Gifts « BabaBooty.com

Category: Gifts

Fun To Learn: Fabric Books

When he arrived, Mr Mirth received lots of really lovely presents. Since people are always looking for inspiration for really great baby presents, I have been meaning to share a few of them with you.

One such gift was given to Mr Mirth by a very good friend of mine Gayle, it is the most fantastic fabric book called ‘My Zoo Book‘.

Fabric Books are a definitely a baby’s friend, they can be grabbed easily, they can be chewed, they can be washed and also, very importantly, they don’t hurt when they bump you on the nose or land on your toe. My Zoo Book is a particularly lovely fabric book because in addition to all those features, it is beautifully made and is full of something that children universally love….animals. The story is an adaptation of the children’s classic Dear Zoo and each page depicts a different animal which is revealed when your baba lifts the flap.

The applique animals are really beautiful and the pages are very colourful and tactile.

This book and others in the range are made by Fun To Learn in Newry (Northern Ireland) and are sold via their website and also through www.early-learner.com . Unfortunately neither website (nor indeed my own attempts at photos above) do this book justice so you’ll just have to take my word for how lovely it is. I think it is a really lovely present and thanks to its enduring charm (not to mention its machine-washability!) I am confident that it will be a favourite in our house for some time to come.

Thanks Gayle !!

Super Silhouettes

I was having a look through the latest edition of LMNOP when I came across one of the loveliest ideas that I have seen in a long time – customised silhouettes of your babas! I really like the modern twist on a very old fashioned art that Happy Thought are offering:

I would really love to have one of these silhouettes to capture Mr Moo and Lollipop in this unique way – in fact the only thing stopping me from getting one right now is that I feel that I should hang one for my little on-board tenant (i.e. baba number three who is due to arrive on 18 July) to arrive so that he or she can be part of this family masterpiece too. I reckon that this is a really interesting way of preserving a memory. There are a couple of different options to chose from, including a version that incorporates the whole family. I particularly like these two:

All you need to do is email a photo of your baba’s profile to Happy Thought (they give you hints on how to take this photo) and then chose the silhouette that you want. You can either receive a print of your chosen image or, for a lower price, you can opt to have a high quality PDF of your image emailed to you so that you can print it yourself or bring it to your local print shop. Happy Thoughts will send you a proof of your image before it is finalised so you can be sure that you are happy with how it looks. Prices start at $27 for the emailed PDF.

Gifts / Misc. / Toys — No Comments

Musings on Muji

On a rare trip into the city centre last week (I don’t tend to go into actual shops any more due to a lack of time and an entrenched loyalty to virtual stores), I happened to stroll into Muji and I discovered a veritable treasure trove of clever and affordable toys and craft materials for children. The collection is quite small but its all so interesting that I found myself pouring over that section of the shop for much longer than I had intended.

We have some Muji wooden toys already and they are much loved so I knew that I was on to a good thing. My favourite find (and the one that I couldn’t leave the shop without) was the Alphabet Animals Pop Out Book.

Mr Moo has been learning his letters at pre-school so all alphabet-related items are capturing my attention at the minute and this is such a remarkable book! Each letter of the alphabet has its own page. Each large upper case letter pops out of its page and when it is flipped over you will see that marked on the back are the folds required to turn each letter into an origami animal whose name starts with that letter – so E is for elephant (see above), W is for Whale etc. In addition to the fold outlines, there are also instructions at the back of the book illustrating the order of the folds for each letter. There is even a page of stickers of various different eyes to bring your origami creatures to life. I just think that this is so so clever…what baba is not going to love this. All this wonderful alphabet origami costs just £9.95stg.

Also in the Arts and Craft section, have a look at the cardboard model wildlife, each one costs £3.95Stg. These come flat pack (so to speak) you just pop out the shapes and follow the instructions to create your own 3D animal.

Muji also does fantastic little bags or boxes full of wooden animals and playscenes:

These are so lightweight and portable that they are fantastic for when you are on-the-go. We have entertained Mr Moo at countless restaurant tables, on long journeys and in waiting rooms with our bag of zoo animals. You just have to pull these little bags/boxes out of your purse and let your baba’s imagination do the rest. We’ve even invented little games to play with our little animals, like how many animals can you balance on top of each other ….the options (and potential for diversion) are endless and all for £9.95Stg.

There are many other great things in the children’s section in Muji but I couldn’t end without showing you these two gems:

These gorgeous wooden penguin skittles are just £7.95Stg and look like they would be so much fun to play with. For something quite traditional, try The Four Musicians of Bremen Music Box. To operate it you simply pull the rooster up so that the stack collapses, and as the music plays the donkey, dog, cat and rooster stand back up….this would be sure to enchant and enthral.

If Santa was stuck for stocking fillers, he could do worse than go to Muji!

Clothes / Gifts / Misc. — No Comments

Little Hero Capes

Hallowe’en is fast approaching and every year our creche celebrates by having a special fancy dress party when each baba comes in (and spends the day) wearing their Hallowe’en costume. This means that Mr Moo is in need of a fancy outfit (so is Lollipop but luckily I have already got that one sorted!).

Unsurprisingly, I don’t just pick up the first costume I see….what? and waste an opportunity to shop around for something more interesting than a miniature Frankenstein costume? No chance. Cue a joyful evening spent with a glass of wine and my lap top. Before embarking on my search I decided on my criteria: The costume had to be something that

would be comfortable enough for Mr Moo to wear all day (and something that he can still use the bathroom in !!); and
has a life after 31 October , I wanted something that Mr Moo would want to play with again and again and would not grow out of anytime soon.

My first port of call was Etsy and it turned out to be a stroke of genius on my part as almost immediately I stumbled on Little Hero Capes.

Every child dreams of having super powers at some time in their childhood. Recently Mr Moo has been continuously drawing my attention to the fact that he can run ‘super-fast’, can jump ‘super-high’ and can shout ‘super-loud’ (it will come as no surprise to know that, as the mother of a little super hero I can confirm that this is not an ideal super power for your diminutive super man to be blessed with). Mr Moo considers himself to be a genuine Little Hero so getting him an outfit that lived up to his new found powers was a no-brainer! I simply couldn’t resist.

Allison of Little Hero Capes is like a real life Edna Mode from The Incredibles – she dresses super heroes! Allison offers lots of different designs and colour palettes for her capes. You can also chose to customise your order or add a matching mask and set of power cuffs. For Mr Moo, I went for the personalised option – Mr Moo’s cape is red on the outside and yellow on the underside, on the back is a large yellow lightening strike which is emblazoned with the letter ‘M’. The matching cuffs are the same colour and have the same motif while the mask (which is reversible) is also red and yellow. The package arrived in Dublin from Allison’s Massachusetts workshop on Monday (not even two weeks after I’d ordered it) and as soon as Mr Moo saw it he was smitten. He put it on immediately and has barely taken it off since (there have been a few occasions when I have had to practically wrestle it off him to have a bath or go to bed). It’s so wonderful to see his imagination working in overdrive as he is no longer bouncing on his bed – he’s soaring over the clouds, that’s not his toy box he’s climbing on – its huge mountain that he’s scaling in a few bounds, that’s not his little sister he’s man-handling – its a fair maiden being rescued from peril.

The capes, cuffs and mask are really well made using good quality materials. The personalised cape was €37 (capes without personalisation are about €32) and the matching cuffs and mask were roughly €20 and I reckon that they were a worthwhile investment for our family’s dressing up box as they are effectively a one-size fits all option and so can be worn by children of varying sizes/ages. And, they are not just for boys, check out these super ladies:

Admittedly, when she inherits these things from her brother, I may have some difficulty explaining to Lollipop why there is an ‘M’ on her cape…..but I can always try telling her that super hero alter-ego could be ‘Mightypop’ …..!?!

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Not your average bear…. Kuma bears

I’m always on the look out for baby gifts that have a little personality: something that’s a little different but that still has baba appeal. I reckon these Kuma bears from Areaware fit the bill nicely.

These colourful little bears are made from organic cotton which has been hand-silk screened using environmentally friendly, child safe soy-based inks.

Every baba should have at least one teddy bear and there’s no reason why it has to be boring. These charming jointed bears just seem to ooze charisma and its easy to see how they might become a trusted friend and constant companion.

They measure 12 x 6 x 4 inches and cost €33 each from Design Delicatessen.

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Deborah Maughan – Hand painted canvases for children

For me, an opportunity to buy a present for a new baby is always an exciting challenge. There is such a vast array of things to chose from: everything from the practical (I certainly was the grateful recipient of several multipack’s of tiny little vests and babygros) to the fabulously impractical (think angora baby booties or solid silver teething rings). While I have found a few special presents which I have given over and over, I am always still on the look out for unusual or unique baby gifts. Deborah Maughan creates just this type of gift. Deborah is an Irish artist who produces hand painted canvases for children:

Deborah’s canvases come in two sizes (either 12” x 12” or 10” or 10”) and are painted to order so you can chose to incorporate a special baba’s name and other personal details into the painting. While Deborah’s website shows a number of different designs, she also says that if there is something else that you would like to be painted or would like a different sized canvas, you can contact her. The canvases are €80 each for the larger size or €170 for three of the smaller sized canvases.

I can just imagine how pleased Mr Moo would be with a painting of a race car with his name on it and while Lollipop is too young to appreciate it now, wouldn’t any little girl love the idea that her dolls and teddies read a fairytale about her while she is out of the room (a kind of Toy Story meets Jackanory scenario)! I reckon these bespoke canvases would make a very special gift for any baba.

Clothes / Gifts / Nursery — No Comments

Helen Gordon – classic designs with a retro twist

During my daily sojourn into the digital universe that is the world wide web I stumbled on www.helengordon.co.uk and what a find it was !

Helen Gordon is a designer based in the UK who designs and manufactures the most gorgeous things – Her range includes clean and classic designs, everything from pinafores to wallpaper, children’s aprons to tote bags and all in fantastic retro prints. According to Helen’s website, all of the products are made from the highest quality fabrics using ethical manufacturers.

Have a look at these delightful things:

I’m finding that owl print cushion very hard to resist……

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Some Father’s Day Gift Ideas

They never do things the way you ask them to, you always have to have a little tug at the nappy that they just put on to make sure it’s on right and they taught your toddler to punch (and can’t understand why you are annoyed!)…….. your other half isn’t perfect and sometimes you could ring his neck but his heart is in the right place and the bottom line is that he really is a great dad! So he does deserve a little something special on June 20th.

If you don’t fancy going down the traditional socks or tie route, here are a few gift options to consider:

Amanda Hancock’s personalised Dad book is a lovely place to store all those special Dad and baba memories like photos of all the fun things they do together, birthday cards, even things like ticket stubs or event programmes. Even if your other half thinks this sort of thing is sentimental old clap trap now, they will be delighted with it in years to come when that first rugby match they went to together is a dim and distant memory. You select your own photo for the front cover and can chose between a number of different phrases to accompany the photo (my fave is “it is admirable for a man to take his son fishing but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping”). The spiral bound book contains 30 pages and comes in either A4 or A5 size. This is super value at €10 for the A5 size and €15.50 for A4.

The Old Record Shop will frame the record which was Number One on the day your other half was born and will present it with a special message from your babas. This is a lovely gift if your other half really loves his music – particularly if he was born on what we might describe as a “Good Music” day, for example those born around 19 June 1971 would be lumbered with Middle Of The Road’s Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep while those born on 21 September 1974 would receive the much cooler Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas. A framed 7″ vinyl with a personal message would set you back £65 stg plus some extra postage to Ireland.

Summer time means Barbeques and for some reason men seem to think that just because the cooker is outside, they must be at the helm (which makes me think about putting the washing machine in the garden …..). Anyway, a personalised apron from Bag’s of Love is the perfect accessory for those hazy summer cook-outs. You chose your own photo and have the choice of adding text. The apron comes in two sizes and is machine washable. They cost £34.99 plus shipping to Ireland.

Here are a few other options:

PS: it is also worth repeating my previous recommendation of Finger Print Jewellery.

Gifts — 2 Comments

Discount for Finger Print Jewellery from Button and Bean

Those lovely people at Button & Bean have been in touch and are offering BabaBooty readers a 10% discount off their beautiful Finger Print jewellery. Just drop them an email on info@buttonandbean.co.uk. and tell them that BabaBooty sent you!

Gifts / Mums — No Comments

BabyElephant.ie

Someone in your office has had a baby and you’ve been volunteered to buy the gift; you’ve pulled your pregnant sister in law’s name out of the hat for Kris Kindle; your best pal who lives at the opposite end of the country has had twins……there are lots of circumstances where you need to buy a gift for a new mum or a mum-to-be and either don’t know what to buy or need to buy something that can be delivered.

In some of these situations, the staple-gift is a bunch of flowers. While I like a couple of peonies as much as the next girl, sometimes it’s really lovely to give something that is a little more personal and a little less transient. I’ve recently found an Irish site which may just provide the answer to these buying dilemas.

Baby Elephant is a lovely site which sells gorgeous gift hampers for mums-to-be, new babies and their new mums. There are lots of different hampers to chose from but they all contain fab organic goodies.

The mama-to-be hampers contain things like Lisbeth Dahl hand knitted ballerina slippers, Mama Mio skincare products and Vital Touch prenatal aromatherapy oils.

The hampers for new babies contain things like Cowshed organic baby skincare products, Organics For Kids playsuits and matching hats and JJ Cole nappy bags.

You can get hampers of skincare products just for new mums or you can treat both mammy and her bundle of joy with one of the combination hampers.

You can also create a bespoke hamper, just give the guys at Baby Elephant a call.

All hampers come in lovely gift boxes and can be sent along with a personalised card. The shipping options are great - you can arrange for next day delivery, have your gifts sent by registered post or even have same day delivery to the Dublin maternity hospitals. They also ship internationally.

With such a lovely range of products to chose from and options to suit every budget, Baby Elephant means that now there’s never any reason to resort to a bunch of yellow carnations !

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