We don't come across too many wallpaper options for nurseries, or at least ones that we'd feel comfortable recommending. With all due respect Peter Rabbit, I love you, but I don't need a repeating pattern of 60,000 of you that my baby wi…
A high chair isn't exactly the kind of baby gear you think you'll fall in love with. A crib, perhaps. A diaper bag , absolutely. But that eyesore in the middle of your dining room that you will spend the next 30 or so months of your life…
When it comes to growth charts, we're the pencil on the wall type of family. Believe me. It's not like we love to write on our walls, but we have yet to find a growth chart that is both functional and is something we'd actually hang some…
Call me old-fashioned, but I love the idea of calling cards. Problem is, I have different contact information for different people. It really ruins the elegance of handing over a calling card when I have to scrawl corrections on it first…
I really do love my kids' names. Considering how many fights my husband and I got into before we finally nailed down Quinlan and Drew I might have them plastered all over their walls except for the fact that I have yet to run across a wo…
What do you get when you mix modern sensibilities with the ancient art of letterpress printing, then sprinkle the top with a dash of whimsy? The sweet yet minimalist designs of Dee & Lala , it would seem. My kids are unfortunately too ol…
Say "bean bag chair" and my mind flashes back to 1975, an image of a shiny vinyl blob sitting on shag carpeting. I can even conjure up the squeaking sound it made when I landed on it. The bean bag chairs by Cocoon Couture? Yeah, not one …
Personalized gifts are fantastic for new babies, but there are other ways for a mama to know you ordered something especially for her bambino besides having it monogrammed. A great new pick: The splendid custom wallpaper panel art from L…
When you get a pitch for something called Poo-Pourri you think it's a joke. Maybe a teaser for a Will Ferrell movie or an April Fool's email that got lost in the ether for three months. But holy cow, it's for real...and it's good. Very g…
When I see a beautiful, handmade creation, my first thought is: "Oh, how beautiful and creative!" The second thought that crosses my mind is "how can I make that myself?" Occasionally the item is actually in the realm of possibility, eve…
I wish I had that kind of eye so that I could cluster fifteen framed pictures altogether on a nursery wall and make it look like it does in the pages of Metropolitan Home or Apartment Therapy. But alas, I don't. So I'm grateful for the a…
The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide was created around one very simple premise: Baby shopping makes ordinarily sane women absolutely out-of-their-heads crazy bonkers. I myself can recall spending at least two hours trying to decide on the right …
Congratulations! You're pregnant! And, if you are anything like me, it's time to start logging some serious hours on the computer reading everything you can about it. But with so much of it out there, how do you wade through it all? Well…
I love local flea markets and craft fairs, provided the cool stuff outnumbers the lucite "keepsakes" and fell-off-a-truck tube socks by 3:1. Last year on a jaunt through the Ybor city market in Tampa the sigOth came across the wonderful …
Now that we're on baby #3, my husband and I don't bat an eye at the 2 AM. wake-up calls, and spit up is funny, even when it hits the oriental rug. But we weren't always so laid back. The first few months with our oldest was the greatest …
I feel so lucky to have grown up a dad with a passion for old movies. He took me to Audrey Hepburn double features at the Film Forum, entertained me on rainy days with Danny Kaye, and taught me it was okay to know all the words to every …
It isn't often that the kids and I both love a piece of furniture. To them, furniture isn't something to covet but something on which to climb, or at best, throw their stuff. So I knew I'd found something special when I spied the gravity…
In theory, party favors are a wonderful idea. Sending your guests home with a lovely memento of a special occasion - who could object to such thoughtfulness? Problem is, most favors are destined for the dustbin. Have you ever received a …
I'm not a girlie-girl. In fact, I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to dress and decor. When my daughter showed up, we ended up custom-designing our announcements because we couldn't find anything that wasn't covered in bows, sheep, …
It's been said that babies are all id. So why not develop onesies and shirts for babies called Me Tees that walk right into that fact? That's just what mom Melissa Stanchock of modern*me baby did and I can tell you, Freud would just be t…
Oh Petit Flaneur , where have you been all my gift-giving life ? This brand new Toronto-based design shop is doing super fabulous things with a combo of natural or reclaimed materials from local sources and a sharp design sense. The hand…
Graphic designer Jenn (just Jenn) does some pretty irreverent things with stationery at her shop Just Jenn Designs - I wouldn't necessarily get my kid a set of the punk-ass cursive cards , although I really do like them. Neither would sh…
Becoming a mother gave me a new awareness of all sorts of things in life from the rate at which a baby's nails grow to why feeding strained prunes while wearing linen is a bad idea. Soon my enlightenment extended to the political arena t…
When I discovered the mixed media art from Jessica Pisano , her butterflies reminded me of my grandmother Dorothy's house. She collected photos and paintings of butterflies, as well as the real thing, stuck through with pins and mounted …