The Birth of a-door-nimals®

 

Product Name: a-door-nimals®

Company Name: BananaNana, LLC

Owners: Elizabeth Curtis (a.k.a. Nana), creator of a-door-nimals, and Kathy Weston

Location: Plano , Texas ( Dallas area)

 

Nana designed...grandchild inspired. a-door-nimals were “born” out of a Nana's love for her granddaughter. When Elizabeth 's second granddaughter, Megan, was born four years ago, she searched for something unique and stylish to announce Megan's birth at the hospital. When Elizabeth couldn't find anything new and upscale, she created the first a-door-nimal.

 

Then, two years later, Elizabeth and Kathy (best friends for many years) started their own company - www.BananaNana.com, Fun Stuff for the Groovy Grandma & Her Family! - and they decided it was time to introduce Elizabeth 's creation to others. At first they only offered the a-door-nimals on their website. Then a nurse manager at a local hospital discovered them and they began offering their a-door-nimals to new parent classes as door prizes, which provided invaluable research for them.

Their a-door-nimals were a hit with the classes, so they knew they had to explore the possibility of manufacturing their a-door-nimals. But before they could even start the process, a hospital in North Carolina contacted them and wanted to test the a-door-nimals at their hospital. The hospital was soon ordering 100 every 4-6 weeks and their contact tells them that the a-door-nimals “just fly off the shelves!”

 

When designing their a-door-nimals, several things were important to Elizabeth and Kathy . First, they wanted to create a keepsake for parents—something more versatile than just a “one-time-use” door hanger. With a-door-nimals, an expectant mom can hang it at her office and “count down” the days until baby's arrival, answering the age-old question “When is your baby due?” Then, of course, Mom will take it to the hospital to Announce Baby's Birth in Style. And, Mom and Dad can add baby's footprints to the back (permanent, acid-free side) of the heart and decorate it with scrapbooking embellishments then add the heart to the baby book or a scrapbook. Parents take their a-door-nimal home with them from the hospital to adorn the nursery/nursery door (they may want to change messages, i.e. “You wake her, you take her”, or “Baby's Sleeping”, etc.). And after they use it as a decoration, they can cut off the ribbon, remove the tags and heart and give it to their child. Pregnancy Countdown, Birth Announcement and Cuddly Best Friend...all in one!

 

Second, the critters had to be cute and cuddly - Elizabeth and Kathy worked for months designing the bears, which are their signature items. All their designs had to be soft and just right for a baby! The ribbon is very beautiful double-faced satin ribbon. The soft portion of the Velcro is attached to the critter's hand so it will not scratch baby. These and other details were very important — after all, Elizabeth and Kathy are grandmas!!

 

And finally, they experimented with many different surfaces for the heart and found just the right one that erases very easily and doesn't leave a “shadow” like some dry-erase boards. This was important for the Pregnancy Countdown and to allow parents to write their message as many times as they wanted (and correct any mistakes along the way).

 

Elizabeth and Kathy chose DANU China to manufacture the cuddly critters because of their reputation in the industry. However, they are proud that two components are manufactured in the U.S. The heart-shaped board proved to be a real challenge for China so they had to be quite resourceful and found a local Texas supplier, which gives them much greater control and flexibility to change the design.