C$ and older valuable pets, or fodder pet em mass, can sweeten the deal but I'm really looking for event stuff at the moment. Start at 15 banner tokens for a simple headshot?
1 crystal = 3 herbs
1 crystal hamster = 2 herbs (I already have too many lol)
I don't have time for complex animations! Blinking or bouncing is the most I will do. You can also check my oekaki gallery for some more examples.
Here's some examples: