ChocolateMenagerie

A Shop of Little Sculptures and Things

San Diego, California On Etsy since 2014

516 Sales | 5 out of 5 stars

Top shop for gifts.

Buyers bought gifts from this shop and gave them 5-star reviews!

ChocolateMenagerie

A Shop of Little Sculptures and Things

San Diego, California | 516 Sales

5 out of 5 stars

Shop owner

Contact

Announcement    *UPDATE FALL 2020 - MADE-TO-ORDERS / CUSTOM ORDERS / BULK ORDERS*
Made-to-orders: Listings marked as made-to-order will take me anywhere between 4 to 12 weeks to make + ship. Please contact me for a more accurate turnaround estimate! (I may have some already made and ready to go)
Custom orders: I will be making custom order requests from mid-December 2020 through January 2021.
Bulk orders: If you would like more copies of a pin than I currently have stocked, please contact me!

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*Summer 2020 proceeds from The Chocolate Menagerie will be going to the Loveland Foundation, an organization that provides financially for Black womxn and girls seeking mental health support and therapy*

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Check out my Redbubble shop for stickers and more, featuring microbiology artwork!
https://www.redbubble.com/people/cmjk

*CUSTOM ORDERS / BULK PINS 2020*
Please reach out if you'd like to request a custom order. Turnaround time will generally be ~2 weeks, but I will try my best to accommodate if sooner would be better. All custom orders will be shipped from my San Diego, CA location.

*CUSTOM ORDERS 2019*
I will be making custom order requests from 3/18 - 3/22, 6/27 - 6/31, 8/12 - 8/30, and mid-December to early Jan (from my San Diego, CA location). If you would like a custom order to arrive before a specific date or before a major holiday, please let me know.
- *FOR EXISTING PIN DESIGNS* If you would like more copies of a pin than I have stocked in my shop, please contact me! I will generally take 2-3 weeks to make and ship them during any dates not listed above (from my Princeton, NJ location), but will try my best to accommodate if you need them sooner.

Welcome to The Chocolate Menagerie.
You'll find here a little ragtag menagerie, from micro (microbes!) to macro (animals!).

Creative juice sourced from sunny San Diego, CA, and forest-filled Princeton, NJ!

- Janie

Announcement

Last updated on Aug 30, 2020

*UPDATE FALL 2020 - MADE-TO-ORDERS / CUSTOM ORDERS / BULK ORDERS*
Made-to-orders: Listings marked as made-to-order will take me anywhere between 4 to 12 weeks to make + ship. Please contact me for a more accurate turnaround estimate! (I may have some already made and ready to go)
Custom orders: I will be making custom order requests from mid-December 2020 through January 2021.
Bulk orders: If you would like more copies of a pin than I currently have stocked, please contact me!

-----

*Summer 2020 proceeds from The Chocolate Menagerie will be going to the Loveland Foundation, an organization that provides financially for Black womxn and girls seeking mental health support and therapy*

-----

Check out my Redbubble shop for stickers and more, featuring microbiology artwork!
https://www.redbubble.com/people/cmjk

*CUSTOM ORDERS / BULK PINS 2020*
Please reach out if you'd like to request a custom order. Turnaround time will generally be ~2 weeks, but I will try my best to accommodate if sooner would be better. All custom orders will be shipped from my San Diego, CA location.

*CUSTOM ORDERS 2019*
I will be making custom order requests from 3/18 - 3/22, 6/27 - 6/31, 8/12 - 8/30, and mid-December to early Jan (from my San Diego, CA location). If you would like a custom order to arrive before a specific date or before a major holiday, please let me know.
- *FOR EXISTING PIN DESIGNS* If you would like more copies of a pin than I have stocked in my shop, please contact me! I will generally take 2-3 weeks to make and ship them during any dates not listed above (from my Princeton, NJ location), but will try my best to accommodate if you need them sooner.

Welcome to The Chocolate Menagerie.
You'll find here a little ragtag menagerie, from micro (microbes!) to macro (animals!).

Creative juice sourced from sunny San Diego, CA, and forest-filled Princeton, NJ!

- Janie

Items

Contact shop owner
516 Sales
314 Admirers
 

All Items

Janie Kim

Contact shop owner

Janie Kim

Reviews

Average item review
5 out of 5 stars
(100)
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quality 9 shipping 18 customer service 9

About ChocolateMenagerie

Sales 516
On Etsy since 2014
  • From bacteria bonanzas...
  • ...to little animals...
  • ...to fantastic creatures
  • A relatively tidy day.
  • In the works

A shop that began with a piece of clay and a flight of fancy.

Hello!

The Chocolate Menagerie started in the summer of 2014. I hand-sculpt miniatures ranging from microbes to fantastic creatures (hence, “Menagerie”) that are linked by the sweetness of art (“Chocolate”). I specialize in little handmade sculptures, jewelry, and trinkets crafted from polymer clay, usually a mishmash of birds, microbes, dragons, and generic nerdiness. I like thinking that this reflects my wish to pursue interdisciplinary studies in biology and writing.

Thanks for looking!

Shop members

  • Janie

    Owner

    Enthusiast of things such as sculpting, biology, reading and writing, microbes and birds and fantastic creatures, useless trivia, and Jurassic Park quotes.

Production partners

  • Print service

    United States

    Prints stickers and art prints

  • Enamel pin manufacturer

    United States

    Receives my pin designs and manufactures the enamel pin.

Shop policies

Last updated on April 14, 2020
Welcome to The Chocolate Menagerie!
All items are handmade, frosted with love, and sprinkled with a touch of whimsy. Here, you'll find a menagerie of little critters ranging from microbes to birds to dragons.

Accepted payment methods

Paypal Mastercard Visa American Express Discover Apple Pay Klarna Giftcard
Accepts Etsy Gift Cards and Etsy Credits
Returns and exchanges
I gladly accept returns
Contact me within: 14 days of delivery
Ship items back within: 21 days of delivery
I don't accept exchanges or cancellations
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
The following items can't be returned or exchanged
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
  • Custom or personalized orders
  • Items on sale
Returns and exchange details
If you aren't satisfied with your purchase, please contact me within two weeks and then return the item to me within three weeks of receiving it. The buyer is responsible for shipping fees. I'll refund the original cost of the item (not including shipping) when the item gets back to me.

If your purchase appears to have been lightly damaged during shipping despite the protective measures I have taken, please send me a picture of it and I'll offer some tips for fixing it. If fixing isn't possible, please contact me first then send the item back to me. The buyer is responsible for shipping fees. I'll refund the cost of the item (not including shipping) once it has returned to me.
Payment
Payment is expected at time of purchase, and orders will only be shipped once payment is received. Orders for which payment has not been completed will be canceled within two days.
Shipping
Shipping within the USA:
Items are shipped through USPS First Class Mail. The piece will be packaged carefully and securely to avoid damage during shipping. Most items arrive in 2-5 days after I have shipped them. The exact delivery time depends on the buyer's location in the U.S.

Shipping International:
Items are shipped through USPS First Class International Mail. The piece will be packaged carefully and securely to avoid damage during shipping. Most items will arrive in one to two weeks, but exact delivery time depends on the buyer's location. Possible custom or handling fees, taxes, VAT, or other additional fees involved in international shipping are the buyer's responsibility.

Please be aware that delays in shipment may occur as a result of holidays. International buyers, please note that I'm not responsible for any customs or import taxes that may apply, or for delays due to customs.
Additional policies and FAQs
Please take care that your purchase is treated with care! My creations aren't intended to be toys, and they will break if handled roughly.
Privacy
The Chocolate Menagerie Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how and when I collect, use, and share information when you purchase an item from me, contact me, or otherwise use my services through Etsy.com or its related sites and services.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that I do not own or control, including Etsy or any third party services you access through Etsy. You can reference the Etsy Privacy Policy to learn more about its privacy practices.

1. Information I Collect:
To fulfill your order, you must provide me with certain information (which you authorized Etsy to provide to me), such as your name, email address, postal address, and the details of the product that you’re ordering. You may also choose to provide me with additional personal information (for a custom order of jewelry, for example), if you contact me directly.

2. Why I Need Your Information and How I Use It
I rely on a number of legal bases to collect, use, and share your information, including:
• as needed to provide my services, such as when I use your information to fulfill your order, to settle disputes, or to provide customer support;
• when you have provided your affirmative consent, which you may revoke at any time;
• if necessary to comply with a legal obligation or court order or in connection with a legal claim, such as retaining information about your purchases if required by tax law; and
• as necessary for the purpose of my legitimate interests, if those legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights or interests, such as 1) providing and improving my services. I use your information to provide the services you requested and in my legitimate interest to improve my services; and 2) Compliance with the Etsy Seller Policy and Terms of Use. I use your information as necessary to comply with my obligations under the Etsy Seller Policy and Terms of Use.

3. Information Sharing and Disclosure
Information about my customers is important to my business. I share your personal information for very limited reasons and in limited circumstances, as follows:
• Etsy. I share information with Etsy as necessary to provide you my services and comply with my obligations under both the Etsy Seller Policy and Etsy Terms of Use.
• Service providers. I engage certain trusted third parties to perform functions and provide services to my shop, such as delivery companies. I will share your personal information with these third parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these services.
• Business transfers. If I sell or merge my business, I may disclose your information as part of that transaction, only to the extent permitted by law.
• Compliance with laws. I may collect, use, retain, and share your information if I have a good faith belief that it is reasonably necessary to: (a) respond to legal process or to government requests; (b) enforce my agreements, terms and policies; (c) prevent, investigate, and address fraud and other illegal activity, security, or technical issues; or (d) protect the rights, property, and safety of my customers, or others.

4. Data Retention
I retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide you with my services and as described in my Privacy Policy. However, I may also be required to retain this information to comply with my legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce my agreements. I generally keep your data for the following time period: 4 years.

5. Transfers of Personal Information Outside the EU
I may store and process your information through third-party hosting services in the US and other jurisdictions. As a result, I may transfer your personal information to a jurisdiction with different data protection and government surveillance laws than your jurisdiction. If I am deemed to transfer information about you outside of the EU, I rely on Privacy Shield as the legal basis for the transfer, as Google Cloud is Privacy Shield certified.

6. Your Rights
If you reside in certain territories, including the EU, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in certain limited cases. I describe these rights below:
• Access. You may have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information I hold about you by contacting me using the contact information below.
• Change, restrict, delete. You may also have rights to change, restrict my use of, or delete your personal information. Absent exceptional circumstances (like where I am required to store data for legal reasons) I will generally delete your personal information upon request.
• Object. You can object to (i) my processing of some of your information based on my legitimate interests and (ii) receiving marketing messages from me after providing your express consent to receive them. In such cases, I will delete your personal information unless I have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons.
• Complain. If you reside in the EU and wish to raise a concern about my use of your information (and without prejudice to any other rights you may have), you have the right to do so with your local data protection authority.

7. How to Contact Me
For purposes of EU data protection law, I, Janie Kim, am the data controller of your personal information. If you have any questions or concern, you may contact me through Etsy or at chocolate.menagerie [!at] gmail.com. If you reside in the EU, you can view my mailing address in the seller details below.

More information

Last updated on Apr 14, 2020
Frequently asked questions
The Making Process

I hand-make all of my sculptures and jewelry from polymer clay, so each piece is unique, from feathers to wire flagella. I insert curved eye pins into jewelry pieces before baking to ensure that they don't fall out. After baking, some pieces are painted with smaller details, some are completely painted over, while others like the streaked agar plates aren't painted at all. I coat all of my pieces with a protective sealant.

The pins in my shop feature my pencil/digital illustrations. I print these onto shrink plastic, cut them out, and then bake. The pieces are then sealed with a fixative spray, and then coated with a protective sealant.

Custom and personalized orders

I'm happy to take custom orders! Please feel free to message me with custom order requests anytime, and I'll get to making your request during the next soonest custom order time frame.

SCULPTURE CUSTOM ORDERS: I typically only make SCULPTURE custom orders during the time frames listed at the top of my shop.

PIN CUSTOM ORDERS / BULK ORDERS: I take pin custom orders / bulk orders year-round. Please see below for more info on pin orders.

Care instructions

Please be careful when handling my creations. They are not intended to be toys and will break if handled roughly. To remove dust, please use a lightly dampened paper towel. All of my sculptures and other handmade odds and ends are coated in a protective sealant, but I wouldn't recommend washing them directly in water.

Made-To-Order Pins / Bulk Pin Orders

If you would like more copies of a pin than are currently stocked in my shop, please contact me through Etsy and I can make them to order for you.

For bulk pin orders (>50 pins), please allow around three weeks for me to make and ship them (please contact me for a more precise time estimate). If you would like to place a bulk order, please contact me through Etsy. I offer bulk pricing!