Mip·po [Mip-oh] noun, plural Mip·poos. Informal. A cute species of plush hippo, first discovered in the Netherlands around 1989.
Mippoos is a little handmade shop from the Netherlands. Our items are designed and made by us, Lucia and Marijke. We're a mother and daughter team and we've combined our skills to create the Mippoos family. Lucia has mastered the sewing machine and makes our cute and chubby Mippo hippo dolls, while Marijke paints their adventures in watercolor.
We started Mippoos in 2013 as a creative outlet for Lucia, because the Mippoos family just kept growing and our home is pretty but small. We decided it was time to put some of our beloved Mippoos family members up for adoption, because keeping them all fed was becoming increasingly more expensive. ;-) Starting in 2016, Marijke's watercolor hippo art was added to our shop.
Over the years, more Mippoos were born and each and every one hippo plush has its own disposition and is always unique. They go on all sorts of adventures, which are portrayed in Marijke's watercolor art cards and prints. Most of our afternoons together are spend on brainstorming new outfits, names, and adventures. We were always close, but Mippoos has definitely brought us even closer as a mother and daughter!
We love our Mippoos family and all the heart-warming words and comments we've received for our little Etsy shop. It's a great adventure to be on together as a mother and daughter team.. and all our Mippo hippo friends!
A bit of background:
The first Mippo hippo is called Nelleke and she is the matriarch of the Mippoos family.
Marijke: "The year is 1989 and I was only 18 months old when I first fell in love with one of mom's creations. She created a soft and cute hippo plush for me, including a ballet tutu, dress and pajamas. I named her Nelleke (a very Dutch name), but often pronounced it more like Mel-lik, which is actually where the M from Mippoos originates. I remember playing with Nelleke for hours, dressing her for ballet practice or getting her ready for bed in her cute pjs whenever it was my time for bed. She still holds a prominent place on one of my bedroom's cupboards (I moved out of mom's house a few years ago)."