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Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Product Showcase: Baby’s Here!

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Lately it seems like all my friends are announcing that they’re expecting! I suppose it’s inevitable at my age but since I still feel about 16 I’m surprised every time. I love to knit and crochet baby items as they’re super fast and easy to whip up. When I don’t have time to make something, I look for a unique gift that someone else has made instead.

This product showcase is a roundup of my latest favorite handmade baby items.

The gorgeous card above is from Storeyshop and was created when the designer’s friends started having babies. Helen wanted to design some cards with nontraditional messages as an alternative to the usual ‘New Baby Girl’ messages. I think it turned out wonderfully!

nellsmith’s adorable baby T-shirt would make a great gift for new parents. Nell’s work is inspired by retro design and toys, Japanese cartoons, and all things cute. She loves using bright, bold colors in her work to try to keep it as fresh and modern as possible.

This baby vest from FruteJuce is a must-have for any trendy baby. Alison designs nontraditional baby clothes inspired by the adult world. The inspiration for the cassette, record deck and headphones vests comes from her family’s strong relationship with music and will start any future musician off the right way.

Any modern baby needs a cool hat and this skull-and-crossbones beanie from MaisieLiddel fits the bill. Handknitted in a punk-inspired pink and white, this little gem is made from a luxurious blend of merino, silk and cashmere.

Keep baby warm with bettyandtodd2’s pretty stroller blanket. Debbie’s mum has always loved hedgehogs and when she and her brothers were growing up, her mum received many different types of hedgehogs as presents. Hedgehogs are a real part of English wildlife so Debbie created this colorful blanket in a small size to easily fit a stroller or car seat.

The inspiration for Quite Contrary Crafts’ card came while Mary was on her stall at Greenwich Market in London, when a customer asked whether there was a New Baby card available. She hadn’t – but she brainstormed new card ideas while her toes were getting rather chilly at the quiet market. Mary had always thought that Silver Cross Prams were very elegant and loves the curl in the handle of the pram in this design. Simple yet effective and elegant.

This gorgeous baby sweater from IrishWoolen was inspired by traditional Irish Aran knitting techniques. The sweater vest was custom-designed for a friend of the designers. The stitch in the center of the jumper is symbolic of the hard working bee and is a traditional stitch of the Aran style of knitting the Aran style. The light flecked wool used is a modern alternative to traditional Aran wool. It’s a great take on the original fisherman’s jumper which was a traditional and staple uniform for so many working men in the past.

I’m thrilled to see how much adorable and unique handmade clothing is available for babies. Despite not having children of her own (yet!), Jane of thedoghouse printed this onesie with an image of her greyhound, Max and the caption ‘doggy’ because she thought that is she did have a baby, this would look so adorable on them!

Brighten up any nursery with this hand-embroidered hanging heart from elissahill. Baby will adore the pretty colours, and even better the heart can be embroidered with any message and picture you desire.

I’d love to discover more handmade baby items, post yours below!

Art Appreciation Starts Early

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There’s so much lame art out there for small people. And that is a terrible thing. I’m convinced bad art rots little brains. It’s why I ended up eschewing popular mass market toddler art for framed pages of retro books for my kids. I spent ages hunting down old books from the 60’s and 70s with interesting line art, decoupage prints etc. Lucky for you now, there is Etsy and Jonty Bloom.

Let’s face it. Babies, toddlers, etc look at their walls a lot, what with all the time they spend hanging out in their rooms. Do you really want to trap them in there with nothing good to look at? With some insipid cartoon-y depiction of jungle animals and fairy ballerinas? Or do you want them looking at something a little better, more thought provoking? The kind of art that tells it’s own story and gives you more to look at each time you examine it?

I thought so. Chances are you’ll spend a fair amount of time in the room with your kid too. Buy something that you like, that they like, and that your grand kids would probably like too, if you save it for them. Good graphics make the world a better place. Let’s work together to make ugly primary colored vinyl dinosaur wall appliques from mass market chains, go extinct. Yay art!