Duck Duck Goose
As motherhood inches nearer, I find my mind is preoccupied: where to put the crib, what to put on the iPod for our (hopefully short) stint in the birthing wing of Roosevelt Hospital, whether little Pipsqueek will be as boisterous as his/her cousin Lir, the baby’s college fund, where we’re sending the little munchkin to preschool…
“Each year, nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil are used to make plastic water bottles. Most of those bottles end up in our landfills, in our oceans, littering our sidewalks.”
With stats like that, the fact that these water-filtering bottles are so slick is superfluous.
The history of this company is almost as wonderful as the products they make. Located behind a little church in the French town of Tarn, the Guille family factory has existed for nearly 150 years, and has been churning out socks for about 80 of those…
Yesterday we bid a very sad farewell to little Lir who, with her parents, jetted off to visit her Safta in Tel Aviv for 2 long months! I needed to be sure she had all the superfluous doodads she might want during her stay so, I packed her a sweet little owl backpack from Skip*Hop full of fun things from her Doda and Dodo.
Oh Santa! I almost forgive you for that flu you plagued YZ and I with this Xmas, what with all the juicy gifts you lugged down our chimney along with it. All in all, the 25th was a veritable indulge-fest, with everything on my list neatly wrapped in recycled paper under the tree…
Hip hip hooray! ‘Tis that time of year again: christmas trees, wreaths, family get togethers, snuggling up by the fireplace singing carols, oh, yes… and lots of gift giving! What better way to kick things off than with the wee ones!!
“Silver is the best material we have. And silver has this wonderful shine like moonlight…a light taken straight from a Danish summer’s night. When covered by dew, silver can look like magical mist.” — Georg Jensen
Ah, the Trojan Horse… It’s never too early for kids to discover the classics and what better place to start than with Virgil’s The Aeneid: a classic tale of military strategy. Count on the Dutch, this time by way of Amsterdam-based KidsOnRoof, to design eco-friendly playthings that are pleasing to both child’s and parent’s aesthetic…
Oooh, this lamp is too cute for words: perfect for a child’s room or just a corner of the house that needs a dab of personality. Meet Milk, a Daschund-shaped lamp by Wants and Needs that is sure to light up more than just a reading corner…
An earthy little reminder at the bottom of a bowl of organic fruit or veg is a great way to start and end a day. Smiling Planet’s collection of 100% recycled and 100% recyclable bowls and plates, printed with non-toxic inks and free of bpa, phthalates, pvc, and lead, allows your little one to nosh, worry-free, and get in touch with his or her inner conservationist at the earliest age.
“Creatables is a company and network of engineers and designers that negotiate prices for industrial surplus materials from which we and our fellow designers develop nice consumer products. When you buy a Creatables product you reduce the effects of over-consumption and cast an important vote towards a sustainable development.”
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood, as our dad likes to say—and indeed, having discovered Joëlle Jolivet’s lusciously illustrated children’s books, we’re about ready for a second helping. We’ve been aware of Jolivet’s work for some time now: while browsing our favorite librairies…
We heart Areaware, the artist collective based in New York. And on their roster of crazy cool product designers is Ross Menuez, who’s been popping up on our radar time and again. Menuez loves any vehicle that can carry a graphic and he’s decorated clothing, bags, accessories, plush toys and pillows…
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…
