Archive for Kids
November 6, 2009
· Filed under Etsy Finds, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids, Molly · Tagged baby gift ideas, baby gifts, handmade gifts, handmade gifts for babies, holiday gift guide, holiday gift ideas
I need all of my friends to start having babies right away, because I have a lot of baby gift ideas…
Custom name plate ($60) by ninainvorm
Kanoe Baby Hammock ($290) by studioleroux
Chubby Night Owl ($21) by rabbitsmoon
Baby spoons ($22 each) by beehivekitchenware
Number Pipeline Print ($25) by ModernPop
Flock Organic Cotton Baby Quilt ($44.50) by Organic Quilt Company
Happy Cloud t-shirt ($12) by Jen Skelley
Lovely Lilac Snookie with personalization ($40) by Chickabiddybaby
Elf Hat ($16) by Mani-Mina
Eames Rocker Baby Name Birth Date Keepsake Print ($35) by prettymod
Modern Striped Candy Cane Stocking ($25) by MissMosh
Pear Tree Wall Art ($38) by Almost Sunday
Mix n Match Fruit Hats (Pick 3 for $60) by LA Originals
Wooli Felt Garden Diaper Caddy ($49) by BabiesBreath
Custom Silhouette Ornament ($30) by lepapierstudio
Deer in the Woods Growth Chart ($84) by Anna Joyce
Custom cloth blocks ($50 for set of 3, each additional block $10) by SmidgeboxDesign
♥ ♥ ♥
Is it Friday already? It’s been an especially fun week here – thanks to all of you for your kind comments, which we love reading.
The beauty of these gift guides is that if you really liked them, you can bookmark them for anytime you need gift ideas (and not just gifts for the holidays). Right? Karin and I both added a lot of new Etsy shops to our favorites.
Next week we’re starting the week off with some holiday card ideas, then we’ve got a whole lotta stocking stuffer fun, and finally, gifts for the person who has it all.
See you on Monday!
November 5, 2009
· Filed under Etsy Finds, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids, Molly · Tagged gifts for children, gifts for little boys, handmade gifts, holiday gift guide, holiday gift ideas
Ok, you’re right. We had just as much fun picking out these gifts for little boys as we did for yesterday’s little girls’ gift guide.
Tell us if there’s anything you especially love in today’s guide – we’d love to know.
Aqua Cowboy Print ($30) by jenskelley
Bear Woodland Set ($80) by small town toys
The Beep Beep Car Stamp Set ($18) by The Small Object
Bernie the Monster t-shirt ($28.50) by NissaLisa
Blast Off Finger Puppet set ($35) by stay awake
Say Cheese Vintage Camera t-shirt ($20) by b children’s wear
Treasure Chest ($55) by Illustrious Rose
Organic Cotton Circle Wooden Toy Boat ($19) by willowbaus
Lemon Ball Vintage-style Baseball ($28) by Lemon Ball
Special Edition Winter Boy Doll ($104.25) by hasenpfeffer
Gertrude the Goldfish ($7 each) by MiChiMa
Tiny Friend print ($25) by KidsHaus
Zoo Blocks, set of 13 with drawstring bag ($30) by tiny giraffe
Little Hero Cape ($42) by Discovery Denim
Of course, pretty much all of these gifts work for little girls too.
Tomorrow: We’re going a little crazy with the Gifts for Babies guide. We can’t help ourselves.
November 4, 2009
· Filed under Etsy Finds, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids, Molly · Tagged gifts for little girls, handmade gifts, holiday gift guide
Karin and I have three girls between us. No boys. We’re all girlie, all the time, so we especially loved picking out today’s gift guide.
How can you resist any one of these items? That’s right, you can’t.
Forest Friends Satchel ($30) by Mee a Bee
Custom Kid Portrait on Canvas ($165) by LittlePinkHouse
Chickadee shirt ($22) by 1girl1boy
“Hannah” notecards set of 12 ($12) by Peony Paperie
Apple Maryjane Flats ($20) by Utopiapedia
Hayride Ruffle Cape in Tweed ($60) by red possum
Caterpillar and assorted hair clips ($5) by Sun Drop Clips
Nahla Bear with Coloring Book Set ($57) by all things small
Forest Critters Reusable Wall Stickers ($74.50) by Mae
Felted Flower Fairy ($30) by FairyFolk
Mary Had a Little Unicorn, 8 x 8 print ($20) by Helen Dardik
Nest. Sweet Nest, wool bird in a cotton nest ($25) by Sugar Elf
The Sasha Dress ($22) by Mani-Mina
Bunny and Radish, 8.5 x 11″ print ($20) by yumiyumi
Which is your favorite? I’ll confess: I bought one thing (so far!) in today’s gift guide. I can’t tell you which – but it’s more fun to guess anyway. (Ok, if you ask me on Twitter, I’ll tell you!)
Tomorrow: rats and snails and puppy dog tails.
October 30, 2009
· Filed under Holidays, Kids, Molly · Tagged Halloween
Halloween parades are fun.
Is it time to open the bags of Halloween candy yet? I could use a Butterfinger.
October 26, 2009
· Filed under Crafty!, D.I.Y., Holidays, Kids, Molly · Tagged Cardstore, easy halloween costumes, no sew Halloween costumes, sushi costume
This sushi costume (all Elena’s idea) is the easiest Halloween costume I’ve ever made, and it’s probably also the one I’ve gotten the most compliments on, too. No sewing necessary.
Here’s what you need (feel free to experiment with colors!):
Enough of each to wrap around your kid’s body (like maybe a yard and a half):
- Black or dark green fleece
- White fleece (the kind that has some texture, like a sheep, to resemble rice)
- Salmon colored fleece
Some large safety pins
A couple of strips of the black fleece for tying the roll around the body
Put the layers of fleece on top of each other (black on bottom, then white, then salmon), pin them together at the ends (not totally necessary, but just in case), roll them around your kid’s body, then tie with a couple of strips of the black fleece (which is stretchy and makes an excellent tie).
Add some chopsticks and a wasabi colored t-shirt and you’re good to go!
With my permission, the Cardstore entered this costume (and Rosa’s Super Mario costume) into their Silliest Costume Contest. If you like it, vote for it on their Facebook fan page (see the link in their blog post – and you have become a fan of Cardstore on Facebook to vote). The costume with the most “likes” wins a $100 Barnes & Noble gift card. That would be a nice thing to have, but you have to vote today (and you have to vote a bunch, because so far it’s only got a couple of votes!)
Happy Monday!
October 22, 2009
· Filed under Design, Gift Ideas, Kids Clothes & Gear, Molly, Pretty Things · Tagged asian-inspired children's clothes, beautiful children's clothes, Imoga
Last weekend, I fell in love with a few pieces of IMOGA children’s clothes, which I found at Tippy Toes in downtown Princeton (a totally adorable kids’ shoe store with a small collection of beautiful clothes). The founder of IMOGA, Haejung Chung, used to send gifts for her nieces signing them “i moga” or, “from auntie” in her native Korean. By the look of these designs – simple, elegant clothes with an Asian influence – I bet she gives great gifts!
From their Fall/Winter 2009 collection:
(I saw this coat at Tippy Toes – it is SO gorgeous, so beautifully constructed).
From their Spring/Summer 2010 collection:
You can take a look at the IMOGA collections on their website.
October 19, 2009
· Filed under Crafty!, Family Fun, Good Books, Kids, Kids Crafts, Molly · Tagged DIY projects for kids, doll clothes, simple craft ideas
I bought this D.I.Y. KIDS book by Ellen and Julia Lupton for Elena awhile back, and she occasionally opens it up and does a little project. Yesterday, when I got home from the grocery store, she and her friend Haley surprised me with a wardrobe of clothes for their stuffed animals, made from fabric scraps. I promised them I would feature the clothes on Charlotte’s Fancy today.
Everyone’s favorite is this ridiculously fashionable Panda with her scarf, vest and skirt. Elena made these from jersey fabric. What the girls found is that jersey was the easiest and best to work with because it stretches to fit different stuffed animals.
Don’t you wish you looked this good?
The top is the skirt – cut a round piece of fabric, then a hole in the middle
The middle is the vest. Start with a rectangle-shaped piece of fabric, snip the two upper corners, then cut two holes for the arms.
The bottom is the very versatile scarf, with two holes for the ears.
Because all arctic hares need ponchos and rain hats, right?
The poncho is a square-shaped piece of fabric with a hole in the middle.
The hat is a circle-shaped piece of fabric with two holes for the ears.
Miss Foxy thang and her double ruffle skirt. The girls created this clever ruffle look by cutting out two skirts (one a little bigger than the other) and putting them both on. Miss Foxy is also sporting a vest and tiny hat.
You may know her as Linny from the Wonder Pets, but now you’ll know her as an up and coming runway model. Purple couture scarf, hat, vest and skirt by Haley.
“Fashion Animals” as the girls called them.
You can find a very simple tutorial for a circle skirt on the D.I.Y. Kids website as well as a handful of other fun projects from the book. If you have a kid who likes to make things, this is an excellent little book.
October 12, 2009
· Filed under Crafty!, Family Fun, Holidays, Kids Crafts, Molly · Tagged Halloween crafts, lift-the-flap craft, easy crafts for kids
This lift-the-flap haunted house craft is something I used to do all the time when I was a kid. I don’t know if I learned at school, or I made up on my own, but it’s a fun and easy craft.
You’ll need:
- Construction paper
- Glue
- Scissors
- X-acto knife, or small sharp scissors
- Markers/crayons/colored pencils
- Stickers (optional)
Step 1:
Draw freehand, or use a template to cut out the outline of a haunted house. I printed this one out, then drew it freehand on a piece of black construction paper
Step 2:
Take a white or silver colored pencil and draw some windows in the house
Step 3:
For some windows, use an x-acto knife or small sharp scissors and cut out three sides (for the lift-the-flap windows). If you want to have open windows too, just cut out the whole outline. Once you have cut out the windows/doors, flip the house over (so you don’t see your pencil lines) and glue the house onto another sheet of construction paper. Orange makes it spookier, but white makes it easier to draw the crazy characters who will appear behind the flaps.
Step 4:
Draw your scary creatures behind the windows and doors and decorate the rest of the page too. We used a combination of drawing and stickers. I resisted getting out the glitter.
This is a fun book for learning how to draw goofy monsters:
Here’s Rosa making her haunted house:
Creak creak creak creak! Go away!
Of course, this same idea can be adapted for other designs: a gingerbread house, a cute country cottage, an apartment building in the big city. I have in mind the idea to make a little woodland animal/fairy cottage scene for Elena.
Elena, meanwhile, was not so much into spooky Halloween scenes. She was too busy making portraits of her Little People (of the vintage Fisher Price variety). How cute is this?
One of the easiest ways to get crafty with the kids is to take a big roll of white paper (I get mine at the teacher supply store), tape it to the top of the table and let them draw whatever they want. They love it.
When the trees and sun are happy, the whole world is happy.
October 9, 2009
· Filed under Crafty!, D.I.Y., Kids, Molly · Tagged crafty kids, creativity, do it yourself
Here’s an extra post for this Family Friday. I was cleaning up the girls’ room yesterday, and I found this little bookmark holder that Elena (who’s 8 years old) made.
I hadn’t seen it before. Don’t know when she made it. But I thought, “Well, heck, this is pretty darn clever.” She and her sister have lots of bookmarks – why not make a bookmark holder to keep them all in one place?
One of the things I admire most about Elena is that when she doesn’t have what she wants/needs, she tries to make her own. I’ve seen her do this time and again with magic wands, notebooks, fishing poles – you name it.
Here’s hoping that she will always be this crafty and creative.
October 9, 2009
· Filed under Crafty!, D.I.Y., Family Fun, Karin, Kids Crafts · Tagged crafts, rainy day crafts
Karin’s got a fun rainy day project/recipe and links for us on this Family Friday:
Chasing Cheerios is a blog about homeschooling from a Montessori approach. My daughter loves Silly Putty, so this craft idea I found there is something that we definitely plan to try. Seems especially perfect for some rainy day this winter when we are climbing the walls wondering what to do with ourselves.
The ingredients are pretty simple:
- two parts multi-purpose white glue
- one part liquid starch
- food coloring
You can also check out the Silly Putty tutorial on YouTube.
