Mullins initially made 18 bears in a month for her grandmother’s celebration of life, meant to be passed out to family members.
Six months later, when her grandfather from her other side of the family passed away, Mullins made seven bears out of his clothing.
She posted on her personal Facebook page about the bears bringing comfort to her family, and the post “blew up,” Mullins said.
“I wasn’t planning on them being a thing that I did,” she said.
But since then, she has made more than 200 “memorial bears” for people grieving lost loved ones in the area.
Mullins owns Three Moons Boutique in Middletown — which will be opening in its own storefront at 1050 Central Ave. next year — and the memorial bears are now part of the business.
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Typically, Mullins said, one large shirt makes one bear. Sometimes, when working with smaller baby clothing, Mullins will use a fabric that matches the clothing to cover the back of the bear.
On average, her minimum order is eight bears at a time, which usually correlates to how many grandkids and/or family members might want a bear.
“It’s always typically given at the funeral or around the holidays,” Mullins said. “I get a lot of people who say, ‘I’ve been holding on (to the clothing) for a couple years, and I’m not sure what to do with it until now.’”
This holiday season, she is working on 32 bears. Her turnaround time is about two and a half weeks for eight bears.
“It’s one of those sentimental gifts ... it’s unique in it’s own way,” she said.
“A lot of family members don’t think about the fact that somebody kept clothing from somebody who’s passed away, so when they open that, it’s always going to end up being tear-filled. But it’s something that they get to cherish.”
Scent is also something Mullins considers since people bringing in their grandmother’s clothing might want the smell of perfume to linger.
Mullins keeps clothing in a plastic bag until she starts working on the bear as a way to preserve the scent as much as possible. She will also take any scraps of clothing and use them to stuff the bear.
“When I do that, some of the scent is kept inside of the bear,” she said.
Mullins said the memorial bears are a “passion” for her, and she has a “soft spot” for giving back to grieving families since she used to work in the funeral home industry.
“This is my way of still getting to help people in the grieving process and give something back to them when it’s the hardest time in their life,” she said.
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