Let me preface this with a little grain of truth – I don’t particularly enjoy disembodied baby hands on a mantle.

There, I feel better now.

I’ve always found body part casting a little creepy so it was with a wee bit (heh) of trepidation that I agreed to review Wee Piggies & Paws. When I looked through their products, I noticed several that seemed much less disembodied than others. We went with a triple window shadow box holding casts of both of our childrens’ hands and an image of the two of them in the center. That’s mine pictured at right, and it’s much, much nicer in person. I knew it would be nice after seeing a sample, but I had no idea the emotion it would bring out in me when I looked at it each day. It’s truly stunning. The franchisee in my local area, as with all of them, was very well trained & supported by the company (Need a new business, mama? Check out Wee Piggies!). She welcomed us into her home and took care to ensure my children both felt comfortable putting their hands into the “goo” to make the mold. Being that neither of my children ever stay still for a moment, and really didn’t when she was casting them either, I thought for sure we’d have a few blurred & mushy fingers but the details are awesome. The hands look like, well…their hands. Exactly. I can see their fingerprints, and can even see where my son had recently chewed his fingernails. Gross habit – great memory.

The shadow boxes start at $150 and range to over $250 for the triple window. It may seem extravagant at the time, and I likely wouldn’t have paid it in the past, but now that I’ve seen what is possible I’ll be contacting Wee Piggies without hesitation if I have more children. If you’re hesitating, know that you will never regret the investment in memories, though I do personally recommend the shadowboxes over the statues, simply because it’s nice to have them enclosed & hanging on the wall as opposed to collecting dust on the mantle or bookshelf.

They also offer baby shoe bronzing and a gorgeous selection of ornaments.

If you’re in to disembodied, though, they sell for $130. Don’t worry – I won’t judge.

Seriously – if you’ve got a little one or a bun in the oven, think about contacting your local Wee Piggies rep. There are over 50 locations across Canada. You’ll love what they can do for you.