Dinosaur Pins!

See our cute new dinosaur painted pins online at
Tapir and Friends Animal Store

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Beaver Pins ~ Made in USA

Show your OSU pride with this delightful pin!

Our Painted Beaver Pins

These gorgeous and unusual beaver pins are made in Washington and Idaho by a team of U.S. artists. The high-quality lapel pins or oversized tie tacks are unique. They are exquisitely detailed; the quality of the painting elevates each pin to an item of wearable art. Each one is cast in pewter and painted by hand. You will be delighted with the professional quality and artistic details of your piece of fish jewelry. The finish is extremely smooth and shiny, as you can see by the highlight from the scanner. It is also extremely durable. The pin is secured by two sturdy tacks on the back so it stays upright, and the finished product is not only gorgeous, but satisfyingly substantial in weight. It can be used as a lapel pin, hat pin, tie tack, and more. This collectible animal pin is heirloom quality, and the details are so realistic, they are found in museum gift shops and bought by organizations in need of the perfect animal to represent their group.

About Beavers

Beavers are wonderful swimmers and also great at building dams. The dams they build are mostly used to get easy access to food in the winter time, and are also used for protection againt predators. The dams may be as large as 1,000 ft long, 15 ft high, and 25 ft thick. Not to mention the beaver is also large, a male can weigh up to 55 lbs, and a female beaver can weigh even more! The beaver is so large, that they are the 2nd largest rodent in the world next to the capybara (see stuffed and plastic capybaras in our gift shop).

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Seagull Pins ~ Made in USA

A beautiful bit of bling for the coastal dweller!

Our Painted Seagull Pins

These gorgeous and unusual seagull pins are made in Washington and Idaho by a team of U.S. artists. The high-quality lapel pins or oversized tie tacks are unique. They are exquisitely detailed; the quality of the painting elevates each pin to an item of wearable art. Each one is cast in pewter and painted by hand. You will be delighted with the professional quality and artistic details of your piece of fish jewelry. The finish is extremely smooth and shiny, as you can see by the highlight from the scanner. It is also extremely durable. The pin is secured by two sturdy tacks on the back so it stays upright, and the finished product is not only gorgeous, but satisfyingly substantial in weight. It can be used as a lapel pin, hat pin, tie tack, and more. This collectible animal pin is heirloom quality, and the details are so realistic, they are found in museum gift shops and bought by organizations in need of the perfect animal to represent their group.

About Seagulls

Closely related to terns, the California gull (Larus californicus) is a carnivorous scavenger, which picks at almost anything organic. It loves small fish and crustaceans which it snatches from the surface. It swims on the top of the water, but does not swim underwater. It is an intelligent bird with a myriad of calls and, like most birds, outstanding eyesight. The adult gull is gray and white in color, whereas younger gulls are a mottled light brown.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Squid Pins ~ Made in USA

Betcha Captain Nemo would've worn this!

Our Painted Squid Pins

These gorgeous and unusual squid pins are made in Washington and Idaho by a team of U.S. artists. The high-quality lapel pins or oversized tie tacks are unique. They are exquisitely detailed; the quality of the painting elevates each pin to an item of wearable art. Each one is cast in pewter and painted by hand. You will be delighted with the professional quality and artistic details of your piece of fish jewelry. The finish is extremely smooth and shiny, as you can see by the highlight from the scanner. It is also extremely durable. The pin is secured by two sturdy tacks on the back so it stays upright, and the finished product is not only gorgeous, but satisfyingly substantial in weight. It can be used as a lapel pin, hat pin, tie tack, and more. This collectible animal pin is heirloom quality, and the details are so realistic, they are found in museum gift shops and bought by organizations in need of the perfect animal to represent their group.

About Squid

There are approximately 300 species of squid. All squid have similar body arrangements, with a distinct head, eight arms plus two longer tentacles, and the ability to squirt ink into the water as a defence against predators. Most modern squid are no more than two feet long, although giant squid may reach lengths of 43 feet and colossal squid are estimated to reach an astonishing 46 feet long! In 2007, a colossal squid weighing over 1,000 pounds was caught by a New Zealand fishing ship, and represents the largest scientifically documented cephalopod on record.

 This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Starfish Pins ~ Made in USA

Wear your support for animals on your collar!

Our Painted Starfish Pins

These gorgeous and unusual starfish pins are made in Washington and Idaho by a team of U.S. artists. The high-quality lapel pins or oversized tie tacks are unique. They are exquisitely detailed; the quality of the painting elevates each pin to an item of wearable art. Each one is cast in pewter and painted by hand. You will be delighted with the professional quality and artistic details of your piece of fish jewelry. The finish is extremely smooth and shiny, as you can see by the highlight from the scanner. It is also extremely durable. The pin is secured by two sturdy tacks on the back so it stays upright, and the finished product is not only beautiful, but satisfyingly substantial in weight. It can be used as a lapel pin, hat pin, tie tack, and more. This collectible animal pin is heirloom quality, and the details are so realistic, they are found in museum gift shops and bought by organizations in need of the perfect animal to represent their group.

About Starfish (Sea Stars)

There are currently about 1,800 varieties of starfish (also known as sea stars). All are echinoderms of the class Asteroidea, and live throughout the world's oceans, at all depths and all temperatures. While most starfish have five arms, creating a typical star-shape, many can have 10-50 arms. Even in species known to typically have five arms, individuals can develop "extras" due to abnormalities during their developmental or larvae stage. Some starfish can regenerate lost arms, and a very few, like the linckia star, can regenerage an entire starfish from a single living arm.

All starfish are predators, feeding primarily on clams, corals, snails, and any other animal they can catch. Once caught, the starfish forces open the shellfish and extends it's stomach into the prey's shell to devour it. While some species of starfish are themselves prey for pufferfish, triton snails, and other aquatic hunters, many starfish have adaptations to make themselves appear unappetizing or dangerous. By far, starfish are under the greatest threat humans, specifically humans' poluting of the oceans. Starfish draw seawater through their bodies, so any contaminant in the water can injure or kill starfish in great numbers.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Lobster and Shrimp Pins

One of our many highly-detailed and stylish animal pins!

Our Painted Lobster and Shrimp Pins

These gorgeous and unusual lobster and shrimp pins are made in Washington and Idaho by a team of U.S. artists. The high-quality lapel pins or oversized tie tacks are unique. They are exquisitely detailed; the quality of the painting elevates each pin to an item of wearable art. Each one is cast in pewter and painted by hand. You will be delighted with the professional quality and artistic details of your piece of fish jewelry. The finish is extremely smooth and shiny, as you can see by the highlight from the scanner. It is also extremely durable. The pin is secured by two sturdy tacks on the back so it stays upright, and the finished product is not only gorgeous, but satisfyingly substantial in weight. It can be used as a lapel pin, hat pin, tie tack, and more. These collectible animal pins are heirloom quality, and the details are so realistic, they are found in museum gift shops and bought by organizations in need of the perfect animal to represent their group.

About Lobsters and Shrimp

For all their bug-like appearance, lobster and shrimp represent some of the most sought-after seafoods, both by humans and large marine animals.

Clawed lobster fossils date back until at least the Cretaceous period, over 65 million years ago. Although their appearance is similar to scorpions, lobsters are not arachnids…they are arthropods, with ten legs total (the first three sets have claws, and the first of these are much bigger than the others). Lobsters are amongst the very few animals that show no detrimental effects of aging, continuing to grow and increase in fertility until an outside force (disease, predation, injury) causes death. Generally, lobsters are less than 20 inches long. The largest lobster was caught in Canada and weighed over 44 pounds.

Lobsters live in all oceans and may live as deep as 2000 fathoms, or 3700 meters. They are omnivores, preferring live fish, crustaceans and some plant life. In the wild lobsters have been known to scavenge, and have resorted to cannibalism in captivity where all other food sources are absent.

Lobster is an extremely popular and sought-after food. All commercial lobster are caught wild. While attempts to domesticate and farm lobster continue, none have been commercially successful. Lobster's commercial popularity is relatively new, however. Prior to the mid-19th century in North America, lobster was considered a second-rate cuisine, fit only for the lowest members of society. Servants would specify that they "would not eat lobster more than twice a week" in their employment agreements. Well into the 20th century, lobster was used as fertilizer, fish bait, and a low-priced canned staple item, similar to tuna today.

Many different, unrelated forms of crustacean fall under the heading of “shrimp”. Most shrimp require a marine environment to grow and reproduce…a very few species can tolerate freshwater environments. Shrimp can collect in schools or survive independently, and form the basic food source for many marine predators. Like lobster, shrimp walk very slowly, but swim (backwards) very quickly by snapping their tail. Unlike lobster, shrimp have been successfully farmed for human consumption since the 1970s, with almost a third of the world’s commercial shrimp supplied by farming.

While the word "prawn" tends to be used in North America to describe any big shrimp, there are biological differences between true shrimp and true prawns. Biologists can distinguish between the two by their gill structure, but an easy way to tell is to examine the segments that form the shrimp’s abdomen. On a shrimp, the second segment overlaps both the first and third segments. On a prawn, it overlaps only the first.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

We have animals that start with "Y"!

This is our yellow Labrador (or yellow Lab) hand-painted pewter pin. Thanks to the color yellow, we actually have a number of animals that start with "Y." They're all hand-painted pins, and you can find every one of them pictured in our online web album. We even have a fish pin that actually DOES start with "Y." It's a yamame, but we haven't scanned it yet, so if you'd like to see our yellow-finned (yes!) yamame, give us a call at (888) 325-3179 or send e-mail.

Above is the (double) yellow-headed Amazon parrot. We have several color variations, so be sure to look in our album, linked above.

This looks like a yellow-crested cockatoo.

This poison frog's name probably doesn't start with Y, but we're stretching here to come up with a blogful of yellow animals, and the frog pin is absolutely gorgeous!

This greyhound is quite yellow.

And what is a collection of yellow animals without including a flock of cute baby chickens?

Our koi carp could be called "gold," but the paint on it is very yellow, so today it's a yellow koi carp. Look how beautiful it is! Each scale stands out in physical and visual relief.

This sunny collection of animals has been brought to you by Tapir and Friends Wildlife World Online Store!

Painted animal jewelry - brand new pin styles in stock!

We have a number of new pin styles online for you to choose from. These are available today and ready to ship! The camel is a new scan of our older camel, but the pelican on a post is brand new. It also comes in white, and I'm working on that scan today. The detailing, color and styling of these pins are outstanding! They make wonderful gifts and collectors' items for animal fans, fisherman (we have a lot of fish styles), etc.


The "golden retrievers" come in red and gold. We have one of each in stock at this moment, and one (we're not sure which yet) may be spoken for. As I type this, I'm in the process of scanning more of our beautiful hand-painted pins that are in stock but not yet online. We'll keep you posted! If you are looking for a unique gift that will be treasured for a long time to come, check out the pins in our web album and on our web site. If you don't see the one you want, call us to see if we have it in stock: (888) 325-3179.

Detailed and delicious - hand-painted jewelry depicting animals of all types!

Realistic hand-painted animal jewelry (jewelry for people made in the shape of animals!) is one of our specialties. We work with some extremely talented artists who cast the pins in pewter, then paint them in a variety of real-life colors.

From butterflies to dogs to salamanders and more, we have loads of inventory ready to ship. Please check out our web site! Here is the painted animal jewelry page, just for you! If you don't see what you want, let us know. We may have it still packed away and ready to put online.

Aren't these colors spectacular? I love this salamander pin!

Painted animal pins

Here are a couple of the newest painted animal pins in our online gift shop: a stalking tiger and a red/pink/orange seahorse. Learn more about out pins here, and if you don't see the one you're looking for, give us a call toll-free at (888) 325-3179. We have so many, we won't be getting them all online before Christmas!