We’re always looking for ways to make life a little easier for those of you who are interested in Christopher Pop-In-Kins, so we’ve decided to make him available for purchase on Amazon. If you prefer to make all your online purchases there, you can now buy Christopher Pop-In-Kins on Amazon. So, put him in your shopping cart with your other holiday items, or add him to your wish list. He wants to pop into your home for the holidays this year, no matter where he originates!

Piling into the car to drive around your neighborhood and check out all the Christmas lights.

Taking your kids to the mall to meet Santa and whisper their Christmas wishes in his ear.

The looks of awe on young faces as they see brightly-wrapped presents under the tree on Christmas morning.

These are just a few of the Christmas traditions we grew up with, and some of the moments that make the holidays so special.
I doubt anyone would disagree that the best part of the holidays is the time we spend with those we love. The special memories. The excitement of giving the perfect present. The cookies (Santa added that one).

Our families have age-old traditions that have been a part of our holidays for generations. But we are always looking for new ways to celebrate Christmas together, and to bring the love, joy, peace, and magic of the season into our homes. And we bet that you might just be interested in finding some fresh, unique ideas too.

So, we’ve decided to ask all of our Twitter friends to share their favorite holiday traditions with us so that we can in turn share them with you.
It may be difficult, but try to put your most cherished tradition into just 140 characters and tweet it to @popinkins. If you just can’t keep it that short, feel free to leave a more detailed account in the comments section. We’ll compile all of the traditions here, and then let you vote on your favorite. We’ll send out the Christopher Pop-In-Kins book and doll to the winner, so that he or she can start a fun new tradition with the family.

Put on your Christmas music (it’s close enough to Thanksgiving to cheat a little), think about your favorite Christmas tradition, and get Tweeting!

1. Read Christopher’s story the day after Thanksgiving
2. hide the elf doll somewhere up high that night
3. encourage your children to find him in the morning
4. move him to a new hiding spot each night

Kids and adults alike are always telling us how cute the doll is, how much they love the story, and how much fun this tradition adds to their holidays. But even more exciting are the different ways people are finding to make the Christopher tradition their own. We’d like to give a shout-out to The Learned Owl book store in Hudson, Ohio for the fun they and their customers are having this Christmas season.

Instead of visiting family homes, Christopher is popping into the Main Street windows of the The Learned Owl Book Shop. Each week from November 1-December 20 he will pop into a different window display. Visitors who can locate Christopher each week are entered to win a $50 gift certificate. Entry forms are available at The Learned Owl. We’re sure that Christopher is having a blast hiding out in these Christmas displays and watching passerby on the streets. He’s all about fun and games during the holidays — especially when kids are involved!

The Learned Owl will also be hosting a book signing event with Brian Bradway, the illustrator of our very own Christmas elf. If you are in the Hudson area on November 29 from 1-3 pm, be sure to stop by the bookstore at 204 N Main Street, Hudson, Ohio 44236. Bring your own copy or buy one there to have it signed.

Do you have any fun and unique traditions you have created with Christopher? What about new ideas for making this tradition your own? Share them in the comments!

If you’ve never heard the story before, you can hear the tale of Christopher Pop-In-Kins, Santa’s children’s Christmas elf right here. We hope you enjoy it!

Christopher also loves to stop in during Christmas to check out Oglebay’s famous Winter Festival Of Lights, which is the nation’s largest holiday light show. This year the 6-mile drive through 300 acres of beautiful Oglebay property runs November 5-January 9. Christopher missed it by just a few weeks, but he sure had fun checking out the golf courses!

Unfortunately, Oglebay didn’t have any Christopher-sized golf balls. But he did enjoy the view!

Since the reindeer weren’t allowed on the course (those divets are expensive!), Christopher got a ride in a golf cart.

The miniature golf course was a little more Christopher’s size.

Christopher liked the golf course, but he loved playing at the park because that’s where he could meet some kids. He liked the blue slide because it wasn’t as cold as the ice-slides at the North Pole.

Those were the highlights of Christopher’s trip to Oglebay, West Virginia. Pretty soon he’ll be too busy popping into homes to go on vacation. He doesn’t mind though; it’s the best part of the year!

A Christmas Elf’s Unselfish Dream Comes True

Pop-In-Kins: The Musical picks up before the well-loved children’s tale begins with a little Christmas elf named Christopher begging Santa to let him visit the real children in the Children’s World.

Little Christopher Pop-In-Kins is a dreamer. While the other elves are content with their lives at the North Pole building Christmas toys for boys and girls, making candy and decorations, having snowball fights, and playing games with Santa, Christopher feels that something is missing. He dreams of getting to spend time with children just like Santa does on Christmas Eve.

Then one day, it’s time to choose a new Santa Claus. Bob Humbug, an all around bad elf, is vying for the red suit and cookies with milk. Bob decides to hold an election and allow the other elves to vote him into office as St. Nick. He convinces Christopher to run against him because he is also an elf with many dreams. But when the sweet elf who is actually full of Christmas cheer is overwhelming voted as Santa, Bob Humbug decides to take over by melting the North Pole. Christopher realizes that Bob is a very naughty elf, and manages to save the day.

In part because of his heroic deeds, Santa grants Christopher’s wish to visit the Children’s World. While Bob Humbug’s dream of being Santa didn’t come true because it was selfish, Christopher’s did because it was focused on helping others.

A Family Christmas Musical and Holiday Event

Pop-In-Kins: The Musical will be held

November 28-December 14
Fridays 8:00 pm
Saturdays 2:30 pm & 8:00 pm
Sundays 2:30 pm

At

Second April Galerie
324 Cleveland Ave. NW
Canton, Ohio 44702

This new Christmas musical is by Ed Kuntzman, based on the character and story created by Flora Johnson, adapted from the music of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Established in 2007 by Edward Kuntzman, The Harmony Players is one of the Canton area’s newest theater groups. Made up of group of volunteers, The Harmony Players have established their home at the Kathleen Howland Theatre in the lower level of Second April Galerie & Studios.

*November 26, 2008 Update: We regret that due to some problems experienced  during production, it will be necessary to postpone our production of  Christopher Pop-In-Kins, The Musical until the 2009 holiday season. Please  check back next year for news on this wonderful holiday musical, and thank you  for your support!”

If so, please share them with us and other fans of this family tradition in the Christopher Pop-In-Kins Flickr Group. Everyone is welcome to join the group and share their favorite photos of Christopher. Just think, you may get a new idea for good hiding places when you are feeling stumped as Christmas nears, or find someone who lives near you who also loves the Christopher family tradition.

You can also check out our photos of Christopher when he’s popped into our houses, on our family vacations, or into our tradeshows. He’s a fun little elf to have around and we are always happy to see him.

The great thing about the Flickr groups is that you can talk to each other (and to us!) about Christopher, Christmas, or whatever else comes to mind. You can comment on your favorite photos, ask for new ideas, and share the unique ways you’ve incorporated this tradition into your family celebration of Christmas. We know how much fun it is to connect with other people who are passionate about the same things, so we hope you enjoy this opportunity to get to know other people who also love Christopher and Christmas.

ToyDirectory began as an online resource to assist toy retailers in finding great new products for their stores. The wholesale directory provides specialty toy store owners and buyers with information on products and services. The information is supplied by thousands of toy manufacturers and gives retailers access to a database filled with thousands of toys. ToyDirectory has since branched out into TDmonthly Magazine, an entirely online magazine that reports on trends and helps retailers get the information they need about new toys, crafts, and hobbies. TDmonthly Magazine’s goal is to alert independent retailers to the latest and greatest toys to hit the market.

Christopher Pop-In-Kins caught their eye and became the subject of a very nice article this month. Read TD Monthly’s review of our Christmas elf toy and family tradition.

We’ve spent all year preparing for the release of the newly-illustrated version of the 25-year-old story and children’s toy. Our illustrator, Brian, agonized over every little detail of every page, truly pouring his heart and soul into the project. The Christopher Christmas elf doll looks just like the hand-made original, but now he is completely posable and comes with an even better toy safety guarantee. We’ve redesigned our website and added all kinds of features so that we can connect with the people who’ve taken Christopher into their hearts and homes. And we’ve taken Christopher to tradeshows all over the country so that he can pop in to even more homes this year. We’re thrilled to finally see the results of our efforts coming to fruition. Even more importantly, we’re thrilled that more families will get to meet Christopher this year.

There is a limited quantity of Christopher Pop-In-Kins packages available for this holiday season. If you haven’t already ordered yours, you’ll want to stop in to our online store soon to ensure availability for this Christmas season.

We’re thrilled that you can finally see the updated version of this old favorite. Be sure to come back and tell us what you think!

Now I have seen another side of Christopher by attending my first tradeshow: ASTRA’s Marketplace and Academy. I would like to say first that the ASTRA event was well-organized and well-attended. Whenever we had a question or a concern, the ASTRA volunteers helped immediately. It made the show so much easier and such a success for us.

A surprise for me was how many toy store owners were once teachers. Not only did they understand their young buyers, but they also did their “homework” before arriving at our booth. When an interested buyer came to our booth, they had researched our available information through ASTRA, on our website, and in Toy Directory.

Toy Directory was certainly present at the event, they interviewed exhibitors all day, and my husband was one of the first. I had thought that most of those attending would have been from the region; but we met people from states as far apart as Maine and Alaska, and most states in between.

I must admit that the event was tiring, but I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to next year’s Academy.

Christopher had a lot of fun, too!