Party with St. Louis Sprout!

Have you discovered St. Louis Sprout and About yet?  They're one of our favorite ways to stay on top of the kid-oriented events happening in the St. Louis area.  Through their weekly newsletter and website, you can find all kinds of great activities for any age.

And every year, they have a huge get-together to celebrate kids, families, and fun.  This year, we're invited!  We'll be helping to dish out an extra big helping of Happy Up Hijinks.  So come to the party!

Sept. 7th, 10am - 2pm at the Museum of Transport 

Admission is free!

For more info about the Sprout & About Celebration, visit their website.

We can hardly wait...  Hope we'll see you there!

Quick! Catch them while you can!

Childhood  is fleeting - and your little ones are changing and growing in a blink of an eye.  Catch them as they are with the help of renowned silhouette artist Erik Johnson.

We are delighted to have Erik Johnson, a third-generation silhouette artist, visiting both Happy Up stores!  Using surgical scissors, Erik is able to capture your child's likeness to an exacting degree.  It's magical to watch.  And did we mention that he's fast?  Like crazy-fast.  Each silhouette takes no more than five minutes.

You can find out more about Erik and his work on his facebook page:  Silhouettes by Erik

Call your nearest Happy Up Store to reserve your appointments - slots will fill up fast!

Thursday, Aug. 22nd from 11am - 1pm & 3:30pm - 6pm

Edwardsville Happy Up

6654-A Edwardsville Crossing Dr.

Edwardsville IL, 62025

(618) 656-9596

Click for a map

Sunday, Aug. 25th from 12pm - 4pm

Clayton Happy Up

8107 Maryland Ave.

St. Louis, MO  63105

(314) 725-2455

Click for a map

Original silhouettes are $25 each, copies are $15 each.  We know each of these works of art will become treasured keepsakes!

Grand Opening Hoopla for Edwardsville's Happy Up Inc!

Save the Date!
Join us on Saturday, June 29th, from 10am - 3pm while we raise a ruckus and celebrate our new name and new Edwardsville location!

We’re pretty close to having our plans finalized, and here’s what we have so far:

• 10am - Origami Workshop with Mike Ridinger - fold, crease, and repeat to create delicate works of art.
• 11am - Ribbon Cutting!  Official and serious people will handle sharp objects.
• 12:30pm - Kindermusik mini-session with Ellen Singh - you know how much we love to hear our customers make beautiful music!  And by “beautiful”, we mean barely controlled chaotic noises. 
• A Giant Perplexus puzzle ball will tie your puzzle skills in knots as you try to solve this massive brain teaser!

Thanks to toysaretools for the picture from the 2012 Toy Fair!

• Representatives of Edwardsville Robotics will be demonstrating what they do.  They’re a new group in town and are active in the FLL (FIRST Lego League).
  You can find out more about them on their facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Edwardsville-Robotics/146725128836978
  And the FLL on their website here:  http://firstlegoleague.org/
• The UCP Heartland Center for Autism will have a table set up with information on their program and special needs resources.  You can learn more about this group on their website here:  http://www.ucpheartland.org/services/illinois-services/ucph-center-for-autism
• Shannon with Metamorphose Maternity will be demonstrating ways bigger kiddies can help care for their new baby brothers and sisters. you can learn more about Shannon on her website: http://www.metamorphosematernity.com/
• Feeling a little peckish?  We’ve got truly delicious floats planned.  Thanks to Wang Gang soda and Annie’s frozen custard, we’re going to have a crazy sugar buzz going!
• Give-aways and prizes all day long!

And of course, we'll have lots of toys and games open and ready for you (and the kiddos) to try out.  Our Do-Touch, Do-Play policy will be strictly enforced.  Giant Chicky will be keeping an eye on everyone and making sure this policy is not ignored.

So are you ready to help us celebrate?  Good!  See you on the 29th!

Our new location in Edwardsville is:
6654-A Edwardsville Crossing Dr.
Edwardsville, IL 62025
(618) 656-9596
 A map showing our new home is here:

New! Certified Sibs Class for Soon-to-be Brothers & Sisters

Moms and Dads aren’t the only ones in the family who are “expecting”.  They aren’t the only ones feeling a little nervous, a little excited, and really overwhelmed.  The whole family is expecting when Momma is pregnant.  And that includes the older siblings.

We’re delighted to host a new monthly event for the kiddos who are waiting for new babies.  Certified Siblings is a Big Brothers and Super Sisters bootcamp for kiddos from 2 to 10 yrs old.  Designed to help answer all of those questions, give the kiddos some skills, and get everybody ready for the new arrival, this is a class you’ll be glad to take!

Led by Shannon Lawton-O’Boyle, Certified Sibs will answer important questions like:

What is baby trying to say by crying?
Can babies play?
Is diaper changing REALLY that bad/stinky/scary/gross?
How do I hold the baby?
How can I help out?  I’m just a kid/I'm too little...

These questions and more will be answered!  Each class lasts about two hours, giving each child plenty of attention and time to absorb the information provided.  It’s also very educational for the parents.  Quite often, with the support of the group, your child may reveal feelings and concerns you didn’t know were there.

We’ll have snacks and everyone gets to take home a gift!  Sound good?  Great!
The class fee is $15 for one child, $5 for each additional sibling.
Registration is required, but super easy!  Fill out the form and select which class date works for you.  Turn it in, along with your fee, at Happy Up in Edwardsville, IL.

Here’s a link to the registration form:  Certified Sibs Registration Form

The schedule of classes for the summer is:

June 19, 10am
July 17, 10am
August 14, 10am

All classes will be held at Happy Up Inc, Edwardsville (once upon a time we were Once Upon a Toy).  Happy Up is located at 6654-A Edwardsville Crossing Drive, Edwardsville IL, 62025.  We’ve moved, so here’s a link to a map showing our new location:  Our New Happy Up Home!

If you have any questions, feel free to call the playful peeps at the store!  (618) 656-9596

So who is the person in charge of the class?
Shannon is the smiling face of Metamorphose Maternity.  She is a certified doula, lamaze educator, and lactation counselor.  Her primary goal is to support expecting families, before and after delivery.  Through individualized services, Shannon works with families to make the experience of having a new baby a magical time.  She leads several groups, including “Milk and Bookies” at Afterwords Books, that give nursing moms the opportunity to network, learn, and share their experiences.

You can learn more about Shannon on her website: Metamorphose Maternity
She’s also on facebook:  Metamorphose Maternity's Facebook Page

Giant Chicky Says "Come Play!"

It's been a week since we opened the doors to our new home in Edwardsville, IL.  We're getting settled in and have loved seeing everyone who has already been in to visit!

The decision to change locations wasn't easy--  but now that the hard labor and hard thinking is done, we're feeling really good.  It's a bright and open store, with enough room for all of the hijinks and silliness you expect from us.  So the address has changed, and our name has changed, but the reasons you love us remain!

So if you haven't visited yet, we can't wait to see you--  6654-A Edwardsville Crossing Drive, Edwardsville IL  62025

And here's a map to help you find your way (clicky to see a bigger version) --

Play on!

So what's in a name?

Quite a lot - history, memories, and a way to tidily sum up what something is.  For a business, the name is hugely important.

We have been Once Upon a Toy and LagoonaMagoo Toys.  This year has brought us upheaval, stress, heartbreak, hopefulness, joy, and overwhelming thankfulness.  We’ve been forced to take a long careful look at our entire business.  To make it, to succeed, to keep our heads above water and maybe even thrive, we need to eliminate the things that hurt us and put in place things that will help.

We have discovered that our store names are stumbling blocks.

Once Upon a Toy is a beloved destination for long-time Edwardsville residents.  The name doesn’t resonate in the rest of the world.  We are often confused with the children’s resale chain Once Upon a Child.  As we meet new people in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area, as well as in St. Louis, we are constantly needing to explain that “no, we don’t sell used stuff, you’re thinking of a different store”.  We’re sure this has hurt us for many years. 

LagoonaMagoo Toys is fun to say and fun to type.  Unfortunately, it is constantly misspelled and mispronounced.  We spend a lot of time correcting this.  A lot of our customers find us because of word of mouth.  If they don’t have the name right, we’re losing potential new friends!

With two store names and an umbrella corporate name, our marketing efforts haven’t been as effective as they should be.  With three logos and three names, the water is muddy.  By gathering everything under one name, we can have clarity and focus.  One name, one logo, one message.

We stock so much more than just toys and games for kids.  We carry products that appeal to grown-ups, too.  And we need a name that reflects the huge range of items on our shelves.  It’s not just toys - it’s gadgets and fiddly things and funny stuff and so much more.   We’re lightning in a bottle.  We’re crazy and clever and more than just “toys”.

We need a name that will let us move forward without the issues we’ve been trying to work with and and gloss over.  We need a fix, not a band-aid. 

Our customers and friends helped save us.  Now we have to take this opportunity and make sure we correct the things that aren’t working.  We are ready to embrace the future.

Now, we truly are, Happy Up Inc.

Once Upon a Toy says Goodbye Evil Pothole!

You mean thing.  You and your baby rattling ways will be in our rearview mirror very soon!  

While we're sad to say goodbye to our current location, we aren't sorry to say goodbye to the Evil Pothole in our driveway.  We've been working hard on getting our new space ready, and we're ready to announce our timeline!

Our last day for Once Upon a Toy to be open for business in our current location is Memorial Day, May 27th.  

We'll be closed from May 28th through the end of the month.  We'll be packing and moving and arranging and unpacking and re-arranging and packing and moving some more.  It'll be hard work, but we're eager to get into our new home.

We'll reopen at our new Edwardsville location, with our new name, June 1st.

Happy Up, Inc

6654-A Edwardsville Crossing Drive

Edwardsville, IL  62025

(618) 656-9596

So be ready to help us raise a ruckus - we're planning a big party to celebrate the new space and the new name as soon as everything is spiffed up, set up, and ready to Happy Up!