A bittersweet order

I've had these toys since Thursday night, but was struggling with posting about them.

Why?

Because they are the last toys I'll ever get from Crystal's Bird Toys. Earlier in July, due to personal reasons, the toys portion from CBT closed. I actually very nearly missed the boat on ordering toys - not sure what took me so long to take the plunge.

Many of the flocks favourites were no longer available. But one was, one that I was the reason behind it coming to existence (it was a custom order once) and did I take ever advantage of the fact that it was still listed!

I swear, there are no repeats in the pictures!

Above are eight "Make it Snappy". THE favourite CBT toy of my flock. I have a feeling that I might subject them to a period of hoarding....

Because Léa destroys "Make it Snappy" in a day or so, I got her the larger model, "Oh Snap".

While browsing around what was left on the website, I found this toy, something I never tried before and figured I might as well get before they were all gone, as I'm sure quite a few of the birds would like them, "Tookie's Tango".

Although initially everything was going to close, a few days later, Crystal announced that she would still be selling specific parts, namely pine slats. I also got a few in my order and will most definitively be buying more in the future. In the past, Crystal had been generous enough to let me use her equipment so I could cut/drill my own wood, and while cutting was fun, I could do without the drilling.

It is sad to be losing a store which had great toys, and even more so because it was local and truly affordable. However, I was able to gain a friend and truly with the best to Crystal - and I will most definitively remain a customer with the new direction the store is taking!

EXTERMINATE! - a CBT order

A few weeks ago, Crystal's Bird Toys was having a sale (the exact nature of which I can't recall) and of course I was tempted to put in an order. Add to this that I meant to order some of her Daleks for some time now, I didn't really stand a chance to pass on the sale.

This was an order mainly geared towards the smaller Pois (Piper has plenty of toys to go on rotation as he rarely destroys things in his cage and I got quite a stash or larger toys for Léa).

What did I get?

The Daleks of course!

EXTERMINATE!!!

 I also got five "Lovebirds", although I only took a picture of one as they didn't fit nicely in the picture frame and this way you get a better idea of what one looks like.

Finally, I also added some "Make it Snappy" to my order. Again, ordered five of them, but for the same reason as I wrote above for the Lovebirds, I only took the picture of one of the toys.

36:365 - Tri-swing week ~ Petey

He looks so tiny on it!

So the item being featured is our Tri-swing from Crystal's Bird Toys. It was tempting to make the theme something like "bird feet" or "close-up", and they'll remain on the list for future themes, but given the last theme week was about a body part, I wanted to change it up for now. And it gave me the occasion to take the swing out of the closet (partially because I didn't know where to hang it for a while, and partially because I wasn't ready to see it be destroyed).

Quick and easy skewer toys

In the past I've always shared skewer toys when I showed some of the toys I made myself. They were always an easy thing to do, but they just got easier.

A while ago, I received orders I've made at Things for Wings and Crystal's Bird Toys during Avian Avenue's Sidewalk Sale.

From Things for Wings, I got a large bag filled with odd shapes of wood that were already pre-drilled. Well, given the pieces can be on the thicker side, I've used them on Léa's skewer (it's larger than the others I have). I've also used large wooden beads and some Mother Pluckin' blocks she hadn't quite finished destroying from the previous time I filled the skewer up.



For the Littles, I used pre-made skewer toys from Crystal Bird Toys, as well as a few pine slats and beads that had been included the previous time I filled the skewer but not yet destroyed. However, most of what is on them is the skewer toys and I only needed a few to make the skewers look nice and full! I'm sure Joey, Shade and Pixel will love! (I also have some of these for Petey and Zuri, however their skewers were still quite full when I filled these up).

SWS 2013, Delivery #1 - Crystal's Bird Toys

Because I was gone for quite some time, I had indicated to the three vendors with whom I made purchases during the Sidewalk Sale on Avian Avenue earlier this month that my orders could be shipped later, as I wasn't interested in boxes arriving during my absence.

But since Crystal from Crystal's Bird Toys is local, I had three bags waiting for me upon my arrival.



Let's say I took advantage of the sale and took the opportunity to re-stock my dwindling collection of CBT toys. And because I really love the look of "natural" toys, most of them are not dyed.

The hanging toys

4 "Mario Blocks" - for some of the Littles.



5 "Snappy Stars" - again, for the Littles.



5 "Make it snappy" - mostly for the Littles, although given Piper and Petey don't chew much, one might end up in Léa's cage.



2 "Pine's up" - I bought these for Shade and Joey, the biggest wood chewers amongst the Littles.



1 "Fiji" - for Léa.



1 "Hidden Gems" - for Léa.



Everything above was what went in my first order. Yes, you read right, first order. On the last day of the Sidewalk Sale, Crystal added to her sale - buy two skewer toys, get one free AND the existing discount from the previous (if complete) or existing order would apply as well. There was no way to resist getting a few of them to try out!

Skewer refill toys

"Just a Nibble"



"Just Balsa"



"Pressed Palm"



"Cork Popper"



"Star Struck"



I also got some balsa spacers (simply some balsa blocks) as well as one called "Slatipede". I didn't take a picture of the former because they are just balsa blocks and it seems that I totally overlooked taking pictures of the latter and was too lazy to do so once I noticed (which is as I'm writing the blog entry). If anyone is curious about what they look like, here is a link to the Skewer refill toys page on the CBT website:

CBT - Skewer refill Toys

Finally, it seems that Crystal added a freebie to my order!



Thank you Crystal!

Long lost Crystal's Bird Toys order

Not lost getting to me, but rather lost by me..

I always try to take pictures of bird-related orders for the blog, and this was no exception. I kept the toys aside, with every intention of taking pictures of them sooner rather than later but I eventually forgot about them. If I remember right, I probably got these last March...

In any case, better late than never!

The order was for foot toys - lots and lots of foot toys (as there was a sale at the time).



And shortly after I received this order, I believe we had a Parrot Club meeting where I picked up these two toys - base made of balsa, lots of wooden beads and cork, it seemed like something most of the flock would enjoy!

Even labels are fun!

Joey makes no distinction!
Crystal of Crystal's Bird Toys is hosting a contest on her Facebook page, involving pictures of parrots with one of her tags / business cards. Since Joey is particularly enthusiastic about these things, he was the obvious pick here!

Wood!

My latest toy making craze has left me with with nearly empty bins, namely the one in which I had piles of pine slats which I had ordered a while ago.

Seeing how those should be easy enough to make, I always thought that down the line I'd invest in a saw and drill press and make them myself. Unfortunately, we are still far away from being able to set up such a work station but, if I am to continue to make some homemade toys, I needed more pine slats.

And this is where the generosity of Crystal from Crystal's Bird Toys come in.

In exchange for my photography services whenever she'll have more new toys to take pictures of for her website, she has let me use her saw and drill press. So yesterday, after buying a few 2x3x4s and 1x1x4s at Home Depot, I spent an evening at her place sawing and drilling.

This is what I got after all of my hard labour -



Bin containing the pieces from the 2x3x4. There is two full sets of rows below the last partial one at the top.



I cut the slats in two different thickness; the thicker one being around 1/4".



Bin containing the pieces from the 1x1x4. There is one full set of rows underneath the one at the top.



I also cut these in two different thickness trying to have the thicker ones be around 1/4" as well.

In the end, I did end up with less than I imagined at first, but there was no way I could have processed any more than I did last night. These should provide me material for a few toys and then I guess I'll have to start over again. But it does give an insight in all the hard work the smaller bird toy business do and a bigger appreciation for their finished product.

Thanks again Crystal!

Toy placement makes a difference

This is how I first set up Léa's new cage -



You can see to the right a big toy hanging right next to the side panel; it's Léa's Big Beak Bop toy from Crystal's Bird Toys. I had placed it in between her water bowl and her dry food bowl and installed a rope perch close by to make it easy to chew on the toy, but it didn't really work; she seems to favour the left side of the cage.

The toy that is in the back right hand corner doesn't look quite as full anymore and most of what is left on the strands of leather is hanging below the skywalk perch so this weekend, I decided to swap what was left of that toy with the Big Beak Bop.

Turns out, placement is everything it seems.



Here she is hanging out on the Big Beak Bop. Before she saw me and the camera, she was actually playing with the toy while standing where she is in the picture. It just seems that she couldn't cooperate for the camera..



So far, she's destroyed one or two of the thinner blocks of wood - not that they are very thin, but thinner than the blocks that are showing in the picture. I'm quite curious as to whether or not she'll think those pieces of wood are too thick and I guess time will tell.

But at least she's playing with it!

Some birdies had fun today!

Last month I ordered some toys from Crystal's Bird Toys. One "kind" was the "Small Squeak Squiggle" - which really is a result of me asking her to make a smaller version of her "Big Beak Bop" toy.

Today, I decided it was time to give it to the birds for destruction - Pixel, Joey, Shade and Zuri got theirs this morning and Petey will get his later tonight when the Boy will help me reorganize his cage.

This is what the toys looked like "new" -



While it is difficult to take a nice picture of the toys now, given other toys are in the way, here is the a glimpse at the mess created by all four birds who quite enjoyed them.

Shade's cage


Zuri's cage


Pixel's cage


Joey's cage - he has some coloured wood mixed into his "mess" as he also started to enjoy his new Sunflower Farm Things for Wings toy!


I gave a quick glance at the toys themselves and there were at least half way done with them, if not more. I'm guessing by tomorrow evening at the latest they'll all be completely destroyed.

SWS 2012 - First order arrived!

The Sidewalk Sale (SWS) isn't even over and I already received my first order (from Crystal's Bird Toys)!

I think it helps that I had clued Crystal in early with what I intended to buy...

It also happens that this has been my biggest order so far in this year's SWS (that is unless Danita continues to put up items I really want in her daily deals..). I'm not sure how Crystal did it!

What did I order?

A Big Beak Bop for Léa



5 Small Squeak Squiggle for the smaller Pois



A Make it Snappy for Léa



6 "Snip Snips" (a "spin off" of the "Make it Snappy") for all the smaller guys. But now that I think of it, the smaller Pois would probably be happy with a "Make it Snappy" as well...it would just take them longer to go through it than Léa - there's always next time!



6 "Snappy Stars"



Obviously, I asked that all the toys remain natural and not have any extra dyes.

Then I did a little blunder - I asked for a "Hoot Pack" thinking they were only for foot toys but they weren't...and I used the terminology that refers to pre-made toys. So in my "Hoot Pack" I got the following two toys - a "It's a Surprise" and "The Hunt".



Those toys will be played with and Petey generally really enjoys toys that involve small boxes so "The Hunt" is right up the alley for him!

Finally, since Crystal received an order from one of my readers, she threw in a referral toy!



Thanks Crystal (and anonymous reader)!

Shade and Zuri also approve of Snappy Stars!

Obviously, I moved the toy. It was getting dark and I wanted to close the blinds so the Wingdow had to come down. Since Shade and Zuri play a lot around the atom, I figured putting the toy there would be a good place to start.


Shade is so excited!

At first, the toy terrified Shade who flew away to another stand.

I left the toy up, since Zuri was eyeing it curiously and turned my attention back to the Red bellies who were sitting on the computer desk, which is on the opposite side of the room from the play structure.



Eventually there was some wood chomping noise so I turned around. To my surprise, Shade was the one who was most enthusiastically breaking down the toy and Zuri nibbled here and there.



Obviously, the toy is most definitively a success and I will have to get them all an individual toy for their cages.