More coolness from recent weeks…
Batik is back. More than back, it’s hotter than hot.
Move over Suri and Pax. It would seem that the world's most important celebrity children in the design world are now Sasha and Malia Obama, at least if the press releases flooding our inboxes are any indication. If the First Children are photographed in some label or...
The 2009 ALA award winners are announced and with that, we go book shopping
We admit it, we're a sucker for the annual American Library Association awards which help us navigate the thousands of virtual bookstore shelves when picking out great reads for our kids. Last week the 2009 ALA winners were announced and we're excited to check out the...
Big brands doing cool things – The Fisher Price and DwellStudio baby swing
With all the amazing advancements in baby gear over the last few years, I'm still baffled as to why baby swings are still so ridiculously heinous.Well, thanks to Fisher Price and DwellStudio's new cradle swing, you can finally say good bye to circus colors and...
Conversation hearts actually worth talking about
Because, let's face it, actual conversation heart candies are adorable but taste about 3% better than chalk, I love the idea of conversation heart cookies for Valentines Day. A half dozen yummy, almost cakey, pink frosted cookies from Cheryl&Co come with classic...
Nonstop to Spain
I love peeking across the ocean via the www to see what our European friends are doing as far as kids and design. Occasionally there's some wacky baby tee featuring a wolf riding a unicycle with a pig on his head or something, but generally we're in love with what we...
I like cute booties and I cannot lie
You know what a baby can never have too much of? Okay. Sleep. Right, you got me. But other than sleep, and poops that smell like roses? How about baby booties?Well in our house, the answer would be yes, considering I can't keep track of all the teeny baby socks. So,...
A naturally gorgeous blanket for your naturally gorgeous baby
The soft, fleecy blanket with a satiny trim is a nursery staple-- not only did my kids have them as babies, I had one as a baby, too, about a hundred years ago. And now Organic Blankees is offering up a new and fabulously earth-friendly way to grab your own.A whole...
Childrens art that tells a story. A good story, too.
I love children's art that seems ripped out of the pages of a classic storybook. So when I discovered that very thing at the newly opened Tutti Studio...instant swoonage. Tel Aviv artist Tutti Shafir's imaginative children's giclee prints can only be described as...
Animals coming out of the closet
I wish I were one of those crafty types who could look at an old sweater and see more than a Goodwill deduction. If you're Viola Hale of Viola Studio, you imagine adorable stuffed animals including elephants, puppies, pigs, and even a moose made out of cuddly recycled...
Bamboo meets letterpress and thus, two of our favorite things come together
So maybe lifting a pen and sticking on a stamp doesn't seem like hard work, but when you're chasing after three kids, putting on deodorant is a big deal let alone handwriting a note card. If there was ever a card worth the effort, it's the gorgeous letterpress cards...
A baby registry for the green-minded mama
Looking around the online shop, Sage Baby NYC, which focuses entirely on eco-friendly baby gifts and gear, it was hard to know what to rave about first. Wait -- I know. All of it. Co-owners and moms Francesca Olivieri and Susan Gluck-Pappajohn (NYC ballet fans might...
Picture picture on the wall
I've made the leap into actually printing my photos, mostly due to pretty strong nudges from the grandparents who keep asking me for a darn hard copy of everything. So that means I've now got some pretty nice prints lying around, without the bookshelf space to display...
Totally doable DIY Valentines Day cards
If the big wall o' children's Valentine's cards at your local big box store fills you with dread, don't despair. You've heard of DIY, but have you heard of DIYBWALHFTWD? This acronym came to us from Three Wheels Design owner Vicki Shields, and it stands for Do It...
I’ve smelled red and it’s absolutely delicious
Kids and dogs go together like red and Valentines Day, which is why I think the story book Mo Smells Red is such a cute gift for your little sweetheart. Not only will preschoolers love hearing about the adventures of Mo, a real life rescued stray, they'll get a kick...
Toy storage for when your whole house feels like toy storage
One month after Christmas, and I still have no idea where half of these toys are going. I definitely need The Toy Store by Oeuf, a brand new super three-level toy storage system that offers a nice modern alternative to plastic storage bins. I love that the deep bins...
Making Valentine’s Cards that don’t look like you did
I keep looking for cute Valentines Day cards for my daughter to give out to her beloved friends and family, but the truth is, I haven't found anything that makes you go "awwwww...." as much as the handmade Valentines Day cards she could make herself. Especially with...
Breaking news – CPSIA delayed! Your amazing efforts made a difference
According to today's most excellent release from the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the CPSC has done the only common sense thing it could have done, and granted a one year stay of testing and certification requirements until February 10, 2010. Which...
The Club Med Vacation: Only more appealing now that kids stay free
I learned early on that family vacations tend to be something you do for your children. [Ahem, fill in theme park of choice here.] Not so Club Med. In recent years the company has converted nearly all of their properties from places that singles went to be...very...
Bringing new meaning to the term “animal print”
So you want a canvas or two for baby's room, and you're trying to figure out something bright and colorful, with animals, that doesn't look like the circus threw up on your walls. Leave it to Tiny Decor to find just the right mix of mod and whimsical; their new line...
Whereas I take back all previous skepticism about Yo Gabba Gabba!
If you had asked me about Nick Jr's Yo Gabba Gabba! a few months ago--unlike editor Liz who's their biggest fan on the planet--I would've told you, I don't get it. However I am now writing enthusiastically about the Yo Gabba Gabba! soundtrack from the first two...
Born with a stainless steel spoon in his mouth
I have to say that the keepsake gifts for new baby boys are pretty slim pickin's. I mean, nothing says "Welcome Boy" like a big plush monogrammed baby blanket, right? So, when I spotted the Baby's First Spoon at Lisa Leonard Designs, I was glad to see someone finally...