For every baby who’s ever looked down at what she was wearing and thought, “Disney princesses again? Geez, Mom, I’m way more hip than this,” there is Apericots. Apericots is a handmade clothing shop for wee ones that offers a fantastic assortment of tees, onesies, and some of the cutest bibs I’ve ever seen, for those who are just as cool as they are small and pudgy.
The shop offers two basic lines, the Organic Line and the Eco Line. Priced a... → Read the rest of this article
Pretty Dreamer {previously featured} is truly my kind of toy store. Offering beautifully crafted handmade wooden toys made from sustainably harvested local hardwoods, Pretty Dreamers is a wonderful place to find playthings. I saw these cute little wooden town blocks, which are made for play or for home decor, and knew I had discovered a trove. Each little set is individually handcrafted, so each one is one of a kind. And you can rest assured that all materials are... → Read the rest of this article
The Sewn Natural shop is owned by a mother-daughter team specializing in sustainable eco-design, and vintage-inspired styling for children. This shop is chock-full of brilliant color and sweet vintage style. Toys. Blankets. Clothing. Accessories. It’s a one-stop source for stocking up on amazing gear for your baby or child.
For instance, this colorful matryoshka doll crib bumper. It’s simply luxe. It’s created from a lovely retro (and out-of-print) Anna Maria... → Read the rest of this article
I’ve been a fan of Nikki McClure for some time. Her exquisite paper cuttings are simply wondrous in their detail. She uses an exacto knife to create her beautiful images, each from a single sheet of paper. The painstaking detail. The complexity. I find her work enchanting and perfected suited to children’s illustrations. Her collection of books are available at Buy Olympia, along with a lovely assortment of notecards, gift tags and other paper beauties.
Mama Is It Summer Yet? is a heartwarming tale of a little boy who asks the same question of his mother, again and again; a theme familiar to mothers who try to satisfy the curiosity and eagerness of their little ones, and to children for whom waiting a few weeks might as well be a few decades.
The First 1000 Days is a baby journal unlike most. Parents have long enjoyed chronicling their children’s early days of life, but Nikki’s illustrations elevate the experience to a creating a work of art that will be eventually passed on to your child. There’s lots of room for notes and such, and tons of her beautiful work to inspire to more than a record of the order that solid foods were introduced. This journal makes you want to write something wise and eternal. My children are six and three and I’m thinking about buying two of these, just because they are so beautiful and poetic.
“The Great Chicken Escape is a true story, or as close to truth as I could ascertain from the chickens themselves.” These are Nikki’s own words about this book. And judging by her illustrations of nuns wrangling chickens, this will probably be one of those books that your child requests over and over.
Nikki is a self-taught artist who has been making paper cuts since 1996 and who produces her own merchandise. You can find Nikki’s books, t-shirts, notecards and other merchandise, as well as her original paper cuts on Buy Olympia.
The story behind Moku Pe Pe is an interesting one. The shop owner, Kellie Crowe, spent eleven years on small sailing vessels, traveling from Europe to South East Asia. She was so deeply affected by the beauty of the islands she experienced, that she wanted to keep those memories alive in her home. What started as a mom making unique clothes and blankets for her own baby, has developed into a full collection of lovely baby blankets and yoga pants. All are hand-sewn by Kellie in her... → Read the rest of this article
