totmama

Just saw this very cool baby toy designed by Frederica Ceppellotti on mossonline! It’s called the Sole pull cloth baby toy which is a spherical toy made in Italy out of sterling silver, felt and wood pieces. The baby can chew on the felt strips, pull them thru the center silver ball, or shake it and make a sound. It is lovely, but at $350 a pop… It’s just a bit out of reach for my modern affordable list. If you have the cash to splurge, it sure is a unique and beautiful piece of art for baby to play with. If your child is anything like mine, she’ll probably end up enjoying the beautiful wooden box it comes in much more than the actual toy.

I was checking out my new issue of Craft magazine, when I placed it on a table for a second and noticed that there was an ad on the back about a contest by michael miller fabrics to design a unique pair of baby booties. Immediately I thought “wow, I wonder if you could design something that you cut flat, then fold it origami style to make a bootie”. I ran around the house taking care of the kids, my mind racing, thinking of how I could manage some cool origami design that would stay on a baby. I was actually amazed how fast this idea got my little (albeit dusty) wheels spinning. I even grabbed a pen and paper to try to come up with something, but got distracted by the baby. A few hours later, I went back to the magazine only to see that someone else had the same idea! A company in France, Studio Lo, came up with a way to use heavy laser-cut felt and made a folding bootie with locking tabs to hold it in place.  They screen printed lovely designs on them and voila! They are gorgeous. Why didn’t I think of that! I am still going to work on my idea, but it sure is fun to see others putting energy into the same concepts. If I flesh out a design, I’ll be sure to share.

 Studio Lo has some other cool stuff including the “opla” bag. Same idea of coming as a flat piece of heavy felt, with zippers to help hold it into shape.  There are even snaps on the strap to extend the length. Brilliant!

I am sure you all know how “picky” I am about deciding on ANYTHING, much less clothing for my little ones. I don’t usually like anything that has a huge brand name on it, or anything that is the trendy new “it”. Usually I find something cool, and weeks or months later it hits one of the kid sites or blogs. By then I am ready to toss it in the “too small” pile. Well, I have had a “not so hidden” objection to those plastic shoes. I am sure it started as a memory of having those awful, uncomfortably binding, non-breathable “jelly” shoes and plastic pumps in the early 80s. (Yes, I wore them!) Somehow the word never got out about how uncomfortable and smelly these shoes were, because now they have resurfaced… AND THEY ARE TAKING OVER THE WORLD! Am I old fashioned? I remember when we were LUCKY to get casual fridays at work, when women were allowed to wear “slacks” to the office. Now it seems people are just wearing anything, from flip flops to crocs. Now, I get it that they could be OK for kids or on an off day at the beach, but I see GROWN adults trotting off after their kids at the mall or park in bright neon plastic shoes! I just can’t imagine these make you feel “put together”, but again, I am “picky”. Maybe I’m the mother they talk about in the Jiff commercial. “Choosy moms choose Jiff!” Why the rant? Well, after 3 weeks of intense potty training, my son has finally figured it out. He’s going like a champ, on his own, and even telling me with enough time to make it to the public restrooms. (I was beginning to think he would be in diapers thru highschool!) After this stellar achievement, what did he want? “Crocs like my friend!” So, yes. I gave in. No they were not neon, or camouflage, and they don’t light up when he walks. (Yes, they have those!) They were not a character like Thomas or Lightning McQueen. Just navy blue, but he did get the little “jibbitz” to put on them to make them his own. Maybe I’ll warm up to them one day, but I doubt you’ll see me in those any time soon. Next thing you know, they will be bringing back the “aquanet bangs” and fishnets.