Archive for the ‘Baby Stuff Gifts’ Category
What do you get the baby that has everything? I know that is a weird question, but if you really think about it what does a baby really need? Does it need a new frame or wall decoration or one of those personalized baby gifts? What does a baby actually need to be happy?
Let me back up a bit. I bring this up because I realized something the other day while trying to track down a gift for a friend’s one-year-old that was having a birthday party. I made a pact with myself that I would try and buy the child something that he really needs. After about fifteen minutes of staring blankly at the children’s aisle at my local Target I came to the realization that he probably didn’t need any of this stuff. I’ve been to my friend’s house and seen his room: he has plenty of toys, dolls, clothes, bibs, and just about everything else you could think of. I honestly would have been better off buying him some food or diapers, though I know that those aren’t traditional birthday gifts.
As I left the store with my stuffed animal (I gave in and tried to buy him an animal that I haven’t seen in his room), I started to make a mental list of things that a baby might actually like to get for his or her birthday compared to stuff that are more for their parents than anything else. And trust me: babies, even at that age, know what they want. I came up with three things: stuffed animals, playthings that mimic stuff that mommy and daddy use and stuff you can build with.
The first thing is obvious: little boys and girls love stuffed animals. They could be anything from the cutest, cuddliest sea creature to the meanest, nastiest predator: as long as they are filled with fluffy stuff kids will love them. Kids enjoy anything that they can hold onto and squeeze really tight. My youngest kid had a stuffed porcupine. Enough said.
Next, children love to emulate their parents while playing. This is why playsets that involve kitchens, stores and even cars seem to intrigue children so much. After watching mommy and daddy cook food for dinner a child loves to imitate what they see. Better they do it on a plastic playset then an actual kitchen, as I’m sure you all know.
Finally, building and imagination based toys are always good ideas. From giant sized legos to blocks, kids love to build things, especially if they are brightly colored and full of pictures. They might leave them strewn along across the playroom, but show me a child that doesn’t like blocks and I’ll call you a lair.
Kim Green is always on the look out for unique personalized baby gifts for her friends and family.
What kind of gift do you buy a one year old? This is a question that has plagued gift buyers for years. You might think you have the answer… until it’s your turn to purchase the gift in question.
Do you go the toy route? If you really think about it there isn’t much a one-year-old can play with. If you go with a toy you’re probably going to have to pick some impersonal stuffed animal that will just be thrown into a toy chest and not see the light of day until the next spring cleaning. You could also go with a play set, though those can not only be expensive, but also quickly irrelevant in a child’s life in just a few months. If you wanted to get something a bit more permanent you could always go the collectable route like a glass figurine or a picture frame. The problem with those, though, is that you’re now buying the gift more for the parent then the child.
Phew! So much to consider. So what exactly do you get a one-year-old that they can use now but also keep as a keepsake later? A few months ago a friend turned me onto something called personalized baby toys. There are a variety of companies on the internet that specialize in these gifts. Essentially a personalized baby toy is exactly what it sounds like: it’s a blanket, plush, or a combination of the two which are embroidered with the child’s name to give it a personal feeling. And what’s great about these gifts is long after the one-year old tires of playing with a stuffed toy the gift then becomes a personalized memento of the child’s youth. Either the parent or the child can keep the plush as long as they would like. And trust me, parents love personalized memento’s of their child’s life (it’s something to look back longingly on when a child becomes a teenager).
Of all the personalized baby gifts out on the market, probably the one gift that grabs the most attention is the stuffed plushes. And for good reason: these plush’s are cute. And I mean, really cute. Cute like “Oh my god, I need an excuse to buy one of these for myself” cute. While there are bears and angels and bunnies and fogs, I have two personal favorites that I’ve actually considered buying for myself: the Flatodeer and Flatopotamus. Both plushes are flat like a blanket but also have personality like a stuffed animal so they can be used for both sleep or play time. Plus, when was the last time you saw a cute deer or hippopotamus plush? Both would make great gifts for the special one-year-old in your life. Or, the slightly older kid at heart in your life.
Kim Green is always looking for cute and innovative gifts for young children like personalized baby toys.
We’ve all heard the old George Carlin bit about “stuff”. Any parent knows that it’s important to find a way to store all your child’s “stuff”.
I’m probably about to date myself, but do you remember that old comedy bit by George Carlin about “stuff”? You know, we have so much “stuff” that we have to go to lengths just to find places to store all of it? It’s a classic comedy bit and one of the most relevant pieces you’ll ever hear, especially if you have kids because it’s true: kids just have so much “stuff”. May it be personalized baby toys or stuffed animals or books or clothes or blocks or whatever, if you go into any room where a child has been roaming you realize just how much stuff they have.
The major challenge for any parent is finding a place to store all this baby “stuff”. Anyone who has children or has friends who have children knows that baby “stuff” has a tendency to not be placed somewhere but instead strewn all over the place. While most parents have come to terms with the fact that there will be some heavy clean up at the end of the day, they still need a place to store this stuff until it will be used… or sorry, “strewn” the next day.
While most chain stores and catalogs have a decent selection of storage for baby goods, the place that I’ve found that has the best selection is none other than IKEA. These massive warehouses of furniture, home furnishings and nick-nacks has everything you’ll ever need (and probably more) for your baby “stuff” storage needs. Not only do they provide a plethora of chests, shelving, book cases and drawers, but also creative storage opportunities that seamlessly meld into your room. One of my favorites is a set of bunk beds which also incorporate a desk and a dresser. It looks good and has lots of extra storage. IKEA also features kid friendly desks and drawers which features different colors, animal designs and a variety of different play sets which ingeniously features storage space for easy clean up.
One of the best ways to store your kids “stuff” might be to go with the good ol’ fashion toy chest. Around 30 years ago it seemed that every kid had some type of large toy chest to hold their toys. And while it wasn’t the neatest way to keep their toys, it was definitely one of the easiest. Heck, kids don’t mind the fact that they were all strewn in there it was part of the fun searching through there. More recently, a lot of my friends have gone back to toy chests for their kids as many companies have started making sturdy and more modern designs. You can pick them up online or find them in just about any chain store (or, heck, IKEA). A toy chest might be the easiest way to help fight the war on kids “stuff”. No longer will you step on your kids sharp play toy in the middle of the night.
Author Kim Green stores those special personalized baby toys in a keepsake type toy chest in her own room!
We have a tendency to carve out a special place in our heart for the personalized and simplistic toys of our youth. Thankful, for this generation of children, these toys have not gone the way of the buffalo, but instead have led to the “Flatofrog”.
Sometimes simplicity breeds creativity. If you think about architecture, some of the most beloved buildings in the history of mankind have their roots in simplistic design. While the glass pyramid at the Louvre might seem like some type of avant-guard experiment in architecture by someone who worships at the post-modern alter, the pyramid is a simplistic design that has been around for tens of thousands of years. In fact, post-modernism relies on simplicity in its design; it just likes to push the envelope a bit further.
Before I get off on too much of a tangent, as much as we love creativity, we also love to balance it with a comforting simplicity which we hold near to our heats. Take the personalized baby toys that we grew up with as a child. For as much as technology has made its way into our lives, the toys we remember from our youth are usually of the simplistic breed. For as much as we loved Transformers and dream houses with moving parts, we also yearn for Lego’s, Barbies and My Little Pony’s which use simple designs to give a more specialized, personalized feel.
Today’s personalized baby toys, blankets and plushes tend to follow the traditional idea of simplicity that continue to be commonplace after generations. As stuffed animals never seem to go out of style, one of the most popular of the personalized baby toys continues to be designer stuffed animals. While teddy bears continue to be a popular item, different animals have begun to pop up in the plush world. If it’s a cute animal chances are you can find a plush of it out there: frogs, bunnies, penguins and especially hippos brings delight to the face of babies and small children. Heck, you can even find “ugly” animals such as platypus’ and manatees (though, manatees are very huggable, if you think about it). Plus, with these plushes being personalized, each of the dolls (some of them handmade) come with the child’s name embroidered on them. Call it human nature, but if something is personalized with an embroidered name we tend to hang out to it longer then if it is just another anonymous belonging.
Some of the cutest push animal dolls I’ve seen in recent years have come from the North American Bear Co. This company not only offers a full line of personalized plush stuffed animals, but also stuffed animal cozys are designed as blankets so a child can use them for both sleep and play time. These cozys feature such animals as hippos (or, as they call them “Flatopotamus”), a “sleepytime” rabbit complete with stripped night cap, a frog (“Flatofrog”) as well as a “Flatodeer”, “Flatophant” and, of course, a “Flatobearius”. All these are simplistic in nature yet sophisticated and subtle and are sure to become some of those simple and beloved toys that your child will keep as a keepsake into their adult years.
Author Kimberly Green still has a treasures her oldest child’s first personalized baby toys – they were the best personalized baby gifts ever received!
Office parties celebrating birthdays and babies are an American tradition. They are also easy to put together, as long as you know what you are doing.
As offices have become second homes for many business oriented people, the office party has begun to slowly evolve from a standard store bought birthday cake to something more. Now everything from upcoming baby births to anniversaries are being celebrated at office buildings, and birthday cakes and streamers are being replaced by gourmet cupcakes, gift exchanges and even designer baby gift baskets for office baby showers.
While different companies will have different policies on what can and cannot be offered at office parties (some will even allow wine… party down), there are some things to remember when trying to plan the best office party for a fellow employee. Whether it’s a surprise party or something that they will have the final say on, office parties are best done as a temporary celebration, and distraction, that can be quick, fun, and ultimately allow people to get to work quickly before anyone gets in too much trouble. Because these parties must be done within office guidelines, be sure to run each step by a manager, or someone in charge. Make sure your get-together follows the guidelines put forth in your employee handbooks to a t so that no one gets in trouble for it (that would be bad).
Probably the main reason people will attend an office party will be for food. Let’s not kid ourselves, while they like the person you’re throwing the party for, the idea of free food during the work day is usually the main attraction. Since the current economy might limit the amount of food that a company is willing to buy for a said party, the best way to get everyone well fed might be a potluck. While the word “potluck” has gotten a bad rap, work potlucks usually have some pretty good food. If everyone is not up for a potluck then maybe you can have everyone chip in a few bucks for catering.
Once the food is out of the way, you can now focus on the other important part of any office party: gifts. Usually the two biggest office celebrations are birthdays and baby showers. While gifts for birthdays are usually a personal preference, for baby showers co-workers usually like to combine their funds for a “big” gift. This can be anything from gift baskets to strollers to cribs. Make sure you collect the money first and that you get a gift that the mother to be doesn’t already have. This way the party can be a success and the fabled tradition of office parties will have another great entry.
Author Kimberly Green gets the most beautiful baby gift baskets online @ BabyStuffGifts.com
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