash your animal in the machine on the most gentle cycle. We suggest dressing it in one of our rompers, to protect their necks and extremities, then placing it in a delicates bag before it takes the plunge. You can machine dry it on low, but be careful - the stuffing may clump. Wool friends can only be washed by hand.

 

What are they stuffed with?

We stuff the regular dolls and animals with polyfill, which is clean and hypoallergenic, and stays springy for a long time even if washed in hot water. It is naturally fire-retardant, so it doesn't need to be treated with chemicals to comply with toy safety law.

 

Where are they made?

In addition to our full-time sewing team in Brooklyn, we work with teams of talented artisans in Nepal, Cambodia, and Peru to create beautiful products made with skill, care and love. We believe that when someone cares about their work, it really shows. We're committed to ensuring that wherever our products are made, the workers make a living wage and enjoy good working conditions and policies. So we partner with several social enterprise factories that offer benefits like education and social services to their workers.

As we grow, we are able to guarantee our partner organizations more full-time work making our products, which allows them a steady source of income to plan and expand. These relationships with our producers are one of our favorite things about building Hazel Village. For more information, you can read Jane's blog post here!

 

Are they safe for babies?

The animals are suitable for all ages, because their faces are embroidered and they are soft. But if you leave an animal with a very young child, please remove any loose doll clothes (socks, scarves, hats, etc) that the baby could rip off and eat. You can learn more here.

 

What do monograms look like?

One letter, hand stitched on the animal's heart. See examples here.

 

How do I order a monogram?

Choose "Add Monogram" as you're shopping. Then select the monogram letter you want from the drop down menu.

 

My order is a gift. Will you make it nice?

Absolutely! We treat every order we receive here at the Village as if it were a gift, so prices are excluded from all orders. The animals know ALL ABOUT making and giving presents, so naturally we offer complimentary gift wrap. All dolls and animals, or doll clothing orders over $50, come wrapped in a collectible bandana as well! We will wrap your order, hand write your note on a little card, and ship to the recipient's address. Please rest assured that smart humans are handling this. 

How do you ship the animals?

All our woodland friends are lovingly wrapped in complimentary bandanas by our talented team of fulfillment elves in our Brooklyn workshop. See our shipping policy for info on shipping rates and timelines. 

Do you take custom orders?

We do not take custom orders at this time, but at certain times we do provide minor alteration services for our collection of dolls. Email us at hello@hazelvillage.com for more information! Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter to be notified in case custom dolls or animals do make an appearance in the future.

 

I want an older version of a Hazel Village animal or outfit. Do you make it anymore?

On special occasions, we do bring back older versions of friends who once resided at Hazel Village. While we no longer carry these woodland friends, you may still be able to find them, as well as our older outfits, through our stockists! Members of our loyalty program, The Hazelnuts, also receive exclusive perks that includes access to older products! You can read more about our loyalty program here.

 

What is your guarantee / return / exchange policy?

We want you to be delighted with your woodland friends! If you're not happy with your order, let us know within a month of receiving it. You can send back the unused toy for or a full refund. Please note that our hand embroidered monograms are non-refundable. We do not provide prepaid labels for returns and exchanges. You can reach us here to initiate your return or exchange. 

Due to our dolls and animals' handmade nature, no two dolls look alike, or are completely symmetrical! It is the asymmetry that makes each of these dolls unique. We do not accept exchanges for limited edition dolls or animals that are sold out. Please note that we are not able to reserve inventory for pending or in-transit returns or exchanges.

If your animal breaks or you find a problem, we want to know about it. If the problem happened within the first six months as a result of normal use, we will fix it for free. If it's been longer, or your animal had a run-in with the cruel, cruel world (e.g. puppies, mud accidents, overzealous playing of doctor), we will work something out on a case-by-case basis.

 

Will I be allergic to the animals?

The animals are made of organic cotton and stuffed with hypoallergenic poly fill. They are stored in our workshop, which is smoke and pet free, and as tidy as we can manage. 

 

Where do you sell the animals? Can I carry them in my store?

We are honored by the number of beautiful shops that carry the Hazel Village animals. Here is the list of stockists – well worth a visit if you can!

Unfortunately at this time we have suspended our wholesale program. Keep an eye out in the future in case we do open wholesale once again!

 

Do you have a loyalty program?

Hazel Village and the animal friends are very lucky to have many loyal fans...who are, some might say, “nuts” for us. In appreciation, we created a loyalty club, and naturally, we named it the Hazelnuts! Read all the details here.

 

My package is still in Brooklyn/pre-shipment. When will you be shipping it?

Once a shipping label is created, our friendly package carriers such as USPS and UPS come to our workshop for pickup every business day. Sometimes, our friends over at USPS may skip a scan upon arrival to their facility. This is why you may see a package in pre-shipment for an extended period. Please note that this is common, and packages will arrive safely to their destinations in about 3 to 10 business days!