kids & baby

This post comes to you from Anne-Marie of The Succulent Wife, part of the Gift Giving Advisory Board. For more great gift ideas, check out our Hostess Gift Guide and Holiday Gift Guide!

As a petite woman, Pam Starobin knew what it is like to sit at a table with your chin barely over the the edge or at the movies when, inevitably, someone would sit directly in front of her blocking her view. She understood how kids felt and wanted to make a booster seat that made them feel all grown up. She came up with a lightweight booster seat that carries like a backpack.

SittingTallerKids partnered with Nomi Network, an organization that promotes enterprise and education to end human trafficking, to help in making the backpacks. Nomi Network trains women in Cambodia, who have been sold and sexual abused, how to sew bags. With SittingTallerKids design, the women made beautiful and vibrant bags made from recycled rice bags. Once back in the United States, SittingTallerKids fills the bags with four inch furniture grade foam pads covered with Dacron and cotton fabric.

Each backpack is lightweight and easily washable. Plus it is also made with a deep front pocket for all those important items kids need when they go out. Now no need to use communal booster seats. And parents, you no longer have to carry all their stuff! Buy directly from SittingTallerKids for $49.99.

Petite adults? SittingTaller also offers a discreet adult booster seat in a stylish & functional handbag! Get it here!

Follow SittingTallerKids on Facebook to hear the latest company news.

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I keep learning about the most amazing projects thanks to Twitter. About a week or so ago it was Solar Sister. Then yesterday, thanks to Susan, I learned about The Information Blanket.

The Information Blanket is a new project aimed at decreasing infant mortality in places with some of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. The project is getting its start right now in Uganda, where family planning is pretty much nonexistent and where women have little to no say over their own fertility.

“Our mission is to provide Information Blankets to parents of newborns in under-developed areas all over the world. Lack of education is a contributing factor to infant mortality. Basic knowledge regarding breastfeeding frequency, vaccination scheduling, growth rates and illness warning signs is often unknown to young parents.”

The blankets themselves are made in the USA out of high-quality materials including 100% double knit North Carolina cotton, and then they are screen-printed using non-toxic water based inks. The text on the blanket can be reproduced in any language, but the graphics have been designed to be universally and easily understood in areas with high illiteracy.

Right now there are two ways you can help. For a donation of $25, you can send one blanket directly to a mother and child in Uganda. You can also choose the buy one, give one option and receive an English version of the blank, available in either pink or blue, and give one to a child in Uganda at the same time.

This project is just getting started, so I’m sure they could use the help spreading the word. I think what they’re doing is pretty amazing – I’m so glad I keep finding projects like The Information Blanket and Solar Sister – it gives me a little more hope for the future of our world!

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I just finished adding two new artists to the shop yesterday – jewelry designs by local artist Brandi Couvillion and pocket-size toys by Claspy Kids.

Brandi Couvillion creates beautiful lariat style necklaces out of antique skeleton keys and escutcheons (key holes) salvaged from demolished homes in the New Orleans area. When I first visited her home studio to pick up jewelry from her, I told her she had to promise to let me come back and take some photos, because her studio space and home is so beautiful – pretty little bits of art and New Orleans history everywhere. So more on her soon!

Claspy Kids is a fun new handmade travel toy for toddlers to keep them entertained while out and about. (Although when these arrived, I tested them out a bit myself, and half to admit, I think they could entertain more than just toddlers.) They’re a little fabric bundle that folds up small so you can keep it in your pocket or purse, and they’ve got lots of old-school gadgetry to entertain the little ones. A big button to button and unbutton and button again… A buckle to snap and click and snap… A shoelace and ribbon to thread in and out, and a Velcro-style hook and loop closure to rip open again and again. Even though I’m not a mom myself, since they’re priced at just $12, I’m guessing they’re a pretty good investment if they keep the little ones out of your hair while grocery shopping or waiting at the doctor’s office!

You can see all the new goodies I’ve been adding to the shop lately here. (And yes, there are still MORE on the way!)

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I’m kicking off the new year by adding a brand new artist to my shop! I’m very pleased to introduce you to Melisa Santacroce of Pixiekids Toys!

Melisa is a stay-at-home mom with a background in Speech Language Pathology and Montessori Teacher Training. She developed her toy play food sets to help encourage imaginative play and language development among kids and toddlers. She makes all of her felt toy food out of Eco-felt, which is made from recycled plastic bottles.

I love this movement to get back to simpler toys for kids and away from millions of shiny, noisy, blinky gizmos and gadgets. Don’t get me wrong, those can be fun too, but I was just thinking the other day about how some of my favorite activities as a kid were things like building forts in the backyard and making up elaborate soap-opera-like lives for my Barbie dolls.

You can check out my current offerings from Pixiekids Toys here. Melisa has new play food sets in the works for 2011 as well, so stay tuned for more!

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And the randomly chosen winner of the recent McGowan & McClain Handmade Designer Jewelry Giveaway is…. #2 Rach LaRoche! Congrats to Rach! Don’t fret if you weren’t the winner of that giveaway though, because I’ve got another one for you right now! Carolyn Caffelle, the designer behind The Wishing Elephant has offered up one of her super cute baby onesies to one lucky reader!

The Wishing Elephant offers adorable applique clothing for newborns, babies, and toddlers. Carolyn uses Eco-Felt (made from 100% post consumer recycled plastic bottles) to create her fun designs. I recently chatted with Carolyn to find out a little bit more about her work.

How did you get started making onesies? I started making onesies when I had my little one. Baby clothes are cute, but I wanted something that was unique and fun. So, I began playing with different materials until I fell in love with Eco-Felt. Onesies for my son turned into onesies for friends and when I discovered Etsy – it took off.

What’s your favorite out of your designs? What inspires your pieces? It’s hard to say which design is my favorite because it’s ever evolving. Every time I make something I am completely obsessed with it. I guess it’s a toss up between an older design (the Love Bus) and a newer design (Punch Buggy Surfer Car). I also love the Groucho and the Bacon and Eggs Twins set. See? I honestly love them all.

Any future design ideas or plans for your business in the works? I’ve recently been working on my winter line. I have plans for a ski lift, snowman, black cat and many many more. I’m always cooking up ideas. Currently The Wishing Elephant is featured in stores in Jackson Hole WY, Boston MA and New London NH. My plan is to get this little shop into as many boutiques as I can!

As I mentioned above, Carolyn has generously offered one lucky reader a onesie from The Wishing Elephant, winner’s choice. To enter to win, please leave a comment here and let me know which onesie from The Wishing Elephant you would pick if you win! Post your comment by midnight on Sunday, September 26, 2010 (Central Standard Time – go here to figure out what time that is where you are).

This giveaway is open to everyone! The winner will be chosen at random from the comments. Please use a valid email address, as that’s how I’ll be contacting the winner. (I won’t share it with anyone, I promise!) If you are chosen as the winner, you must respond to my email within 1 week from the date I send it, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

So let me know – which onesie design is your favorite?

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MacKenzie Fairhead is a hard-working mom to 2 young boys as well as a robot inventor! Okay… well… they’re really cute appliqued robot kid’s clothes, but still! MacKenzie’s children’s clothing line, Cal&Bram, features these adorable robotic creatures made from Eco-Fi felt and fabric which adorn cotton clothing, sized for infants through 6T. MacKenzie is a self-professed Sci-Fi devotee and hip-hop & rap junky, and I think her style shows through in her funky kid’s clothes!

Each robot has its very own bio, so you can learn more about their sparkling personalities! Cal&Bram designs are available on bibs, onesies, t-shirts, hoodies, dresses, hats and blankets. Check ‘em out at calandbram.com. (If you’re in Nashville, where Cal&Bram is based, you can also find these cute clothes in person at PoPo, Cool Kids Stuff and Serendipity.)

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