If you are handy working with wood, here is something that you may consider doing for your kids. I feel it would be a wonderful Christmas gift. If you do, make sure to adapt the project to your child favorite games and activities. You could cut a window to suit the needs of a puppet theater.

I suggest to you a DIY project because Tschutschu by Dominik Lutz seems to be only available in Germany for the moment. This is kind of the ultimate multipurpose kid furniture as it integrated a bench, a train table, and a chalkboard. By standing on a different side, it serves a different purpose. You could fix a wooden train track on the train table. This way, there will be less mess across the home and no arguments with your kid to store the train set.

+ Tschutschu at Magazin 179 €
+ via ohdeedoh

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Any time I see a beautiful way to store toys I like to share it with you. Aesthetically pleasing storage solutions can transform a necessity into a piece of art. This series made with bamboo certainly qualify.

The superb Bulles de Nua were created by a duo of women designers for the French furniture maker Red Edition. Marie Macon and Anne-Laure Lesquoy took clues from the traditional Vietnamese craftsmanship to design the collection. The baubles comes in 3 sizes, which means that they can be used as a desk valet, to store jewelry, to keep your scarfs and gloves next to the door up to string magazines and toys.  The inside comes in 3 colors.

+ Photos: Bulles de Nua by Red Edition
+ via Minor Details

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You will feel double pleased of yourself if you buy a knitted owl by Kanana Knitters as a Christmas gift for a kid. These adorable dolls are fair trade. They are handmade by a knitting cooperative aimed at improving the living conditions of rural women in Kenya. Right now, 300 knitters from nine different tribes export their products to many countries around the world including Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The 15″ tall adult owls have a loosely looped knit coat. They come in several color combination. I photographed the 2 owls at Teatro Verde in Yorkville, Toronto. If I recalled well, they were around $85 CAD.

SOURCING:
+ Giant Hoot Owl baby $24, adult $64 USD at Kenana USA

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Founded in 2006, Kroom transforms recycled cardboard in adorable kid furniture and toy storage solutions. Cardboard can be durable and strong. You or the babysitter will be able to sit for playing with your kid since the stools of the table and stools set can hold 220 pounds.

I enjoy the illustrations printed on the furniture and the storage boxes. I feel that Krooom updated classic kid themes. Tris, in particular, is gender neutral.

Each series has several components. Items come absolutely flat in the package, they have a moisture resistance and are free of hazardous chemicals. Plus, no tools are necessary for assembly. I read on Inhabitots that they are laminated to protect against accidental spills and splashes.

Barnes & Noble and Target are listed on Krooom as the only US retailers who carry the line for now. Sorry but I do not know how much they cost. You may like to know that Kroom also makes home accessories that could appeal to students or to decorate your first apartment.

MORE:
+ Krooom Kids Collection
+ Store Listing
+ via Inhabitots

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Playing dress up for Halloween doll is a fun activity to occupy the kids while you are making breakfast. The woman behind Babalisme did these super cute Halloweenie dress up doll printables. Her dress up Halloween dolls are available in a boy version and a girl version.

Magnetic Dress Up Doll Project

If you are looking for a more resistant option than simply paper, a mother came up with a magnetic paper doll upgrade. She assembled a backdrop scene on a kiddo sized cookie sheet. This means that less pieces are spreading around your house. Plus, she reinforced the clothes and accessories with contact sheet before putting a magnet on each piece. It is a good idea. Visit Funny Days with Mommy and Maddie for the complete set of instructions.

MORE:
+ Halloweenie dress up doll printable – girl version
+ Halloweenie dress up doll printable – boy version
+ Via Living Locurto

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If you are looking for a baby shower gift or a wonderful small Christmas gift for new parents, this could be it. A night light is a must when you live with babies and young kids. but savvy-design parents wish for something more than a basic night light.

Crafter Rachel Weber of Fog and Thistle hand mades these adorable papercut night lights. They all reveal a new element when you turn them on. The elephant is accompanied with a small bird. A baby monkey join his father on the tree. A spotted giraffe is next to the floral pattern giraffe.

I am sure that you will envy Rachel for the following. She appeared on Martha Stewart show where she demonstrated how she assembled one papercut night light.

You have the choice between a regular 5 watt bulb or pay a little extra to get one with a super energy efficient 1.3 watt LED light.

Giveaway

You have the chance to win the papercut night lights of your choice by entering the giveaway on blog of Fog and Thistle. Drawing will takes place next Saturday at midnight.

MORE:
+ Papercut Night Lights on Etsy $25 USD, personalized models $27

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Many of you like the idea of a chalkboard but cannot live with the mess that chalk does on our floor. This product delivers the liberty to write on the wall without the mess. What it does is to turn any surface into a whiteboard.

Idea Paint has many applications in our home from the kids bedroom, to a message board on the kitchen or to keep track of your to do list in your home office. What do you think?

You can watch this video of their kiosk at Dwell on Design 2009.

+ Idea Paint for the Home
+ via a Guy Wasakawi’s tweet

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I think this new toy could be a hit this Christmas. Every parent wants to invite again the aunt who arrives with a playful educational toy. Plus, kids need toys that they can easily carry around inside and outside the house.

The 74 rubber wood blocks are cut in smooth, subtly painted shapes. Kids and adults will be able to draw fun faces, fashion animals or illustrate moving objects. You will find a set of illustrations and the unbleached cotton drawstring bag inside the packaged box. Miller Goodman maintains a Flickr group to bring you more inspirations about what you can do with PlayShapes. The carrying bag is cute and simple.

If you wish to order a set of PlayShapes, you need to wait until mid-November. It will be available on Miller Goodman’s online store (called Shhhop) and from select retailers. You will be pleased to know that Shhhop ships worldwide.

SOURCING:
+ PlayShapes £69.95
+ via Inhabitots

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Earlier this year, I told you about Maman, Bébé et Café, a coffee shop in Montreal that was more a community center for parents than a typical coffee shop. (October 4th, 2009 update: A friend told me that Maman, Bébé et Café has closed their door.)

It seems that Toronto are catching up with two new kid-friendly cafes opening in trendy neighborhoods with a good concentration of strollers. Lil’ Bean N’ Green opens this week in Leslieville with a fun play area for kids. You can read on BlogTO that Leonor Filipe opened the Gingerbread House Family Café in the Junction three months ago with a similar goal of providing not only food, but a social service for parents at loose ends.

I like the idea that moms and dads have spaces where they can hanged out with their babies and toddles while meeting other parents. I think we will see more of these places once they figured out a viable business model.

About the Play Fee at Lil Bean N’ Green

Some people complained on BlogTO about the fact that the play area is not free at Lil Bean N’ Green. As an entrepreneur, I see why they are doing it. The store owner pays to set up the area. They have to pay the rent on for a retail space in the city. They have a business to run and they can not survive on having moms with kids hanging there for hours while buying one coffee. After all, maintaining a playroom costs more than supplying Wi-Fi. Finding the right price to charge is the challenge.

I invite you to read the post on BlogTO to learn more about these 2 family-style cafes.

MORE:
+ BlogTO’s review of Gingerbread House Family Café
+ Images via BlogTo

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I think this kid lampshape is so cute. The small lampshape can be fitted to a lamp base or to be used as a pendant lamp. They are made in Australia by Lad and Lass. You can buy them on etsy.

+ Animal Alphabet Pendant $198 USD
+ Animal Alphabet Small Lampshade or Pendant $106 USD
+ Via Bloesem Kids

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You recalled the fabulous mobile birds created by Spool Sewing that I showcased last March. I just realized that they would look awesome next to the Season Surface Graphics by notNeutral. Made of removable and reusable vinyl, the Season wall decals can stay with your kid up to the preschool years.

Wall Decals

Build you own tree or small forest with the tree trunk parts, leaves, flowers, birds and butterflies of the Season Surface Graphics set. If you wish to create a complete natural backdrop, you could save some money by getting the Seasons & Elements package from notNeutral. That package joins the tree, air and land wall decal sets.

Stretched Art

You could also match the mobile birds with art pieces. The San Diego studio Oopsy daisy specializes in fine art for kids. They print on canvas adorable and modern illustrations by many artists from around the world. “Birds in a tree” is a common theme. Let the color and pattern of the wall art piece influence the fabrics you will use to create your mobile birds.

The bird mobile is a fairly easy hand-sewing project. Making these birdies takes is 2 pieces of fabric, a needle and thread. Think of a modern quilt and mix fabrics. You will find the instructions on the blog of Spool Sewing.

SOURCING:
+ Misty Blue Bird pattern by Spool Sewing
+ Seasons & Elements Complete Set $120 USD
+ Birds in a Tree Canvas Reproduction by Rachel Taylor $138 USD
+ Green Bird Postage Stamp Wall Art by Paula Prass
+ Petite Fruit Tree Canvas Reproduction $108 USD

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Anne Schultz of Hello Hanna sent me an email to introduce her awesome playful placements for kids. They will keep your kids occupied while you are preparing the meal. I think it is a great idea since you probably notice that kids enjoy very much playing with stickers. My nephew and niece are doing it all the time.

For a party or a day-long play date, it is a fun activity that is quick and fast to set up. Plus, on the back of placemats, their is an activity area. You can vary the activity each time or let you kid draw what they like.

Four pop-up characters with their own sheet of stickers are packaged in set of 8 placemats. Kids can choose their character and dress it the way they like. I like this product for the peace of mind and its creative value.

Get-set placemats is available in three themes: robot, animal jungle and girlie dolls. You could also buy a set for home that you use on Sundays. The placemats are printed on heavyweight uncoated paper stock. Therefore, they are not reusable.

The gals behind Hello Hanna, Anne Schultz and Jina Choi, are moms living in San Francisco, California. They used their knowledge of early-child development to to spark kids creativity.

SOURCING:
+ Get-set placemats $14.95 USD

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