modeco kids

Earlier today I discovered Tiny Décor, a children’s design blog that focuses on natural and modern decor for your baby’s nursery. The author is gearing up to launch her own line of handmade, eco-friendly nursery decor including these really neat felt buckets that are perfect for quick and easy storage.

Via Tiny Décor, I stumbled upon a very cool find:

This collection of organic play food is not only wonderfully designed but it’s also biodegradable! It’s created by Montreal-based looolo, which you’ve probably seen around the design blogs (there’s even a sneak peek of the designer’s home here!).

(images via looolo.ca)

Technorati Tags: play food, organic toys

August 12th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, playtime No Comments »

A few months ago via Etsy I connected with Tracey and started reading her blog Paper Dolls for Boys about crafting, thrifting and raising two boys. She’s got a fun writing style - very down-to-earth with a good sense of humor! I’m really excited for her now that she’s opened an Etsy shop of her own to sell her thrift store scores. You’ll find lots of vintage goodies for kids for play or display including these vintage wooden blocks, a Simplex puzzle from the early 1950s, a Lindstrom’s toy sewing machine, and some Strombecker mid-century modern doll house furniture. Congrats Tracey!

Technorati Tags: vintage toys, Etsy, doll house furniture, vintage blocks, vintage toy sewing machine, simplex puzzle

August 12th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, art + decor, playtime, vintage 1 Comment »

Little Bodhi is “essentials for the enlightened baby”. Great tag line! This Canadian online baby boutique specializes in organic baby clothing, fair trade accessories and non toxic wooden toys. You’ll even find cool music for babies including lullaby renditions of Bob Marley. This CD caught my eye since my husband and I recently watched a documentary movie about him.

They also offer a pretty unique service: free customized birth announcements that you can email, blog or print to share the news of your baby’s arrival with your family and friends. To be eligible new parents need only sign up for a gift registry.

I love the colors and styling of these toddler shoes by Umi for children up to 24 months. Too bad I didn’t know of this brand when my boys were that young! Apparently this brand was recognized by Consumer Reports® as one of their top recommendations for baby’s first shoe. I don’t know if this brand is exclusive to Little Bodhi, but a quick search of Canadian retailers at Umi’s website suggests it’s hard to find these children’s shoes elsewhere in Canada.

(image via littlebodhi.com)

Technorati Tags: e-boutique, baby boutique, children’s boutique, Canada, organic baby

August 10th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, RETAILERS, clothes, gear, playtime, retailer spotlights, shoes No Comments »

To continue the Canadian theme going on this week, I’m delighted to share this unique set of wooden blocks by Petit Flaneur. I’m a big fan of toys that can be used in different ways and this set of wooden blocks does not disappoint. Not only does it have alphabet letters and numbers as you’d find typically, but it’s also a 3D puzzle and a tic-tac-toe game. I can see young children having fun stacking these blocks or putting them in and out of containers, while older siblings would enjoy the game and puzzle. The illustrations are very sweet and are screen printed with non-toxic inks and finished with a food safe oil. I think it’s pretty neat that the blocks themselves are made from a variety of reclaimed untreated scrap hardwood including maple, oak, walnut and cherry.

Petit Flaneur is a new brand of handcrafted children’s products created by a Toronto-based mompreneur. The collection includes toys, clothing and art and can be viewed at the recently launched Etsy shop as well as at petitflaneur.com. All pieces are made in Canada. More wooden toys and furniture will be available later in the summer. Wholesale inquiries are welcome!

Technorati Tags: wooden blocks, handmade, Etsy favorites, made in Canada, wood toys

June 26th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, playtime No Comments »

Babes in Arms offers products that support attachment through breastfeeding and babywearing and is located within a midwives clinic in Calgary. Talk about making it easy for new and expecting parents to shop before or after appointments with the midwife! Anyways, I was browsing the Babes in Arms website last week after shipping an order of Sweetbeets to them and discovered several new-to-me products for babies and kids that are designed and made in Canada.

RiNGLEY is a natural teething toy made of organic terrycloth and untreated Canadian Maple that’s handmade in Toronto and available either knotted or straight. RiNGLEY is carried in a long list of children’s boutiques and gift shops across Canada, but no retailers are listed for the USA. I’m shocked! Maybe the retailer list is not up-to-date. With all the recent health concerns with plastics, this natural teething tool seems like a winner.

These wooden toys are made in British Columbia by Tuff Toys. You’ll find lots of trains, tracks and accessories in their catalogue.

HipMelon’s reversible baby slings have a simple pouch design made of fabric with just a touch of lycra for comfort. I love this sophisticated black and white design that’s lined with a knit fabric that just happens to be my favorite color. Each sling is handmade in Calgary.

All Things Jill is another Calgary-based company and offers natural bath and body care products including a line for babies. All products are handmade and made-to-order.

(images via ringley.ca, tufftoys.bc.ca, hipmelon.com, allthingsjill.ca)

Technorati Tags: made in Canada, wooden toys, baby slings, pouch sling, natural skin care, organic teething toy, wood teether, baby gear

June 24th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, gear, playtime, retailer spotlights, skin care No Comments »

The cheerful and contemporary collage art by Daily Papr is perfect for children’s spaces. Many of the pieces are inspired by vintage Japanese textiles and perhaps that is why the designs appeal to me as I love their bold colors and simplicity. The artist cuts textured paper free-hand to create each collage. All pieces fit in a 5X7 frame or you could use a matte if you want a bigger frame. Daily Papr is a shop that makes you feel happy just browsing around!

Craft Pudding carves these custom rubber stamps by hand. The illustrations are so sweet. The artist will even create a stamp using a photo of your child! This would make a lovely personalized gift for a special child in your life, and you may be surprised that each custom name stamp is only $20.

Babydust is a line of baby clothes that’s designed and sewn by a mom in Vancouver. She mostly works with linen, cotton, wool and silk - swoon!

What is it about dinosaurs that appeal so much to most boys? I’m sure they would love this dinosaur sketchbook! A vintage children’s book has been ‘upcycled’ by Feel Fuzzy to make this unique dinosaur journal. It includes 20 blank sheets as well as some pages from the original book.

Technorati Tags: Etsy, handmade, independent artists, handmade journal, dinosaur sketchbook, custom rubber stamps, collage art, wall art, children’s spaces

June 23rd, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, art + decor, paper goods, playtime 2 Comments »

It’s so inspiring to learn about indie designers who take the plunge and open their own brick-and-mortar shop. After many years of selling her label Cinti does Vintage at craft markets throughout Melbourne, in the fall of 2007 Cintia Gonzalez opened My Poppet, a children’s boutique that showcases independent design for kids with a focus on items that are handmade in Australia. Her shop looks so cheerful and I especially love her creative use of spinning tops in one of her window displays. The sweet bears pictured above are Cintia’s own creations and ‘upcycled’ using felted wool sweaters. They were also featured in the latest issue of LMNOP - a perfect fit for its animal-themed issue! I think it’s very clever how Cintia uses a blog as her online shop where she offers My Poppet merchandise for mail order each week.

While browsing the shop’s blog I also discovered two more independent designers whose work really caught my eye. This amazing sun dress is made of fabric that was hand screen printed by Fiona Roy, the founder of Monstar. This dress appears to have been from an earlier collection as you’ll just find the Fall/Winter 2008 collection at the Monstar website right now. These colorful handmade drums by Dobbin and Drum incorporate some recycled materials. Other items in their collection include play tents and teepees that I’m sure would delight most children. Both the Monstar and Dobbin and Drum brands are designed and manufactured in Australia.

(images via mypoppet.com.au)

Technorati Tags: independent design, kids, children’s boutique, made in Australia

June 17th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, RETAILERS, clothes, merchandising, playtime, retailer spotlights, storefronts 2 Comments »

The latest issue of Small magazine came out last week (I’m a bit late to post about it!) and this is my favorite image. I love the idea of “pack away play” and see quite a few of the products I featured here.

I was also reminded that I really ought to unpack and let my boys play with the modular space divider that I had incorporated into my booth display at the National Stationery Show. Oh what fun my boys had playing with these cardboard pieces that became a castle and a printer and a post office (depending on what the game was at the time). A definite bonus was being able to just take it apart and stack the pieces in a pile when playtime was finished for the day. I must confess that my boys have spent much for time playing with this simple cardboard building system than the fancy geometric wooden puzzle we brought back from New York City. It figures!

(image via smallmagazine.net)

Technorati Tags: Small magazine, cardboard toys, cardboard furniture, pretend play

June 11th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, RETAILERS, playtime, resources No Comments »

Kristin Fine of children’s boutique LOVE is a guest on Design Mom this week and it was interesting to read how she’s launching a line of 100% organic cotton jeans for kids that are made in India with fair-trade manufacturing.

This reminded me that I had read a few months ago on Minor Details that children’s boutique Kid O exhibited their own brand of wooden educational toys at the NY International Toy Fair.

I suppose this post is just an observation about children’s boutique owners getting into the manufacturing side and distributing their own branded products to other retailers. It makes sense to me since retailers would know what sells well in their own stores and where there are gaps in the children’s market.

(images via shopwithlove.net and kidoproducts.com)

Technorati Tags: children’s boutiques, children’s market, wooden educational toys, organic jeans

June 11th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, clothes, playtime, retailer spotlights 1 Comment »

While in New York City recently I made a point of visiting Enchanted after reading about this toy shop on Daily Candy a while ago. Enchanted is just my type of toy shop with so many fantastic wooden toys including a huge collection of play food and “cooking” accessories that looked so tempting. But I really wanted to bring home something for my boys that could be played with in a variety of ways and that would appeal to different ages. We decided to splurge on a wooden geometric puzzle similar to this one from finewoodentoys.com. The staff wrapped our purchase so beautifully with vibrant green tissue (my favorite color!) and matching ribbon as soon as they heard it was a gift.

I must confess though that now the blocks don’t look quite so pretty as in the image above. They’ve been dumped from their wood frame and I’ll have to go hunting for some of the pieces that are no doubt scattered throughout our house. I’m hoping it is a toy that the boys will grow into!

I wanted to add that Enchanted is a not-for-profit store that provides tuition assistance for children attending the local Waldorf school. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Technorati Tags: geometric wooden puzzle, wood toys, Waldorf toys

June 10th, 2008 Lisa posted in KIDS, RETAILERS, playtime, retailer spotlights 1 Comment »