Custom Hand PuppetMy daughter loves puppets. I mean, she really loves puppets. She carries them around and tells them stories and engages them in fisticuffs. (Put Bert on one hand and Ernie on the other and smash them together and you get the picture.) So the Puppet Pie Shop’s Custom Professional Puppet – who I like to call Look What Happened When Janice Left Electric Mayhem To Go To Business College – would, I am not exaggerating, blow her mind.

Okay, so it’s a lot of money for what some people might think is just a glorified doll with body-cavity issues. But spending it on a professional-quality puppet – if your child dreams of a future bringing an all-puppet electronica band to life – could provide years of Muppet-caliber imaginative play and, perhaps, a future at Sesame Workshop. You can even order it customized to look just like someone you know. Maybe even someone who would never use a puppet at all.

So I’ll be setting aside a Banker Janice Puppet coin jar, to save for when my daughter makes the 13 year-old recommended age for this. In the meantime, you can find affordable alternatives at the shop like finger puppets that look like bacon,and fried eggs, and teeny little ears of corn. And if I can get my daughter to take her deli-themed finger-puppet on the road, she just might work her way up to the super-special custom hand gear yet. –Catherine

EDITED TO ADD: With the closing of 10000 markets, Puppet Pie is now available through the etsy shop Stacey Rebecca.