You know, I really thought I’d have a baby by now, but no. Stubborn kid. Regardless, I lined up some wonderful women in the blog-o-sphere to write some guests posts for me this month. I hope you enjoy them. Today is the first one!
Big, huge thanks to Dawn from Pink With Sparkles for writing today’s post.
The number of kiddie birthday parties that my girls attend is ridiculous. We have two this weekend...and it’s mid-August, which is usually not birthday party season since school is out and people may be away.
I pride myself on the fabulous original gifts my girls bring to a party. I am not the type who runs out to a big box store on the way to an event, purchasing whatever is on the end cap and shoving it into a gift bag. I put some thought into our gifts!
The gift we are bringing today is for a five year old girl who has EVERYTHING. She’s an only child and only grandchild with well-to-do grandparents, so, you can imagine. This girl is jaded.
I had to be creative, find a gift that would appeal to a five year old girl, yet not another Hannah doll or princess wand. The best place to start? Etsy!
Even though the new arrival won’t be eating solid food for another six months, cookbooks are great gifts to give to a new parent. One of my favorites is First Meals by Annabel Karmel. She’s a Cordon Bleu trained chef who has come up with some rather inventive kid food. Karmel’s recipes show her training. I rarely have shallots or parsnips in the pantry, but who cares? I am not going to run out and get them because I think it’s totally acceptable to swap those out for onions and some carrots, don’t you?
When Sy was a beginning eater she insisted we eat with the book by her high chair because she loved the picture of the baby on the cover so much. So yeah, I guess we love the book from cover to cover, literally. At three years old, I still come up with some creative ways to do pasta and vegetables for Sy using Karmel’s recipes.
You could add in a book for the wee one too. Dim Sum for Everyone is a favorite in our house. Sy is a big fan of dim sum in general. Lots of egg-less dishes and cart after cart of food rolling past you. What’s not to love?
I know bringing someone diapers is not very exciting, but boy is it helpful. Diapers are expensive and a newborn blows through them (pun intended) faster than you can imagine. You might want to ask what size the baby is wearing first. You can see our favorite diapers reviewed here and here. As I mentioned in the first review, I loved Huggies in the red package best for newborns before moving on to Seventh Generation and Fuzzi Bunz.
Want to make the gift a little more personal?
Throw in a Diapees and Wipees case to add to the cute factor in the diaper bag.
As we all know, having a newborn in your house changes the dynamic, uh, dramatically. It’s hard enough to get your teeth brushed, let alone dinner on the table. One of the best gifts ever to new parents? FOOD! If you are close by, obviously you can whip up a four course, five star dinner for them while your toddler naps, right? Don’t forget a salad and some dessert. I swooned every time anyone brought me brownies when I had Sy.
If you live afar, check out our two favorite sources:
Artikochef.com, (see Jenny’s review here).
Impromptu Gourmet - They have some off the hook brownies, by the way.
When you bring food, you’ll make a new parent’s day. Plain and simple. My grandfather’s recipe for Plakki, a vegetarian stew, after the jump.
I first saw these personalized baby blocks by Craft E Family over at Ohdeedoh back in February. What a fantastic baby gift! Hand carved maple blocks with laser engraving show off all the stats of your favorite newborn. Base price is $15.50. What a great, unique way to celebrate one of your favorite new babes on the block. Ha ha, get it? Block?
I can’t wait to order some for all the lovely new babies in our life.
A couple of weeks ago we touched on Big Sibling gifts, so this week we thought we’d throw out some ideas for the new baby as well as the new baby’s parents. One of Jenny’s favorite gifts to give is monogrammed/personalized towels. Obviously you have to know the babe’s name, so unless the parents have already spilled the name beans, you’d have to wait until the kid arrived on the scene.
Pottery Barn Kids has some simple, gingham edged towels that can be personalized along the hood. $20.00 each. Pottery Barn Kids also has an organic towel, but monogramming is not yet offered on that item.
I think a coloring book is a great thing to have in your hospital bag if your older kiddo wants to stick around and visit for a while but isn’t stoked to just stare into their new sibling’s eyes. Taro Gomi’s Doodles: A Really Giant Coloring and Doodling Book is one of my favorites.
And, dude, it is just so much more than a coloring book.
I have one of these kid-sized sling packed in my hospital bag to give to Sy when she comes to meet Version 2.0. It is designed to carry dolls, trucks, dinosaurs, etc. Sy spends most of her time trying to tuck her most beloved lovie into her shirt to carry it around, so I think Jo Jo will fit in just perfectly in this little sling. It’s made by Hotslings, so you could of course have matching slings if you so desired. And then you could get matching Laura Ashley dresses and really paint the town red. Do they still make Laura Ashley clothing for kids? Ah yes, they do.
Anyway, the cutie pie little sling is shoulder-tacked for easy use. One size. Fits toddlers and preschoolers best. I’ll let you know Sy and her lovie, Jo Jo, like it.
Not too bad at $15.00 in the “Gifts” section over at the Nurture Center.
All of my pals with two or more kiddos always tell me how important it is to have activities or special items that are solely focused on the older kid(s). If your Big Sibling is a bit older, how about some personalized stationery? They could write to their grandparents or special friend. I know that one of Sy’s favorite activities is to run to the mailbox to see if there’s a postcard from her grandmother or auntie. Going to the post office is almost on par with hitting a theme park in her eyes.
I really like Dani Notes. Her style is so crisp and fun, perfect for a kiddo. What little kid doesn’t want to zoom off in their own personal rocket ship??
Daily Candy showcased this groovy little store a few weeks back. I got sucked into the Curiosity Shoppe site and got a kick out of a lot of their products. How cool is this little rope tying kit? If your kid is not a Boy Scout or a fisherperson but still wants to learn how to tie a gazillion knots, look no further. It’s only $10.00 and comes in a cool little tube.
I think this is the kind of thing that would be great to have in the “Oh we’re going to a birthday party and have no gift ready” section of your hall closet. I have no such section yet, but I do aspire to it…
I got this do-it-yourself brag book kit from Maude Asbury. OK, so I haven’t actually made it yet, but I can’t wait! You get all the fixins to make your own customized scrapbook/frame/bragbook album cover.
How cool is that? I’m basically made of all thumbs, so I am assuming my cover will be less than professional looking. Homespun is in?
Stay tuned for my review.
I’m working on Sy’s “Purple Party” theme for her 3rd birthday (it’s what she wanted) and came across these great build-your-own party favors over at Melissa and Doug. They don’t have anything to do with purple, but how cute are they? At $5.99 a pop, it’d add up if you have a lot of kids coming, but I think they’re great little presents regardless of use. I just love Melissa and Doug packaging, how fun to open that up.
I really like the wooden box, pictured above. How fun would that be?! Make your own pirate chest - perfect for a pirate themed party!
Suggested age: 4+
(I checked on Amazon to see if they were any cheaper there, but no dice. They have a few two packs, but that’s about it.)
OK so file this under: Too Late To Use For This Father’s Day, But Cool Enough To Point Out Anyway.
My friend AJ got this custom photo notecube for her husband for Father’s Day. I think it’s a groovy idea for flossin the family at the office.
Just send ‘em one (or three) photos, up to 8” x 10”, and they will transfer the image(s) onto three sides of a notepaper cube. When ordering, you may select black & white, color or sepia. Comes in under $30.00, five cents under, but under is under.
Welcome to Day 4 of the GHM Mother’s Day Giveaways featuring a copy of Raising Baby Green compliments of Wiley Press.
This contest is now closed. Thanks for entering! Congrats to winner Sally!
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Today’s Giveaway helps you get your green on! I’ve also posted about this book before.
Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care (Jossey-Bass/Wiley; 2007; $16.95) is the most comprehensive, up-to-date guide for parents on how to raise happy babies “green,” that is, in a manner that is healthy for them and also for the earth.
Congratulations to Kate M, Limit, Miri, Christine and Allison!
Welcome to Day 3 of the GHM Mother’s Day Giveaways featuring totally groovy Greeting Card 4-Packs courtesy of Flip Clips.
To enter the GHM Giveaways: Just leave a comment in the comments section of this post and hope you are one of the FIVE randomly selected Greeting Card 4-Pack winners! Thanks for your generous prizes, Flip Clips!
This Giveaway is now closed.
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