Episode published: Friday 01/17/2025
Michael: Hi everybody, welcome to another episode of Every Day is Groundhog Day (Except for the Days When It's Not), the only podcast devoted to the holiday, Groundhog Day. I'm your host, Michael, founder of CountdowntoGroundhogDay.com. I hope you enjoyed learning all about popular actor and Groundhog Day baby Rich Sommer in our last episode.
For today's episode, I'm speaking with Melissa Bracken who has a business called The Happy Groundhog Studio. Melissa makes eco-friendly stuffed plushies and pillows and also has a stuffed groundhog named Cincinnati Sammy who has been providing Groundhog Day predictions for the last few years. The Happy Groundhog Studio has a lot of great products, and you should definitely check it out after you check out this interview.
So, today I'm speaking with Melissa Bracken from The Happy Groundhog Studio, a business which sells eco-friendly products like stuffed plush animals and pillows, and which has a number of groundhog-related products as well. Melissa also has a stuffed groundhog named Cincinnati Sammy that has provided Groundhog Day predictions for the last few years. So, welcome to the show, Melissa.
Melissa Bracken: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Michael: Okay. So, to start off, could you give me an overview of The Happy Groundhog Studio, how it got started, how long you've been in business, types of products you create and sell?
Melissa Bracken: Sure. So, The Happy Groundhog Studio is just my studio in my home and then that expanded to, like, we started selling stuff at art fairs. I actually have a background in art, I graduated from the Art Academy of Cincinnati with a sculpture degree and went into retail and did that for years. And then I've always had a groundhog obsession so one day I was looking for groundhog stuffed animals and I was like, "I can't find one." And so, I had this kind of funny idea to make one and then I was at my mom's house, and she was getting rid of a bag of sweaters, and I found this sweater and the bag that she was getting rid of. And I was like, "You know what? That kind of looks like groundhog fur to me." And so, I took it home and made my first groundhog out of it.
During that time, I was in a business class in a local art setup. So, I was writing a business plan, and I didn't have any idea what I was going to make, I just knew that I came up with The Happy Groundhog Studio name. So, it was kind of like, "Well, I need to make a groundhog to go with that." And just slowly started making stuffed animals for my sister. I made them for my nephew, for his first birthday and then started getting requests for more stuffed animals. And that's when then I made my groundhog and that's kind of the basic of the Groundhog Studio. That was probably about 12 years ago. So, it's been 12 years since I've been making the stuffed animals out of recycled sweaters. And I have a variety of different kinds, but groundhog is my core guy and my namesake, and I'm still obsessed with groundhogs. [laughs]
Michael: Okay. Yeah, I was going to ask how you came up with the name of Groundhog. So, it sounds like that was your first, kind of, product.
Melissa Bracken: Well, so the groundhog story itself, most people don't really care that much about the groundhog, but since this is the groundhog podcast, I guess I could go deeper into the groundhog story, you know?
Michael: Absolutely.
Melissa Bracken: So, I always just kind of… I don't know, I worked at this frame shop and it was this little tiny building and we would take our breaks, and literally the back door opened to, like, the parking lot. And there was this old house next door. And we were, you know, picture framing, we would frame pictures and stuff for people, and we would take our breaks and just open the back door where the framing saws were and we’d cut all the wood and everything just so we could breathe and there was a family of groundhogs that lived in this field behind. So, we watched this big fat groundhog and then one day she had babies out there and so it became this funny thing that we would all talk about this groundhog family that was living behind. Everybody kind of couldn't wait to take their break to go out and see what she was doing. She would just kind of, you know, give us the side eye and we could talk to her and she'd, like, look at us and stuff. So, that was my first funny, like, kind of one-on-one experience with a groundhog.
And then there were other things that would happen throughout my life where, like, I would be driving and I would really be having a bad day and I would look on the side of the road and there'd be a groundhog just sitting there, like, munching and it would make me feel better. And I felt like there was kind of some divine intervention that maybe God was placing these little groundhogs as my little nugget of, like, remembering that everything's going to be okay. And so, I had one kind of traumatic event where my sister had a really big health scare, and I was rushing to the hospital and there was a groundhog in this, like, really weird place that I had driven a hundred times before and never had seen a groundhog there. And that was the biggest Aha! moment that I thought like "These groundhogs, they're there for me." You know, just as a reminder that you're not alone.
So, when I had lost my job, fast forward, you know, years in advance where my, I got married and I had been working retail for years and I graduated art school and all this stuff, and I lost my job. My husband and I were sitting out in the backyard, we were having a fire and just talking about like, "What are we doing next?" And I was like, "Well, maybe I should just try doing art full-time and seeing what that does." And so, then we started talking about names and you know, you sit by a fire and just kind of brainstorm and he was like, "Well, you know, it's got to have something with 'Groundhog’ in the name." And I was like, "Oh yeah! That's right." Because they've kind of been my like guide that every time I, like, am feeling down or I need something, my spirit lifted, the groundhog pops up and we have groundhogs in the neighborhood and you know, we have them running through the backyard and we've had times where they've dug under our garage and have lived there and we have a green space, like, two doors down from us where there's a creek and stuff. So, there's always some sort of groundhog every year pops up somewhere around our house.
And so, my third floor of our house, I ended up turning that into my studio. So, that's where we decided that "Groundhog" has to be part of that. And so, that's when I named the Groundhog Studio before I even came up with making a groundhog stuffed animal at all. It was just, like, I wanted an overarching name that I could do anything in my art with. And then once I started making stuffed animals, it just kind of took off.
Michael: All right. Got it, awesome. I mean, and that definitely is what caught my attention initially was the presence of "Groundhog."
Melissa Bracken: Right!
Michael: And so, is everything in your shop handcrafted by you? I know you have the plushies and you have pillows. I saw you have pins too and stickers. Are those also made by you or are those like…?
Melissa Bracken: Those are the only thing I source out. I handmake everything else by me in my studio, my home studio. I do all my own designs. And so, I was drawing a lot of those designs out. And then when stickers kind of got popular, someone was like, you know, "Do you have any stickers? Do you have anything small? Oh, I love your stuff, but I don't need a stuffed animal." And so, I started drawing those stickers and pins and stuff like that. And so, it just came from there and yeah, I get, I get those made. The stickers and the pins are the only things I don't make myself, but they're all my own drawings.
Michael: Okay. So, you said you go to, like, fairs and shows and stuff like that but your studio is in the house. So, you don't have a storefront? It's all internet or fairs?
Melissa Bracken: Yeah. I started out small, just seeing if I could do it part-time. And so, we live in Cincinnati and there's some bit, there was a lot of craft shows, especially 12 years ago, it was kind of the very beginning of being able to start, you know, there would be enough shows each month that I could try to get into and start, I was able to start sustaining actually having some sort of business through it instead of just randomly hoping that somebody was going to buy something off my website, you know?
There was Etsy back then too. That was when Etsy was still small and handmade and people would go on there and I think I was the only… I remember looking on there I think that was part of it too. I went on there was nothing groundhog on Etsy at all handmade. And I was like, "Maybe I could put something on Etsy." And it was, you know, back then it was free and pretty low cost and, you know, I didn't have any sort of website or anything like that. And so, that was my first website. I think I had just maybe had Facebook, and someone messaged me and said, "I want to buy something, and I don't live in your city." That was my first big like, "Oh! Whoa! Okay, maybe I'll figure this out." So, that was my first, I have like, "Well, I've heard of this thing, Etsy, I'll try it out." So, I opened an Etsy storefront and put the things on there that the woman said she wanted and sure enough, she bought it. And I was super excited. [laughs]
Michael: Oh, great. I've noticed recently, it seems like a few of the farmers markets or shows that we've had around here have had a lot of, like, people crocheting things, that seems to be getting more and more popular. And I'll go and I'll look, and I never see any groundhog stuff and sometimes I'll be like, you know, "Have you ever considered that?" And they're like, "Oh, maybe." But it's good that you're out there doing some groundhog products and stuffed plushies that I will definitely link to on the website and in the show notes so people can hopefully get their orders in for… I don't know if it's too late now. Are you still…?
Melissa Bracken: Yeah, yeah. This is my prime time. Too because when I started the groundhog thing, it didn't really dawn on me about Groundhog Day. And then I would always be busy at Christmas. And then all of a sudden, I get this push of orders. And I was like, "Oh, wait!" Like, the idea that people would want to buy groundhogs for Groundhog Day, like never dawned on me either, because I love groundhogs, but it didn't really have anything to do with actual Groundhog Day, you know?
Michael: Right.
Melissa Bracken: I have little kids, and they would come home from school with groundhog-themed things for the day. And so, then I would go into their schools and help out on Groundhog Day and maybe bring, like, a coloring page or something like that. So, it was kind of funny that I didn't— And I mean, a lot of people now too would have like a birthday that's on Groundhog Day. People think, a lot of people were like, "Oh, is that you? Do you have a birthday on Groundhog Day? Is that why?" And I'm like, "No, I just have this weird obsession with groundhogs." And it sounds weird. So sometimes I don't really tell people very much, but since you're the groundhog podcast, you have to obviously relate. [laughs]
Michael: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It's also not my birthday.
Melissa Bracken: And I think a lot of the gifts people order for Groundhog Day is for a baby that's been born, or I do a lot of, like, I'll put like the kid's name, I hand stitch names on them or birthdays. And so, and you know, I can custom make them in any color. I had a family who had a white groundhog that hung out in its backyard. And so, I made a custom white groundhog for them with, and they named him and put his name on it and stuff like that. So, it's been fun to get to— Oh my gosh. And then the groundhog stories. I hear so many funny groundhog stories. When I do craft shows, people walk in and are like, "Groundhog!" And then, you know, I show 'em and then that's another funny thing is cause I think it's such an unusual animal and they're not everywhere. I don't think that they're everywhere. I think that, you know, since the Midwest, they're definitely a version of them and there's different versions in other areas, but they don't like loud sounds so they're kind of, like, real specific in their environment that they need to be in. So, when they do pop up, I think they seem to be this little magical creature, you know, that you know, "You've provided the right space, and I will now adorn your yard."
Michael: They're definitely, like, North America. I don't know exactly where the range is, but like, I know a lot of other countries have no idea what groundhogs are or Groundhog Day is, outside of maybe the movie. So yeah, that's great. Yeah. I've always had groundhogs living behind the houses that I've lived in. So, I kind of have had that connection since I was little, but you know, not everybody loves them. A lot of people get upset because they eat their plants or things that they're trying to grow in their garden.
Melissa Bracken: Yeah. One year I decided to grow strawberries, and I never had tried it before. And so, I bought all these plants, and I planted them, and I was watching them, and the flowers were coming and then you'd see a couple of green strawberries. And then next thing I know, I'd go out there and they'd be all gone. One day I looked out there and there's a groundhog sitting in the middle of my strawberry patch, just munching away. And so, my groundhog stuffed animal is always pictured with a strawberry in his pocket for that groundhog that was in my backyard. [laughs]
Michael: Oh, okay. I did notice the strawberries. I didn't know if there was a specific story or…
Melissa Bracken: Yeah. You just have some sort of little— Like, when I was pregnant, I made a real big groundhog and it had a baby groundhog in its pocket and I kind of made it like it was a little baby carrier. And then I showed that to people like at art shows and they're like, "Oh, I didn't know groundhogs were marsupials." And I'm like, "No. No, they're not." This isn't, you know, specific to the animal. I was like, you know, "It's like a pocket in your jeans. It's just fun to have a pocket." But I kind of thought of it as like a baby carrier, you know, people wear their babies in a baby wrap. So, it's kind of like if the groundhogs had baby wraps, you know?
Michael: So, I'm sure it's different for each product, but on average, how long do you spend on creating, like, a stuffed animal, say one of the stuffed groundhogs?
Melissa Bracken: Well, I kind of use them in like, I do like micro batches of all my stuffed animals. So, since I make everything out of recycled sweaters and fabrics, I scour thrift stores to find… That's always the first part of it is trying to find the right fabric. And so, I love trying to find… There's a tan-colored cable knit, that's my favorite to use for groundhogs. And so, once I find one, then I'll go ahead and make just the batch, whatever I can make out of that one sweater. So, sometimes it's four and sometimes it can be up to eight, depending on the size of the sweater. You know, if I find an extra small sweater or if I find an extra large sweater. So, then whatever I can make out of that one, I start with that. So, I'll do all, if I'm going to make four or eight, I'll make them all at the same time. So, I kind of batch them.
But I would say if I was going to, like, try to just cut out one sweater, one stuffed animal and make it from beginning to end, it takes probably… I would say probably an hour if I was really, like, solid focused on it and had everything. I have to source a lot of the fabric. So, you know, if I run out of something, I got to go look for it. And I try to be mindful and not buy anything brand new unless that brand new thing was made out of recycled. So, I use recycled felts that were recycled from plastic bottles because, I don't know, making things that come from nature feels weird to make them out of things that aren't good for nature, you know?
Michael: Okay. So, that covers… I was going to ask about the eco-friendly and you mentioned eco-friendly on your site.
Melissa Bracken: Yeah. And that's, you know, I think those are back from my, it started a little bit from my art school days because, you know, when you're in art school, you don't have any money, I mean, no college kids really have any money. And so, a lot of artists are real scrappy where they just try to find anything around them and turn that into art. I've always liked that challenge of finding something and then seeing what I can make out of it. So, I still think that's part of why I love it being Earth-friendly, that's really important to me. But I also love the challenge of finding some weird sweater and seeing, like, what I can turn that into.
Michael: And is this, I think you mentioned at first, it was part-time. Is this pretty much a full-time thing that you're doing, you know, during the day and the, I guess, probably the weekends too, when you're going to the…
Melissa Bracken: Yeah. It just started part-time. I lost my job, and I had, my son was 2 and I thought, you know, you know, a lot of people around me were like, "I think you could do this." And I said, well, I'll start, I'll at least start part-time. And then I had another part-time job for a little bit, and I would, you know, go do that part-time and I would stay home, and my husband and I would tag team because we couldn't afford daycare, you know? So, I just started doing that and I would apply to any little craft shows that came along. I had Etsy at the time. You know, I was just kind of squeaking by with it.
And then I started figuring out that because what I'm doing is truly, I mean, I went to art school and so I kind of have more of a sculptural take of it. Like, I don't use patterns that other people make, they’re all my own patterns. And I didn't come at it from, like, a sewing background, I came at it from a sculpture background. So, I kind of like, I hand sew things on where I want them. I've actually taught myself more about sewing on a sewing machine than I ever knew before, I used to do a lot more hand sewing. And so, I had the idea to try to apply at, like, actual art shows where that, you know, we're in Cincinnati, we have summer fair. So, each city, big cities usually have a type of art show and it's like the ones that like have, like, 200 artists and they set up tents and, you know, there's usually music and food and it's kind of like a day, an event, maybe two or three days. So, I travel around the Midwest and go to those. I do Louisville, there's a couple of them in Kentucky that I always do. I'm going to Fairhope, Alabama; I do that one every year. We're actually going to Key West next month for it. So, we'll see how people in Key West think about groundhogs. But I usually try, even if I'm going to go to another city, to think about what animal is kind of popular there. When I was on some Kentucky shows, I added possums. And I do a lot of… I try to do animals. I have, like, a group of animals that I think would be friends with groundhogs, you know? So, like, the little woodland creatures.
So, once I started adding more art shows in where they were like two and three-day shows, that's where you can, I can actually make more of my income because, you know, I've always had a lot of feedback. "Oh, I bought it from you online and when I got it in person, it's so much cuter than I even thought it was going to be. I thought it was cute in the picture," but you know, there's so much more about the textures of the sweaters and the fabrics and the way all the colors work together. And each one is completely unique, even though, you know, I have one groundhog pattern that I use. And then every pattern that I make is based on my original groundhog. So, sometimes I make bunnies or whatever, and they still, everybody still looks a little more like the groundhog than anybody else. So, I've always kind of used that as my parameter.
But then it got to the point where I was doing these art shows, traveling, and then my husband ended up being able to leave his job and coming and working with me. He's a musician, so he plays music in the evenings and then helps me during the day. So, he cuts things and stuffs things and helps me just in general, keep kind of the production part of it going along. Even though it's handmade and I'm an artist, we still try to want to keep the business part of it so that we can, we don't want to be starving artists.
Michael: Right, right.
Melissa Bracken: I hope that answered that.
Michael: Definitely. So, I think you kind of alluded to this, you have a number of groundhog products, groundhog stuffed animal ornament pins. Do you find that you have an uptick in sales going into Groundhog Day? It sounds like you do.
Melissa Bracken: Yeah, yeah. I talked about that a few minutes ago. Yeah. It was one of those unexpected parts of having the Groundhog as my name. I just had an order come through. It was, like, my biggest groundhog order to date and somebody ordered, like, a bunch of stickers, a bunch of pens, a bunch of, I have a rattle-sized one that so a lot of people will order the groundhog rattle for a new baby, you know, it's just my little stuffed animal and I stick a rattle in it. And then I have an ornament size. Well, that was one thing too I did. Before I started the business. I would just randomly buy groundhog stuff, and I had bought a Christmas ornament, and it was really probably more of a prairie dog, prairie dog seemed to be more things I would find, but I'm like, "Well, they're close enough." And so, that was the other, I was like, "I need a groundhog ornament. There aren't any groundhog ornaments." So yeah, so I sell a lot of groundhog ornaments because people come in and they have a funny groundhog story. And so, they'll buy the groundhog ornament for their person who was their funny groundhog story person.
Michael: Yeah. I still think it's a largely untapped market. I think a lot of people probably want Groundhog Day stuff and there aren't that many places… I joke about going in the stores and, you know, where's the Groundhog Day area, you know? After Christmas, then you start getting into Valentine's Day and I'm like, "There's another holiday that you're missing out on." So, it's good. I'm glad you're getting some of that business and hopefully, we can send some more people your way.
Melissa Bracken: Yeah, that would be awesome.
Michael: Could you talk about Cincinnati Sammy a little bit?
Melissa Bracken: Yeah. So, once Instagram started like videos becoming a big deal, I had this idea a couple of years ago, like, my husband had this top hat and I was like, "You know what? We could do one of those Groundhog Day things where they hold the groundhog up." I mean, I always think they're so funny and that groundhog, he looks so uncomfortable, but I still love seeing his little fat body being held up like that. So, we went out and we filmed one and oh my gosh, it got tons of views.
And so, I was like, "Oh, maybe we should start doing this." So, we started doing it every year and then sometimes I would remember to film it and sometimes I wouldn't, you know, but we started doing it every year. And then last year I was like, "You know what? If we're going to keep doing this…" I noticed that a lot of groundhogs have a name that do it and they do it every year. And so, I did a little online vote last year to see, well, let's go ahead and get him named and then maybe we can make it more of a more official thing. So, we did that, and then we got it added to the Groundhog Day lists of, what are they? How do they say it? Prognosticators or whatever?
Michael: Prognosticators, yeah.
Melissa Bracken: So, it was like, I thought that was awesome. Because I think there's a Buckeye, a groundhog Buckeye for Ohio.
Michael: Yeah. Buckeye Chuck is the official state groundhog for Ohio, but maybe you can displace him.
Melissa Bracken: Yeah, yeah. Well, and then I saw that PETA was really pushing for people to not do real groundhogs and do stuffed animals. I was like, "Oh, here we go!" I don't have to be, like, adding another cringy version, though, I think it's funny with regular groundhogs. They don't seem to be that upset.
So yeah, I started an online poll last year, we came up with the name. We did another hold up the groundhog and we just kind of make fun— We have fun with it, you know, because it's like, his weather prediction. And then we're like, you know, it's just a stuffed animal. He doesn't really know what he's talking about. We can choose, you know? So, my husband is not shy in front of the camera so he was pretty funny with it, but you can check it out on my, it's on my Instagram page @TheHappyGroundhogStudio and it's on there. We'll probably do another one.
And I actually, it's going to reach out to our local— We don't really have anything in Cincinnati for Groundhog Day. Our local park will do, they have a little nature center, and one year we went in and they, you can make like a little groundhog mask, you can color it and stuff, but then with COVID all that kind of stuff shut down because it's a big indoor thing. So, we’ve been looking to see if we could do one and I was going to match up with the park and see if we could do a little thing there. And honestly, everything's gotten so busy, I can't even believe that we're coming up on… You know, it's in a couple of weeks here and I really had big plans that I was going to do a Groundhog Day event this year, but I'm going to still do something, but it won't be— And it's on a Sunday this year, which is nice because sometimes when it's on a weekday, it's like, can't really… It is a certain day and it's not a holiday, we don't get the day off for it. So, people might not come to a Tuesday Groundhog Day event. [laughs]
Michael: Yeah. I think Punxsutawney always gets people no matter what, but I think a lot of the smaller ones, less known ones, their crowds are much smaller during the week.
Melissa Bracken: Well, I do some shows in Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh specifically, and I had the Groundhog Day shop order a bunch of stuff last year. And I was talking to them, and they said that their uptick, they've always done something, but it wasn't until the movie came out, then that was their beginning of the flood of crowds started happening after that.
Michael: So, you'll have to let me know if you do have some sort of event that people can go to, just let me know the details and I can share them.
So, do you have any… I know you said your connection is mainly with groundhogs. Do you have any particular connection to the movie itself? I assume you've seen it.
Melissa Bracken: I've seen it. Yeah, we watch it every year because you know, it's hilarious. But other than that, I think it's funny. And I do like the idea that the same day keeps going on over and over again. [chuckles] Some days it feels like that when you're at home, especially working from home, it feels like that a lot.
Michael: Okay. I think that's largely everything I want to cover. Is there anything else you wanted to mention or plug? You know, as I said, we'll definitely link to your website in the show notes and on the website. Is there anything else you wanted to…?
Melissa Bracken: My website, I have, I have an events page. Like I said, I travel around the Midwest and South, down to Florida and Alabama. So, I've always put where my shows are going to be and love when people come out and say hi and check out the Groundhog stuff in person. But I also have a website. I try to keep it updated with everything being completely handmade. Sometimes things are out or I'm getting ready for a show to travel to so I don't have it quite updated, but if you ever see something that you want, you know, you saw it on social media and you want it and I don't have it available on my website, always just message me. It's just me and my husband, we’re a tiny, little, small business. I answer every email and can respond pretty quickly to everything.
Michael: Okay, sounds good! So, if there's nothing else, I will definitely keep an eye out for Cincinnati Sammy's prediction and add it to my database.
Melissa Bracken: Okay. We'll definitely do it. I even thought, I might even do… If it even just comes down to where we just do a little fun thing outside the studio here, we might just do that. A lot of times we go to a local park, but with it being a Sunday, I might do something just at the actual studio here.
Michael: Okay. Sounds good.
Melissa Bracken: Either way, I'll put it up on the website and on my social media.
Michael: All right. Thanks so much.
Melissa Bracken: Yeah, thanks for having me. It was fun!
Michael: All right. Bye.
Michael: And that's the interview. If you want to see the great items available for sale at The Happy Groundhog Studio, go to TheHappyGroundhogStudio.com and let us know if you buy something.
Music for this show is written by the Mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. Show artwork is by Tom Mike Hill. Transcripts are provided by Aveline Malek at TheWordary.com. If you want to learn more about Groundhog Day, visit CountdownToGroundhogDay.com. Any feedback or voice messages can be sent to podcast@countdowntogroundhogday.com. Thanks for listening, talk to you next time!
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Transcribed by Aveline Malek at TheWordary.com