Back Pack filter

Here we go. School has started so it's time to start thinking about school necessities. This year my son has an old lime green LLBean back pack from last year which I'm hoping will last but it's my preschooler who wants/needs her first pack. So I started searchn. 

Good news! LLbean no more. There are some goodies out there. Starting below with my favorite! 

And I love how these are all normal child-sized packs and not made for a giant's back!

Poketo back-packs! $58.

For the hipster. The Spiketus Rex from Madpax. Love these too. $28-60.

For the engineer. Herschel's, The Settlement orange back-pack. Lasts forever. Not too big. $49.

 For the new englanders. The NorthFace. Lots of colors and a perfect price of $29. Love the handle.

And finally...the fashionista pick. A Bakker Made with Love pack called The 

Mini Cartable Jouy Rose. $60.

In need of a bunkbed?

I just ordered bunkbeds for my kids. They currently share a room and it's becoming very apparent that my older child needs his own space, even if it's just a shelf at the end of his bed. He'll love it!

I started looking around, Room & Board, Modern Seed and even IKEA. As usual, the modern bunkbeds I love are way out of my price range. But I found a great local company on Craig's List called Maine BunkBeds. Not only are these well constructed and sturdy, they come in cool colors and are very eco.  They use milk paint, which is about as non toxic as you can get. And I love the photography of the beds on their site. Bunks in a pasture, bunks in the city. Clever. Check them out www.mainebunkbeds.com

Super Sky. Super Cute.

Love these skirts and pants for girls and boys, by the label Super Sky. These are all homemade in Austin, TX (so many creative things come out of that cool city) using beautiful African fabrics. The colors are so unusual for kids clothing, don't you think? I think they're $40 each and come in sizes 2,4 and 6.  You can email the designer directly to purchase any of these via her blog superskyclothing.blogspot.com.  It's so nice to come across clothing that's unique when we're all so used to seeing the standard brands and designs. I think I just might have to buy one of these for Sophie!

Made by Joel

Joel Henriques is an artist and he also makes toys for his kids.  The toys are brilliant, and they are designed to be simple enough to make yourself (or to have a handy husband make) with basic items like wood, paper, glue, paint.  Everything he does is clever and also modern in a cool, earthy way.

His book is coming out this year and it will showcase 35 how-to toy and craft projects. In the meantime, check out his site www.madebyjoel.com for details and instructions on all his crafts. 

I'm telling you, this guy may be the next Melissa and Doug!

 A few great examples of his toys and crafts. 

See what I mean? How lucky are his kids!

Birthday fun

My Sophie is 3 today! I can barely believe it. Three years flew. So we started off the day as we did with Henry  - balloons, glitter, a little surprise, some singing and off to school. Presents, cake and Cinderella will come later in the day but Sophie gets to wear her princess costume all day today wherever we go, which is huge!

So speaking of birthdays, I saw a great idea last week by Sara Westbrook for a homemade Valentines Day or Birthday gift. These necklaces are made out of giant gumballs! 

All you need: thin ribbon, a large needle and the candy. Don't they look like real beads? Gumballs really don't go bad so these can be worn for a long time if they can be resisted! What a great idea!

Photos by Sara Westbrook

Kids bedrooms

My 50th blog post. Hooray!!

So more inspiration for you as promised. Here are a few files I have stored on kids' rooms. I love these all and kept them for when/if my kids ever get there own rooms, and if not, I may take bits and pieces. And as a side note - I snagged these so long ago I can't give the proper credit out for either the room designers/home owners and/or the photographer. But I know they came from Swedish blogs.

Don't you just love love love this rock wall below. How great would this be for a kid?

Some of these are custom built bedrooms, but most of these are very do-able on a limited budget. Between paint colors, IKEA, and some crafty artwork, you can recreate most of these bedrooms. Enjoy!

birthday and balloons

My Henry turned 6 years old today.  We're so proud of his growth this year and ofcourse he is just over the moon about turning one year older, getting more presents and having a party.  Although I have to admit, having a birthday to plan so close to Christmas is difficult, and it can be overkill for Henry after the excitement and presents from Christmas. So I *try* to make it more about the birthday celebration than the gifts.

With that in mind, I had the idea yesterday to fill his bedroom with balloons, so when he woke up, he would see a sea of colorful balloons. But because he's been waking up coughing lately in the middle of the night, I thought I'd play it safe and keep the balloons downstairs. Which is what I did with about 25 balloons.

Peter said Henry was ecstatic this morning when he woke up and came downstairs to a sea of balloons, more so than I ever thought he would be. Success! 

Look at the color. Aren't balloons just the best?

So what do you think? I love the idea of making birthdays fun and exciting and creative for kids and less about the materialistic stuff.....any other ideas out there?

Binth

Need a baby shower gift?

I came across this little company today called Binth. Check out their colorful graphic baby books. I remember looking for baby books when Henry was born and found nothing but flower and truck designs. I would have loved something simple and fresh and colorful like this. Afterall, what's not to love about a lime green bunny??

They have some nice number and alphabet posters and original prints on their site too. Check them out when you get a chance.

Pouf anyone?

If you haven't noticed, the Pouf is all the rage in decor these days. Everyone is selling them. I found some cool Poufs below. They seem to be great as room fillers to provide a bit of extra seating and lounging. 

They're seemingly cheap and come in tons of fun colors. Here are my favs. CB2 sells one cheap but these come from Serena and Lily. The lime one is delicious. 

Go ahead, pouf your house, I dare you.