Giggle Finds

Hadley and I stopped by Giggle yesterday afternoon. I am not in the store often, but am always pleasantly surprised at the variety of interesting products. Here are some some of the great Giggle finds.

Color-In Placemat-Dress Up $12. Very happy, creative entertainment for home or out at a restaurant (even better)! Also have a Color-In Placemat-Space for boys as well as Color-In Notecards-Thank You!

Convertible Toddler Bed $210. A bed or chair. Really fun, functional and a good value.

Rikshaw Design is now available at Giggle. Yea! Udaipur Burp & Bib $39. What a perfect gift.

Animal Alphabet Nightlight $25. Giggle has some primo nightlights. This alphabet nightlight is great for a boy or girl and reasonably priced.

Sheep Mobile $32. I love mobiles as much, if not more, for an older child's room. Very much art. Originally designed for MoMA by Flensted Mobiles in Denmark.

Gingham!

We have heard that gingham is a big trend in the spring childrenswear lines. We are seeing hints of it in some of the fall collections too....why not add it a little early? Whether the main event or peeking out from a collar, it adds wonderful pattern to any outfit!

Clockwise from top left: Kule by Nikki Kule Kristen Blouse $95, Olive Juice Muriel Dress $44.5o, Bonpoint Donia Dress $155, Olive Juice Juliette Blouse $38.50 under Classic Cable Crew $39.50, Mikalya's Creations Checker Headband $7.50, Dagmar Daley Little Blouse at Sweet William $64.

Activity for Those Not Yet Back-to-School

School started today....for one of my daughters! My 5-year-old is without her playmate for a week until hers starts. What to do? We found this 300-piece set of sculpting sticks that has so many projects that she has been easily entertained and even happy to share when her older sister arrived home! They can follow the directions exactly or create ones all their own.

Stick·ums Stick*rageous 300 piece set $14.99. Check your local toy store.

Courtney's "Surfer flower-delivery man!"

White Elephant and Other Party Gifts

I went to a very special birthday party this weekend in Central Park. It was all around original, thoughtful and a lot of fun. As a favor or goody for coming to the party, each guest received a “white elephant” gift. The presents were beautifully wrapped and carefully selected by the birthday boy and his mother, from his own toy selection, with each guest in mind. "White elephant" gifts included a toy car in leopard print, a large rubber ball with glitter and a Grow a Frog kit. All in good condition and enthusiastically received by our boys. I don't believe it registered that these gifts were not new! I would love to see us all do more of this: giving or exchanging toys that are in great shape, yet would benefit from a fresh pair of eyes to get excited.

The wrapping made the gifts extra special. Look at these white elephant gift tags from etsy $5.

P.S. These are some other favorites from the party:

Ice Cream Scented Bubbles at Birthday in a Box $1.59. Available in Chocolate, Pineapple, Mint and Strawberry scents. Lots of fun.

3D Chalk Crayola Sidewalk Chalk $19.99. See your chalk drawings pop off the sidewalk in your 3D glasses.

Rocket Balloons at Amazon $9.95. Fun for kids of all ages.

Happy Labor Day!

We are sad to see summer go...

Image by Rachel Mcginn, an incredibly talented photographer whose web site we love!

Blabla Clothing!

We all know the amazingly crafted and colorful dolls from blabla...but did you know they have a large clothing line as well!?! Perfect transitionwear from summer into fall—their sweaters, hats, pants and tees share the distinct aesthetic of their beautiful toy counterparts. I am doing some shopping for my 2-year-old, here's what's on my list!

Flower Monty Tee $24 and Chinese Solid Pink Pants $29.

"Bunny" Paper Cut Vest $52 now $29.

(I think it looks cute with the green pants, but am going to put it with khakis.)

Kitty L.S. Paper Cut Tee $20.

Aurora Hooded Vest $78 now $38.

(My daughter loves hoodies!)

And with such great deals, I am getting some baby gifts too!

Hello Squirrel and Hello Elephant Hats, each $24 now $12.

(Getting a squirrel one for my daughter too!)

Hide and Seek Boatneck Sweaters $64 now $32.

Pink Bird Mobile $110.

(For my sister who is about to have her third baby! I will get the Sheep if it is a boy.)

Give a Child a Camera

Our 6 year old recently asked for a camera for his birthday. It was at the top of his list. The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of giving a child a camera. A camera offers a child the freedom to capture the world in his/her eyes, to be curious and to get creative. It gives them the responsibility of having their own camera, which they enjoy. Digital cameras are perfect in that you can take endless photos (... go ahead and take all the zoomed in photos of your face) and there is instant gratification, compared to a disposable camera.

Bean 5MP digital camera by Argus. Also has video! Available at Best Buy and other retail stores.

I bought the Bean 5MP digital camera by Argus at Best Buy—and so far, so good. It is a simple camera, which makes it very easy to learn and use. It is considered an outdoor camera and quite durable. The picture quality and video is decent for a camera of this value (see test photo below, slightly better than a disposable). We love the design which looks good (a design excellence award winner, see this article) and allows you to clip the camera to your backpack. And, importantly the price was reasonable at just under $50. A good value for a starter camera for a 6+ year old child.

Test photo: Smile!

Do you have a favorite camera for a child? We would love to hear what you like, please comment and tell us.

Berkley Girl's Fall Trends for Tweens

Over and over we hear how hard it is shopping for tween girls. Berkley Girl in NYC "the ultimate tween boutique" according to New York Magazine seems to have gotten it down. With two locations, the store offers a wide selection—from the stacks of tees in the center of the store to the racks of Lacoste, Little Marc Jacobs, Ella Moss and more. Not only do they dress their tween shoppers well, they offer incentives such as a report card program and focus groups to help develop the store. We asked them to share the fall trends they are seeing and what is selling best at their stores and they gave us even better...how to wear them too!

BOYFRIEND SWEATER

BG: "The boyfriend sweater looks great over a t-shirt paired with leggings or you can also pair it with your favorite jeans."

Splendid Boyfriend Sweater $55 and Little Fox Tee $47.

LUMBERJACK PLAID

BG: "This might be the most popular look for back to school! Girls are pairing this lumberjack plaid with leggings and tights, even solid colored denim skirts."

Flowers by Zoe Buffalo Check Dress $82.

PEACE SIGN ACCESSORIES

BG: "These cool peace sign accessories look great layered with other bangles or cute bracelets."

Confetti All Around Peace Cuff $7, Confetti Watch $22, Rockin Robin Leather Cuff $16.

BOYFRIEND BLAZER

BG: "The boyfriend blazer looks great with skinny jeans and nice casual top or even a t-shirt!"

Un Duex Trois Boyfriend Blazer $106 and Tease Teddy Bear Tee $54.

BOW HEADBANDS

BG: "Wear these headbands to add a girly feel to almost any outfit! They go great with multiple looks from formal dresses to denim shirts!"

A. Tierney Headband $12. Mikayla's Creations Satin Headband $11, Mikaylas Creations Saddle Stitch Headband $9.

Berkley Girl, 410 Columbus Avenue, NYC (212) 877-4770 and 1418 Second Avenue, NYC (212) 744-9507. Their online store is launching this fall!

One More Dress-to-Tunic from Ketiketa

I just noticed this Ketiketa dress on Poppy Store's web site. Had to include as it is definitely a perfect contender for my post yesterday on a dress that once too short can be a tunic. Love love love this!

Ketiketa Devi Dress $100 at Poppy Store.

Back to School Taste Test

Is it ok to admit that I really enjoy shopping at Whole Foods with my boys? I found myself incredibly inspired for back to school after a recent visit. The Revolution Food Lunch Box happened to be outside with all kinds of samples of their organic lunchbox snacks and sandwich builders. We had a heyday tasting their products from the Mashups (squeezable 100% organic fruit) to the Jammy Sammys (PB & strawberry in a whole grain bar, other flavors too) to the Popalongs (whole grain snack or chip of sort). The goal is what they refer to as "Lunchbox Simplicity" which, in their words, means "simple for parents to pack, simple for kids to eat and a simple way to maintain a healthy diet." I like the mission and the boys loved the food. Revolution Food is sold at Whole Foods, Toys R Us and online at Amazon.

With that mindset, our taste testing carried on. (It was dinner time.) The kids and I found several other items that met the bar of heathy, yummy and easy to pack in a lunchbox. Here is a sampling of our favorites:

GoGo Squeez. 100% squeezable applesauce, in 5 flavors. No mess, no added sugar. Boys tried, and loved, the apple and apple cinnamon.

Honest Kids organic thirst quenchers, available in 3 flavors. Low sugar claiming to have half the sugar of most kids' drinks. Kids thought they tasted great.

Gnu bars with 12 grams of fiber! And taste really good. We love the cinnamon raison and banana walnut bars.

ProBugs by Lifeway is a line of organic whole milk kefir for kids. Live cultures boost immune and digestive systems in kids. Yummy too!