When it comes to art, my eldest son takes a quantity not quality approach. In contrast, my second son fills the page, focusing on details and carefully choosing his colours (I’m sure there’s a whole left brain/ right brain analysis to be had there).
Before my girlfriends and I started having children, we were faced with a huge dilemma – what to do with our old diaries when the little ones come along? An Aladdin’s cave of sins of the past, how on earth were we going to convince them NOT to do the things we had done when … [Read more.]
We’ve started a tradition in our house of giving each of our children a special book for Christmas – something that can be treasured for years to come and perhaps even shared with their own children. This year our eldest will be unwrapping a hard-to-come-by hardback copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that’s perfect … [Read more.]
These lush new keepsake toys are from Playsam’s latest range called ‘Childhood’. Choose from a shiny pink or blue pram and you’ll have the ideal present for newborn babies, christenings and baby showers. I would love to see one made in white, just in case the parents aren’t finding out the sex and you want … [Read more.]
This gorgeous lamp may start out in your home as a soft light for night feeds. Hand-make a black and white picture for your newborn to stare at, slide it between the two transparent panels, and before you know it, you’ll be replacing it with artwork of his own!
With the advent of computer-based technology, and as more people turn to blogging, the ritual of keeping a diary or journal has almost become a thing of the past. The tactile art of scrupulously saving and arranging sentimental keepsakes on a page was once something I savoured. One thing many parents still do is make … [Read more.]
Artware Editions specialise in collaborating with painters and sculptors to create functional design objects. Many pieces are perfect for children and parents, like these amazing ‘Artbags’ by Debra Franses Bean. Suspend your child’s favourite but grown-out-of objects in cast urethane and savour them forever as an art piece and functional lamp.
I’ll endeavour to stop into … [Read more.]
Warning! If you are feeling clucky, even a teeny, tiny bit clucky, it’s probably better that you don’t visit Cool Dog Productions to look at their video birth announcements. Maybe it’s the choice of music soundtrack or perhaps it’s all those close-ups of little feet and curled fingers, but honestly, one look at these videos … [Read more.]
Does your child have a character they like to draw over and over again? One of my kids went through a phase of including a rather odd little dragony kind of monster in all of his drawings. His little creature would have been a perfect candidate for one of Lucy Moose’s creations.
Lucy Moose is a Scottish … [Read more.]
I defy any new parent to look at their newborns’ tiny hands and feet and not want to capture the image forever. I distinctly recall marvelling at my son’s tiny little fingernails and soft, chubby hands and feeling quietly chuffed at the perfection I had created.
Shortly after having these thoughts, it crossed my mind that … [Read more.]
Our children’s artworks deserve to be cherished – never again will they be this unselfconscious about the paintings and drawings they produce, so the work takes on a special life of its own. Cookey Cat – whose nursery artworks we featured in May – have just released a new service which enables you to send … [Read more.]
As a child, I vividly remember painting, drawing and colouring. These were some of my favourite activities and I still have a few drawings that my mother kept for me. I have yet to see this trait in my own child but that is probably because she’s still too young. When the day arrives that … [Read more.]
