I might just have to order one of these Molecule Building Sets for my office. A beauty, no?
Each set consists of 24 molecules atoms made of wood (6 colors, 4 of each) and wooden sticks to connect the dots and turn the molecules into your own unique design.
Last night I came home and found a ‘sled’ outside our apartment door. Apparently stores were completely sold out, but our little Ella *really* wanted to go sledding. My husband (being the king of hacks) went to a hardware store bought a tub and some rope and simply made one. My daughter was in heaven. While it did the trick and my daughter couldn’t care less about the aesthetics of the sled, I would prefer this Slalom Steerable Sled. Or the good old classic Davos Sled. (I grew up with these!)
Leave it up to House Industries to come up with this supercool building block set for Herman Miller Japan. Each set includes eight basswood children’s blocks dressed in House Industries numbers, shapes and patterns. The puzzle sides are based on the original Herman Miller furniture box that was used to deliver American modernism. House Industries then packaged the “box” in a miniature corrugated shipping carton. Apparently it took them a while to sniff out the tiny brown kraft packing tape. It was all made in the USA (Grand Rapids, Michigan) by Uncle Goose and Advance Packaging.
Yes, my robot obsession is in full force: Check out this Robot Wallpaper by Aimée Wilder. (gasp-for-air!)
(Thank you Caroline)
Whenever MUJI and LEGO team up, I listen. Check out this new Playing with LEGO® bricks and paper video below:
This set contains LEGO bricks and paper. A leaflet featuring example productions is included. Enjoy coloring, cutting paper and using the LEGO brick hole puncher. (sold separately)
In case your looking for an adorable ‘Christmasy Book’ for your little ones, have a look at The Christmas Giant by Steve Light. I’ts about Humphrey, a giant, and Leetree, his best friend, an elf. Together they love making wrapping paper for all of Santa’s presents. But this year Santa has asked them to grow a Christmas tree, and the pair couldn’t be more excited! They take great care with their project, planting and watering, snipping and pruning. Finally, the tree is wrapped and ready, and Humphrey and Leetree set off to deliver it. But when disaster strikes, the giant and the elf must come up with a way to make things right. From a small idea comes a big plan—and a surprise no one in Christmastown will soon forget!
My lovely studiomate Maria Popova just surprised me with an early birthday gift: the Kids Growstick. Not only does it come in rainbow colors, it also will serve as the perfect mobile growth chart. As we are about to move in the new year, I didn’t want to start a growth chart on one of our door frames. This is excellent as it can be kept and handed over to our little ones once their older.
What an amazing gift for the rainbow-color-loving parent. Thank you Maria!
Ok, somebody has to stop me here, but thanks to TasteEtsy I have been digging out the *best* stuff on Etsy for the past hour or so (hence my back to back Etsy posts). Check out this Tree Swing made of reclaimed wood. How awesome? (spreading arms really wide and saying:) Soooo awesome!
My studiomate Erica opened a poster tube earlier today and out of it came this stunning (!) Golden Rule Poster. I could barely breathe for a few minutes.
This poster is a father and son collaboration. All elements are hand drawn by Koen (age 6) with a Sharpie marker at the dining room table, then arranged digitally in their studio. The type is the “Golden Rule” as penned in the honest hand of a child.
Combine letterpress + kids drawings + type and you win my heart. Instantly.
Some of the things I buy for my kids I actually buy for myself. Yes, I admit it. Lichtscheibe falls into that category. It is a fascinating little illustration of colour theory: rotate the discs in their primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and combine them with each other to create the secondary colours (purple, orange and green). The suction cup allows you to fix the discs to a window and thus catch and play with the light coming from outside.
Lichtscheibe is beautiful and educational. Total winner. And hey, it’s SWISS! #yay
I wasn’t kidding when I said I have a new obsession; Robots:
Schylling Classic Windup Robot
Build Your Own Robot Peel & Stick Wall Decals
Mudpuppy Robots Magnetic Figures
LEGO 8683 Minifigures Series 1 – LOOSE – Robot
Basic Fun David Kirk Stacking Robot
ROBO KEYS are decorating my key chain since last friday. Makes me smile every time I come home.
Futurama Bender Wind-up Robot Action Toy
Hog Wild Robot Calculator Galactic Addition – White
I just had another peek at Sharon Montrose’s Animal Print Shop. It never fails to make me smile. My favorites are the Baby Procupine, the Bunny and the white goose.
I noticed that Sharon currently has a sale going on which ends Friday. If you’re in the market for an animal print, this is the time!
(On a personal note: I had the pleasure to meet Sharon two months ago when I kicked off the Los Angeles chapter for CreativeMornings. Sharon is just what I expected: Warm, bubbly and delightful.)
Hands-down the coolest toy storage box I have seen so far: The Ogle Toy Box in the shape of a LEGO.
These String Lights had me look. Choose the colors you’d like from the palatte of 35 shown on the ‘color grid’ and make your own design. These look great around mirrors, on tables, in vases, redundant fireplaces or in a child’s bedroom as a gentle nightlight and they look as good lit as they do unlit.
Also check cableandcotton.uk
Pail is a beautiful felt bucket for all occasions. You can fill it with newspapers, magazines, use it as a wastepaper basket, for your knitting or fill it with kids toys.
The Pocket Square Digital Camera takes square-format photos and videos with analog edge. The camera uses MicroSD and delivers 1280 x 1200 resolution.
(This would be a fun gift for our little Ella!)
How can this Teddy Bear Lamp not make you laugh? Designed by Matthew Kinealy.
Here’s a post that you can skip entirely if you do not have a little 4-6 year old girl or niece.
Our little Ella Joy, like so many girls in her age, likes to play with her Barbie dolls. Knowing that Santa is busy wrapping up gifts, she told me she really hopes Santa will bring her new outfits for her Barbie dolls for Christmas. I told her I’ll send him a text to let him know.
So, I just spent 15minutes perusing Amazon in sheer disbelief! Can anyone explain why the official Barbie clothes are so incredibly provocative?
Here are some of the shops I ended up buying some outfits for Ella’s dolls:
Grandma Linda’s House
Love 2 Knit Doll Clothes
Poppy Frocks
Marianne’s Collection, Handmade Doll Clothes
The Designing Rose
Little Miss Crafts
All 4 U
TrailsCrafts
Imaginaton + Magnets = Imaginets! Open the wood carry case to reveal a magnetic board surface that doubles as a dry-erase board. Brighly colored magnetic blocks can be arranged to form animals, faces, buildings – or try one of the 50 design challenge cards. I think I’d enjoy playing with Imaginets as much as our little Ella!
What is it with my obsession with typography-on-things? I can’t help it. How adorable are these letter lights?
They are handmade in Brooklyn by artist Amy Adams. Soft light peeks out of the tiny holes that make up each letter – just lovely! Choose a single letter to mark baby’s name or spell out any name or word (up to 6 letters) to create a bespoke chandelier.
There’s usually only one gift guide I am looking forward to, it’s the one by Core77. Just today, they came out with their 2010 Gift Guide and it’s fantastic. So many of their finds make me chuckle, just take the Drinking Glasses or Make your own Mechanical Music Box for example. My favorite finds this year are the USB battleship and the 16 Months of Drawing Exercises in Excel by Danielle Aubert.
For those of you in need of some holiday shopping inspiration, have a look at my brandnew Swissmiss Store over on Amazon.
The current categories include:
My favorites
Gifts for little ones
Books for kids
Books for Designers
Essentials for new Parents
I will make sure to keep adding new products over time. Let me know if you have suggestions.
I received a package from Canada yesterday! Inside I discovered a lovely handwritten thank you note by one of my readers and below the note were these amazing building blocks. Having grown up with superminimal, wooden building blocks myself, my heart jumped.
Ukoonto sells this Limited Edition Block Set, 84 natural building blocks, made of hard maple, no harmful chemicals, Safe for Kids of any age, 6 months +, environmental safe production, using only renewable energy.
If I didn’t get them as a gift, I’d order them right now. Needless to say, my kids were gaga over them last night.
(Thank you Hans-Joern)
