Goodies from the new IKEA catalog

I really like IKEA. I mean, yeah, it's not heirloom quality but there have been many, many times in my life when "saving up for an investment piece" was really not advice I could take.

And I like the design. Not everything (hate their florals) but many things. I like IKEA green! I like that the children's toys are cheap and conform to EU standards for chemicals.














I also secretly wish an IKEA room planning person would come to my house and show me how to fit a family of sixteen into my living room.

Oh, Tom.

OK, so I got my baby and my kidlet TOMS shoes. They are (a) awesomely cute and (b) good and flexible but, unfortunately, a+b is negated by the fact that in three (3) wears, they look thrashed. And I'm so not a person to care about wear and tear, but this is excessive.

I think it's the purple sparkly fabric; the metallic threads aren't holding up perhaps?

Anyway, sad face.

But cute, no?

Haaap Haap

Boon ducks.

Chomp

OK, this is perfect and clever and I adore it. My baby is cutting a tooth now and there are a lot of lovely teethers out there, but none so apt.



Little Sapling Toys

Tea time

Tea on sale! Kids' clothes, but the kind you half-wish came in your size.

Tea is known for great prints, but I love these, too.

Specious

I totally covet all the kids clothes by speeses. The colors! The graphics! (Oh, yeah, and they have a nice message.)





And I just noticed they're having a 20% off sale. Go snabble something!

Match up

From my friend Chris, who mostly knows about this, comes a tip:



I like that it's lower case, because if you think about it, isn't lowercase more common? By Voila.

Moo-moo

Not sure I'd send for these all the way from Australia but they beat the look of Born Free for sure!



Via Odeedoh (how are you supposed to say that?), which once nicked a photo of mine.

Tippy toes

This is a post about baby shoes. Be warned.

Back when my daughter first put foot to pavement, she wore Robeez, like most of the other kids. Which are fine.

But now I see that See Kai Run has a new line called Smaller. These are soft-soled, like Robeez, and hella cute.

Space 1979

OK, I was at IKEA today. This is so unfair. How can they have these in Conshohocken and not here in the mod-lovin' Bay Area?

Photo and info via Daddy Types and Greg's army of tipsters. Here's what he says:

curvy plastic base in black or white, pop-in seat in red, black, white or transparent smoke [!], plus a detachable tray, all for $60 [additional seats are $20]

Swingin' in the breeze

So the first time round, I made a mobile for the babe. I found some stark black and white stuff, like the Target logo, printed it and glued it to cardboard stuck them to popsicle sticks and took two wire hangers and bingo, infant mobile. The hardest part was tying the yarn right in the middle of the popsicle stick (actually from popsicles, too - Trader Joe's lime fruit floes).

I think we still have it but it's probably wack after being crushed in the closet for four years and I'm not sure I have the mojo to make a new one.

On some blog (sorry, can't remember where) I saw someone talking about getting a handmade one off Etsy, which seems like a good idea.

However, most of the Etsy ones are not fantastic. They often fall into the trap of 'stuff facing the parent not the baby.' Or they're paper, and will get crushed the minute an infant fist accidentally comes in reach.

I like the idea of this, though.


It's nice, and because it's foam it's light, but there should be more cool crafty mobiles out there. Don't let me down, Etsy!

Now if I only had a baby...

It's a long time since I've coveted a stroller. Sure, there are some nice ones out there, but nothing has really blown my mind since this (check the date!) and living where I do I'm all bugaboo'd out.

But.




Awesome. Thanks, mima.

Via Daddy Types.

A tub with wheels

So I saw the MADSEN cargo bikes over on Junior Society, run by the guy behind Mahar Dry Goods, which I've blogged about enough times that linking the posts would be tiresome, so just use the search.

Anyway.

Check these out.



You can put kids in it! You can put dog food in it! I want one! (Also she has cute shoes.)

Ticket to ride

You have to live around here to get the awesomeness of this shirt. I just wish it came in grown-up sizes.



It's made by a local company, of course.

Pretty colors

Awesome! Makes me want a baby to bottlify.



Also a good idea - people are into glass these days (smart) but the sleeve makes it a tiny bit safer.

Inch by inch

I like the little photos on the Etsy site of feaverish. Some of these would be great for art in a kid's room.

You. Roll.

Modernseed has some stuff on sale. I like this Uroll scooter - it's obviously still crazy much even on sale, but then again you can use it as a night table when the kid is done with it. Or as a stand for your Tivoli radio.

Sitt!

This is sort of like a mini Tripp-Trapp. The HandySitt is a tray-less booster to put on a chair, which can be a lot more useful than a high chair sometimes. It folds up, although honestly I never want to carry anything when I travel.

It's also great-looking, though a chunk of change. Comes with an add-on so it can be used on the floor, although it inevitably would be used as a stepstool too and I'm not sure how stable it is.

I think it's one of those things you might love, you might not use -- depends on your kid-feeding lifestyle. But at least people are making things that look nice, right?

Saw it at NOTCOT.

Hippos go berserk

I like this simple maple teether from Etsy seller little alouette.

People read this?

So I was reading Daddy Types, because it's awesome. And he had this post that was all about 'Hey, there's a Mammut crib at IKEA.'

And I said to myself, 'Hey, I posted about that. Twice, actually.'

And then I kept reading and it said, 'Oh, look, Ohdeedoh spotted it yesterday too. At covetable' and I said, 'Hey, that's me." Ohdeeoh is Apartment Therapy for babies.

So there was one of those ourobourous bloggy moments.

(Thanks again for the photo, Kitt.)