Category Archives: Feature

Stuff Your Doodles: Bringing Your Child’s Drawings to Life

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Stuff Your DoodlesI definitely have to file away this site, Stuff Your Doodles, away for when Archie is older. This artist takes your child’s (or your drawing too I suppose) and turns it into a stuffed animal. I’ve seen some DIY tutorials for printing out drawings on fabric, but I love that she’s not simply transferring the image, but creating in terms of volume and texture as well. How does a two-dimensional ice-cream scoop blob with spike claws look when it comes to life in 3D? Artist LucyMoose knows…

(via Cool Mom Picks)

Catch a Falling Star and Put it in Your Pocket

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Astrological Sign JewelrySpeaking of customization, check out these necklaces. I know, I know. It’s not a toy. But it had to happen some time, my first non-toy post that is.

But, this is baby-related. No, these necklaces probably wouldn’t function as teething jewelry. However, you can customize the jewelry to represent your baby’s astrological constellation. Archie’s sign is the Archer or Sagittarius, so there’s a little extra link there between his name and his sign (totally coincidental btw).

I also  like that you can get two pendants on one chain, so you can combine two children on one chain, or significant other and child, or any other combination you can imagine.

And, as a bonus, one of my favorite songs that I sing to Archie, sung to me by my grandfather before him:

Custom Toy Portraits Immortalize Your Child’s Companions

Posted on by Pauline
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First Friends

First Friends by Erin Chainani

Now that Archie has his first lovie, I have a feeling that we’re only a few months away from ordering a custom portrait of Bandit. In this house, we love original artwork and we love custom paintings and photos. Previously our dogs had been the recipients of our portrait commissions (we have an oil painting of them as well as two poster size headshots of them).

Now we have Archie’s walls to adorn and there seems to be a booming toy portraiture business out there to capture our attention. First off is First Friends by Erin Chainani. These watercolor toy portraits are intimate, precious, and definitely affordable, with prices starting at $65.

Custom Toy Portrait

custom toy portraits by Jennifer Maher

Next up are custom toy portraits by Jennifer Maher. These acrylic paintings have a little more pop to them. Added bonus–she has experience painting Blabla dolls!

Vintage Toys in Venice

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The other week I was at Brown’s Hardware in Venice (California that is). While I fell in love with basically everything in the store, I was particularly enchanted by the vintage children’s toys. Check out the photos below, especially those chairs! It might be hard to tell from the photos, but they’re only about two feet tall.

Brown's Hardware Kids Toys

Could You Sleep in this Room?

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Where Children Sleep 01I came across these photos taken by James Mollison of children’s rooms from a photo essay entitled Where Children Sleep (via the littlest). Of course, Kaya, age 4, from Tokyo, immediately caught my eye. Not only does her room look amazing, but she looks like a little doll herself!Where Children Sleep 02

Yesterday when we were out at dinner, my husband commented on how Archie was turning into a little materialist, as I brought no less than four toys for two hours out of the house. However, if those toys weren’t there, he’d just be grabbing at items on the table. Not because he’s materialistic, but because he’s curious and right now he explores the world through things. So if that’s the case, Kaya certainly has a lot to explore. I’m surprised she gets any sleeping done in that room!