Our entrepreneurial spirit was quenched in May 2008 with the official formation of Little Sapling Toys. We have had a deep, humble gratitude since then for each success and challenge that has been faced.
An incredible amount of thought, time and concern is invested in each toy that we make. The wood we use is carefully selected to be sustainably harvested and safe for children. From the rocking horse to an individual teething square, each toy is meticulously hand sanded. Half our toys are finished with locally produced beeswax, which we selected to use after much research. We plan on starting to make our own beeswax mixture within the next few months. The other half of our toys are left unfinished because we know their intent is to go straight from our recycled boxes into a child's mouth.
Little Sapling Toys has not only been our livelihood, but a dream come true.

"In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small parts, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.
The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number. All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of
units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and update their molds to include batch labels.

For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of
mandatory testing will likely drive them out of business.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public trust: Toys made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys will no longer be legal in the US.

If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered."

Courtesy of Handmade Toy Alliance

Here is an article about how the CPSIA affects manufacturers of apparel, "diapers, blankets (housewares), books, videos, computer and electronic products, strollers, cribs, car seats, and anything humans come in contact with in their environment." This also puts in danger the thousands of retailers around the country that offer these products made by artisans and small businesses.

Please take a few minutes (by Monday) and fax members of the Congressional committee that will be meeting on 12/10 to discuss CPSIA implementation issues. Here is a sample letter for your convenience.