Easy And Fun Play Market

My husband announced yesterday that our 2.5-year-old was "bored," so I decided to move some stuff around and create a little grocery store where she could play "shop." We have this weird little nook in our spare room, so it became "Mary's Market." A while back, I got two gigantic bags of play food for $1 at the resale shop, so I loaded some of that onto the store "shelves" (a bookcase). I used some awesome Folk Art pink chalkboard paint that I got from my Rocking Friend Amy to make a little board where we can write the daily specials (hint: use soft chalk, not sidewalk chalk like I used). I made a little store sign with scrapbook paper and a cash register out of a shoebox and hung some reusable shopping bags near the "register." I googled "play money printable" and found a bunch of sites, including this one, where you can print out play money to put in the cash register. I'll probably put some real coins in as well. Last but not least is the shopping cart, which we got for a dollar at a yard sale and is currently held together with a combination of electrical and painter's tape. I hope you had a great week. One of these days I will get my act together and show you some Christmas stuff I've been doing. Or at least post some links to stuff that other people have been doing!

Prezzies!

I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely Christmas. Here are some of my favorite prezzies of the day, courtesy of my sister. First up, this fab, oversized and much needed pin cushion, with vintage fabric on one side and cream colored corduroy on the other, by Etsy seller Blue Hair Knits.

Second, an adorable birdlike creature by Jellycat, which my sister bought my little girl during a stopover in Paris on her awesome Hungary trip last month. Ooh la la! (You can also find Jellycat plushies at Monkey Bean Toys online).

Last but not least, an item that encompasses two of my all-time favorite things: gummi candy and Smurfs. There is no way I am eating them. Despite my sister's reassurances that we can have more sent in from Hungary. (UPDATE!!!! You can order a whole tub of these babies from German Deli online).

Stop The Insanity!!!

Breathe. Deeply. Have you ever received a catalog in the mail or gone into a store and said, "I want EVERYTHING in here?!" Well that was the case for me when I received the Back to Basics Toys catalog. How had I never heard of this before?! The sad part is that about half the stuff I want for my child, and half the stuff I want to play with myself. Here are just some of the MANY items I love from that store. You can get 15% off your entire order through December 12 with the coupon code RETMEN15. Happy shopping.

PS -- To any relatives who are reading, I already ordered a few of these items, so please check with me first if you are so sweet as to consider doing any Christmas shopping for the little one.

Wooden tools puzzle.

Wooden tool bench.
Tonka garbage truck with lights and sounds.
Tonka fire engine with lights and sounds.

Wooden see and spell puzzle.
Pink baby grand piano.

Rhythm instrument set.

Moon shoes (yep, this is one of the things I want for me).

Mandala drawing machine.

Kawasaki music table.

Jump-o-lene.

John Deere front-end loader.

Pink bouncing horse (sturdier than the ball ones with the handle on top). Also comes in blue.

Yes, an at-home zip line. Oh how I wish we could run this from our roof to a nearby tree!

Fashion designer kits (just like Fashion Plates from the 80's).

Wooden construction site.

Activity cube. Like the ones in waiting rooms, but without all the germs.

Daddy, I Want A Pony!!!

What do you think? Is it just too Veruca Salt, or is this a legitimate, non-spoiled child present? It's the Little Tikes Giddyup 'n Go Pony, which looks and feels like a real pony but bounce-rides like one of those inch worms riders from the days of yore (you know, when I was a child and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth). Granted, I won't be paying the full price of $200 (on several websites, just Google it), but what if I were to find a used one? Hmm.....

This Is How My Internet Time Gets Eaten Up

I am obsessed (I'm a passionate person, have you noticed?) with the blog formerly known as "Apartment Therapy Nursery" and now known as Oh Dee Doh. It showcases all things modern, retro-modern and postmodern for babies and kids. I hadn't been by for a few days and when I checked today, I saw this unbelievably cool dollhouse someone built, modeled on the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe. I was intrigued and wondered if other modern masterpieces had been made into dollhouse and/or dollhouse furniture. So then I stumbled upon Mini Modern, an entire blog devoted to miniature mid-century modern houses and furniture. All of which made me think, "hey, I think I'll look at some pictures of famous houses." (See below). Sigh. This is why I can't get anything done! And so....

Richard Morris Hunt's Beaux Arts masterpiece, the Vanderbilt Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island.

Le Corbusier's International Style icon, Villa Savoye in Poissy, France.

Pickfair, the former hunting lodge meticulously rebuilt into a Hollywood mansion by architect Wallace Neff for silent film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.

The now-ubiquitous (but still spectacular) Fallingwater, the weekend home built by Frank Lloyd Wright in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, for the Kaufmann family.

Andrea Palladio's classical masterpiece, which is in my opinion one of the most perfect and beautiful structures ever built, the Villa Rotonda in Vicenza, Italy, designed by Palladio in 1565 for Fr. Paolo Almerico and finally completed in 1591.

By the way, when I went to find the picture of Pickfair, I happened upon this cool site that features photographs and renderings of the homes of the stars of early Hollywood.

Three Toys I Like

With Christmas right around the corner, I can't stop looking at toys, even though I have no additional toy shopping to do. Here are three of my current favorites. The first is a nice, two-sided wooden artist's easel by Melissa & Doug, available from FAO Schwartz and other retailers for around $50. One side holds a scroll of paper for coloring, painting, etc., and the other side is a chalk board. It comes with plastic containers to hold paint and clips to hold the paper in place. I have to add that I was lucky and found one of these with all the pieces in perfect condition for $5 at a yard sale. Woot.

The second item is going to be a birthday present for a special someone I know. It's the Parents Magazine Kitty Keyboard, available for around $30 (but on sale right now) at Target. It has several different instruments and beats, a microphone and a recording feature.

Number three is this awesome handmade Custom Card Table Playhouse by Miss Pretty Pretty. It won a Handmade Kids award on Etsy a while back, and I've been stalking it ever since. It comes in several different colors and is customized with your childs's name and address. It also has lots of cute little extras, like felt apples you can pick from the tree, and letters you can take out of the mailbox.

I Think I Found The Play Kitchen!

I have been wanting to buy my baby a play kitchen for Christmas, but I haven't found one I like. The Pottery Barn Kids kitchens are gorgeous, but I don't think $800 for a toy is really in the budget. There are none on Craig's List around here, and the only ones I saw on Ebay were cheesy looking. So, my husband actually found this one on Costco's website (I don't know if it's also in stores). All wood, and $140. Plus I love the retro look. I think it will be perfect!

I NEED This For My Kitchen!

Because that's how much this awesome Kitchen Helper costs, and I REALLY, REALLY want to get it, and I REALLY, REALLY don't want to wait until Christmas. With baby starting school two days a week, and the resulting drop in disposable income, I am hesitant to spend money on non-essentials. However, this thing allegedly keeps a toddler occupied and happy in the kitchen for hours, so that might make it an essential. Available for the price noted above, with free shipping, from Amazon and several other online retailers.

It's A Small World

How much fun is this gigantic blow-up globe? I like play toys that also encourage learning. This one features satellite imagery of the earth. Available at Chasing Fireflies and other online retailers.

I Want To Play With This . . .

. . . awesome Chalet Dollhouse by Plan Toys. They will be really hard to find at the holidays, so get yours now at Amazon.

Oompa, Loompa . . . Bye-bye To Your Dough

Have you ever wanted to just go nuts in a toy store like Tom Hanks in "Big?" Oh. Well maybe it's just me then. Anyway, that is how I feel about Oompa Toys. They have really cool stuff you can't find a lot of other places, and the way the site is set up is really cool, too. You can shop by country of origin, organic vs. non-organic, by age group, etc. Shipping is a flat $4.95 or free if your order is over $65 (trust me, it will be). All this doesn't come cheap, but it's still fun to look and get ideas. For example, I really love "Daisy's Market" shown above, but for $90, I think I'll see if I can get DH to build one for me instead!
Love this Jet Trike from Italtrike. And it's about half as much as yesterday's Kettler.
Sweet little organic striped Goose.
Very cool drum with drumsticks.

Sand and water "mill" for the budding engineers.