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

Flower power

Here's another Etsy find - giant cocktail ring.



I love it, and the matching-ish necklaces Jill Popowich makes.

Sunburst

Check out this great (affordable!) bag from Etsy seller Bayan Hippo. I think it would make a pretty great diaper bag because of the outside pocket thingy. Of course, the fact that it's just canvas would mean - in my life, at least - it would get pretty grungy pretty quickly.

Stringing me along

I recently got a bag of blog swag from 1000 Markets, a new Etsy rival. There was one thing in there that I've come to really love - earrings by Cheap Date made out of guitar strings.

Now, I hate the word 'upcycled'. So that nearly put me off them immediately. But let me tell you why I love them: they're light. Super light. I hate heavy earrings with a passion and these are so light that I forget I'm wearing them, go to bed, and end up with them tangled in my hair. Sorry, that was beside the point. They're great, anyway. And no one would know they're strings, so I can avoid looking like some weird band groupie.


(It occurs to me that both my friends named Cara would probably appreciate jewelry from a place called Cheap Date. A coincidence?)

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!

She wears Banana Republic jeans

A friend of mine is getting a bag -- not this bag, but you know I'm in to the wristlets. I really like the fabric of this wristlet by Cotton Candy Boutique on Etsy.

My favorite year

I like this a lot. Not that I have any attachment to that year, but you can choose what year you like, and the numbers themselves are very appealing.

From Etsy seller Chocolate and Steel.

Hippos go berserk

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

Square covet

I like these scrabble tile necklaces from Little Bluebird Studios on Etsy. There are a million types and she ships them in a test tube and they're on sale, so check 'em out.

Up the river

Sometimes on Etsy, consistency can be hard to find. And custom clothes at affordable (to me) prices are definitely hard to find. That's why AftonRiver's shop is so covetable.

These are thoughtful, fanciful, great everyday things -- they're fun and pretty and in nice colors.

What's not to like?


This looks like an incredibly comfortable dress, and the hem is fantastic.



Also great. She is all about the ruffle.



If you can pull off shoulderless, this is nice. Also doubles as a maternity skirt. That's good thinking.




And the girl makes jackets, too.



This might be my favorite, even though it's not a skirt. A gorgeous t-shirt, a gorgeous color.

What's the date?

The more catalogs appear in my mailbox, the more e-mails I get from PR firms, the more holiday newsletters turn up...the less I want to shop.

Except I do want this. It's a calendar, it's a pillow case, it's by Lotta Jansdotter, it would look great on the eggplant couch.

It's absurd perfect.

And it's useful. I never know what day it is anyway.

I am not your bag

So I bought this great bag. This is not it.



But, see, the one I bought is already dying. I deserve it, I suppose, for going to New York with all of my stuff in it, plus Neal Stephanson's Anathem (if you see it, you know it's a doorstop). It's just vinyl, so the stress points are splitting and it's not going to last long.

So that's not my bag, but it's cute.

Luma

This is a nice store in Petaluma. I don't know if anything is available online, but pretty stuff. Maude.

TV on the internet

I totally covet this absolutely brilliant night light. I mean, it's a TV and a flying saucer and a night light and it's purple and it's from Etsy...what more could you want???

Nerd patrol

The fantastic, covetable robots at Nerdbots are so sweet I can't stop thinking about them.





They're decently priced, but still certainly something to save up for.

Via io9.

Fly like a swallow

I was admonished to try Etsy for the laptop problem -- of course I just end up seeing cute stuff.

Like this. The seller has a lot of other good stuff, too, including canvas messenger bags.

Ring around the world

Just realized this is my 401st post, which seems like some kind of a milestone!

But anyway, back to covet. Love this ring from indie round-up site Smashing Darling (shouldn't there be a comma in there? maybe not, kids these days...) -- imagine a curated sort of Etsy. The ring's from a west coast jeweler whose store name I like a lot: go robot! I think the ring is funky and elegant at the same time, always a hard thing to pull off.

The other ren fair

The Renegade Craft Fair is tomorrow in San Francisco. Tons of covet there.

Customize me

I had to buy a gift recently for a six-year-old girl I'd never met.

Hard.

But there's one present that is perfect for almost any age, and every occasion. I haven't done one for, oh, 25 years or something, but I was tempted...



Make-A-Plate

Birdie

On Retromodgirl's blog, I saw a link to a great Etsy provider of vinyl cuteness.

I have to say, I'm a little over vinyl. It doesn't hold up well and it's kind of floppy and awkward. But these are nice.

Plus, you know, it's a wristlet. With a bird.