Duck Duck Goose
When it comes to plushes, we take our cues from little baby Lir and ever since she was born a short 10 months ago our niece has been inseparable from her Jellycat Bunglie Pig. They’ve shared long, one-sided conversations of monosyllabic utterances, afternoon snoozefests and, well, just everything. Through thick and thin, Bunglie Pig has been the soft and silent companion of our pink-cheeked Lirskie.
Our baby niece Lir is pretty much the apple of YZ’s and my eye, making it hard to resist buying her every little cute thing that we come across. But, when we stumbled upon a beautiful striped bunny by Tel Aviv label Timo in a boutique in Jaffa, we just had to add the critter to Lir’s collection of toys. Totally in line with Lir’s parent’s philosophy of hugging (not mugging) the earth, each toy is…
So, you might say it’s far from wool-wearing weather, what with NYC temperatures up in the 90’s, but with every store, theater, and restaurant cranking the AC like they’re charged with re-freezing the glaciers, it’s comforting to have a little fuzzy critter to curl up with at the end of the day (or a cute scarf to wrap around your little one’s neck to keep the summer sniffles away!)…
Oh Japan, you’ve done it again: perfect concept, perfect design – even the packaging is drool-worthy! Following the age-old tradition of Japanese hanko (判子) stamps (the first of these dates back to 57 AD!!!), Tokyo-based design firm Kawamura Hideo Activity / Rezon has created Otete & Anyo: a service for making custom hanko stamps of your baby’s hand- and footprints…
There’s something timelessly sweet (and very Dutch) about the snuggly collection of dolls, critters, and baby accessories by Esther Schuivens. Her brand, Esthex, was born one afternoon after discovering her childhood toys while sleuthing around her parents’ attic. The designer’s use of gingham, stripes, felt, cotton rope, and old-school hardware are a pleasant departure from the hi-tech plasticy toys of today. Lo’s favorite: the Gilbert Rattle!
For those of you that caught the edge-of-your-seat action of the Super Bowl last week (yay Saints!), you might have noticed a ROTFL commercial for the Kia Sorento that involved a sock monkey, an alien Gumby cyclops, a windup tin robot, teddy bear, and the peculiar looking, prison bird-striped, shaggier-than-thou character from Blabla, Mr. X. I’ve been a huge fan of this childrens toy company since I stumbled upon the site a while back and was thrilled to see the little hairy monster soaking up his 15 minutes of fame. And, it reminded me that I should share the Blabla wealth with you all…
There’s just something elevated about wooden toys – the lovely way they age from endless afternoons of playtime, the texture of their surface, the woodsy smell… Miller Goodman’s ShapeMaker and PlayShapes have all these qualities and a massive dose of up-to-date design sense. Business partners Zoe Miller and David Goodman started the company just two years back and soon thereafter won…
To top off all the gifts from Santa, our very good friends and neighbors Lili & Thomas welcomed their son Louis Verzeaux Brodin into the world on December 27th. So, as any proper Tata would do, I headed out shopping for a care package. Fortunately, our neighborhood (Williamsburg) has some top-notch childrens’ shops and YZ & I, after much contemplation, settled on a trio of super-soft accessories. The Angel Dear Owl Blankie is softer-than-soft with tons of other friends to choose from (the hippo, pony, dino, and lion are some of our favorites). The company also makes larger, blanket versions of the design which are downright coo-inducing. The apple green sherpa booties from Zutano are equally cute and, with two snap options for the ankle strap, will grow as Louis does while ensuring his little piggies won’t slip out in the cold. Lastly, we discovered Trumpette’s line of themed baby sock 6-packs. Obviously we were drawn to the monkeys, because, well, monkeys make everyone laugh, but there’s a theme for every family – from golf to environmentalism!
“We used to learn our alphabets by reading those classroom banners that associated each letter with an animal or object. These days as kids become increasingly computer dependent at an early age I thought it was about time to adapt an old method to a new medium.” – CMD
These keyboard stickies by Christopher Monroe Delorenzo are retarded cute and, aside from teaching munchkins their ABC’s, could be a wonderful tool for type training. Although not currently available online, you can email the designer here for further instructions on how to buy the $15 sticker set.
1Manuella Big Elephant Floor Pillow$115
2Kid O’s City & Country Blocks by Lisa Mahar$45
3Donkey Products Helmet N. Crocheted Camera€26
4Playsam Rocking Rabbit$185
5Baby Barolo Cocoon Sleeping Bag$204
6An Awesome Book by Dallas Clayton$15
7Sara Carr’s Lambswool Pencil Scarf$45
8Schnurpfel Pony by Naef$49
9Monster Hands by Hector Serrano$8
10Goodbyn Lunchbox$30
