Rio is one of those films people call a core childhood memory. It's the bright blue birds, the samba, the nerdy macaw who couldn't fly. This Blu and Jewel plush pair is our take on them: two small macaws in needle-felted wool, mid-dance, with a thin chain still linking their feet. We made them by hand, and we make every pair to order for the person who asks. There's no shelf of ready birds here. Yours start with your message.
Who Blu and Jewel are
Rio came out in 2011, made by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) is a pet Spix's macaw from Moose Lake, Minnesota, raised by Linda, and he never learned to fly. Jewel (Anne Hathaway) is wild, quick and wants nothing more than to get back to the forest. Smugglers cuff the two together, and they have to cross Rio on foot until they learn to trust each other. Rio 2 followed in 2014. The real Spix's macaw went missing from the wild in 2000. In 2022 captive-bred birds were set free in Brazil again.
How we made them
Both birds are felted from wool, fibre by fibre. Blu is the darker blue one, with a lighter face, a brown eye under a heavy brow and a few white tufts on his chest. Jewel is paler sky blue, with long dark lashes, a pink blush and a hot-pink flower behind her eye. Their beaks are sculpted in grey. The wing feathers are felted one by one and edged in pink, and each bird stands on black clawed feet.
Then there's the chain. It runs from Blu's foot to Jewel's, the way the smugglers left them in the film. People who know Rio spot it right away.
Your Blu and Jewel
- Felted wool like these, or sewn soft plush you can hug
- The size you need, for a shelf or a desk
- Colours matched to the film or to your picture
- A wire frame inside, so wings and heads can be posed
Send us a picture or a screenshot and tell us which scene you love. You see photos of the finished birds before they ship. Each bird starts from $335, so the pair is priced per bird, and the quote is free.
More birds with a story: Love Doves sewn from a drawing, and Red from Angry Birds, whose flock even met the Rio gang in the Angry Birds Rio game. A pair like this also makes a sweet gift for a couple. We're an independent studio, not official Blue Sky Studios or 20th Century Studios.
Blu and Jewel are needle-felted from wool. That means the fibres are packed by hand with a barbed needle until they hold their shape, so the birds keep a fine fuzzy surface you can see in the photos. Two blues tell them apart: a deeper blue for Blu, a pale sky blue for Jewel.
- Sculpted grey beaks with a soft shine
- Wing feathers felted one by one and edged in pink
- Black clawed feet and a thin metal chain between them
- Jewel's pink flower with yellow stamens
Felted birds like these are for a shelf more than for hugs. If you'd rather have a pair to squeeze, we sew them as soft plush instead. A wire frame for posing can go inside either version.
A felted pair like Blu and Jewel usually takes 2-4 weeks, with a small reserve for the surprises handwork brings.
Felting is slow. Every feather is built up from loose wool, and the faces take the most time: the eyes, the lashes and the beak angle decide whether they look like Blu and Jewel or like two random parrots. Two birds means two faces to get right.
You get photos of the finished pair before it ships. If you need them by a date, say so in your first message.
We ship worldwide. Once the birds leave the studio, delivery usually takes 7 to 20 business days, depending on your country.
The post slows down around the holidays, and December is the slowest month. For Christmas, order by November 1. More holiday ideas are on our custom Christmas plush page.
A pair of lovebirds suits an anniversary, a wedding or Valentine's Day, and a Rio fan's birthday works too. Tell us the date and we'll say right away whether felting and shipping fit.
We've made toys to order since 2009. Before Blu and Jewel ship, we look over every feather, Jewel's flower and the chain between their feet.
You see photos of your pair before it's packed and can ask for changes then. That's the moment to say if Jewel's blue should be paler or Blu's brow heavier.
If they arrive and you don't love them, you get a full refund within 14 days, for any reason.
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Custom toys start from $350.
A bigger size or extra details can cost more.
Why?
No ready-made pattern. Your photo or drawing doesn’t come with one. Our artist builds the pattern from scratch and turns a flat picture into a 3D toy. It’s the hardest and slowest part.
Materials picked for your toy. The right color, fur length and texture. Sometimes we order fabric just for one project.
Sewn by hand. Every piece is cut, sewn, stuffed and finished by hand. The face takes the most time: move an eye a millimeter and the character changes.
You approve it first. When your toy is ready, we send you photos. Something looks off? We fix it before shipping.
One toy, not a thousand. A factory spreads design costs over thousands of copies. Here, all that work goes into one toy: yours.
That’s why prices start at $350. And on a personal order, if you don’t love your toy, you get a full refund.
