Is the baby awake or asleep?

Should we tiptoe around or is it okay to crank up the tunes?

Ask the nursery doorhanger!

There’s nothing like a simple sign for the nursery door to solve the communication problem, and make sure the baby will get his nap time.

Felt wool pillows embroidered with a sweet bunny face hang from stretchable loops that will fit any size of door knob or hook, while the swivel hardware that lets you flip the sign without taking it off the door. Think of the standard hotel’s “do not disturb” door-hanger… only, you know, all soft and cute for a baby.

DIY idea for crafters who hate to sew:
Use a hot-glue gun to stick together a couple squares of felt or fleece (any type of fabric that won’t ravel at the edges), leaving one edge open to stuff in a little fibrefill soft-toy stuffing or quilt batting to give it a bit of a poof. Use purchased appliques or fabric paint to make the bunny faces.

Yes, that’s what I said: it’s a knitted baby hat that’s made to look like your Thanksgiving turkey. After the stuffing and roasting has happened, fortunately.

Here’s the story:

Sara knitted a turkey hat for her little guy, 2 years ago, when he was just a wee newborn. Okay, we can figure that the stress of the holiday season and childbirth and a baby in the NICU and all…

“I may have been slightly unhinged at that point,” she says.
Granted.

So last year, did she knit little Isaac a sleek toque or a jaunty newboy cap?

Mais, non! It was the Thanksgiving turkey all over again, one size larger and in a different brand of yarn for a whiter, brighter tip of the drumstick… And now you can knit one of your very own! Sara’s offering her original Jive Turkey Baby Hat pattern — free — over at Going Crafty.

Guess the tag line of her blog:

Hahahahaha!
I love it.

Going Crafty seems to be taking a nap right now, but the weird turkey craft thing is working its magic on me…

Oh, I’m not going to size up the pattern and knit myself a chapeau avec drumsticks for the holiday season, but doesn’t it make you wonder what other wild and whimsical turkey-inspired crafts are begging to be discovered?

p.s. Are we amazed that baby Isaac, now one of the world’s most interesting toddlers, is “very anti-hat”? Even when dressed up as a porcupine? Go figure.

This photo album probably qualifies as a “developmental toy” for your infant, but much more important, it could do wonders for Happy Family Togetherness a few years down the road…

We usually think of baby photograph albums as something like Granny’s “brag book” stuffed with pictures of the adored new grandchild, but Baby’s My First Photo Album of Family and Friends really is designed for Baby.

What a clever idea, this little cloth-covered book! Especially with families all spread out over long distances, the way we so often are these days… Fill the wipe-down vinyl protective pages with up to fifteen 4×6 photos of family and friends — all the important people in your child’s life, who might not be there every day to make the goo-goo noises and play with him.

Hint, hint:
Tell your toddler all your fond memories of crazy-but-loveable old Auntie Jen as you turn the pages together at bedtime, and he won’t have forgotten her when the family gets together next holiday time!

Who says that Twitter is a waste of time? Hey, I discovered Fierce Hugs there today!

Fierce Hugs is a little company that specializes in ethical and affordable organic cotton baby tees and onesies.

These are original designs by two independent artists: Dagmar Meinders from The Netherlands, and Silvia Osella from Torino, Italy, whose work includes the Confused Cloud illustration shown on the little t-shirt here.

The t-shirt is $24 and comes in three sizes: 6-12 months, 12-18m, and 18-24m. The same design is also available in 0-3m and 3-6m as a bodysuit, but that’s just far too cute to show you here.

I’ve always sort of wondered about cradles and bassinets.

Adorable, yes, but you can’t really use a cradle for much, after the baby gets a couple months old and starts moving about.

What then? Pass it along, practically new, to someone else… Or find a place to store the extra bit of furniture until another baby comes along?

This is obviously the dilemma that the makers of the sustainable cardboard Eco Cradle had in mind:

Designed for the first few months in the home, the Eco Cradle is safe, light, easily assembled and disassembled and is made from over 60% recycled material.

The entire structure can be put together and taken apart again in a couple of minutes making it perfect for travelling and visiting the grandparents or family.

The Eco Cradle comes with European safety standard certificates. The structure is also protected by an eco-friendly non-toxic fire retardant.

Bonus, it should satisfy your inner puzzle-maker! Notice how the cradle comes apart to store flat? We may be seeing more of this sort of construction, to meet the needs of changing families, a green-leaning marketplace, and small living spaces. Find it (new!) at www.ecoutlet.co.uk.

There’s just something about the idea of dressing up babies in soy fiber clothing that appeals to me — let’s not look into that too closely, shall we? — and I believe I’ve mentioned the BabySoy line before, a while back.

Well, we’re about ready for another dose of eco-friendly cuteness, for 2 reasons.

One, because BabySoy’s coming out with a new colour palette (eggplant)… a purple that’s much nicer than it sounds.

See?

And…

Reason number 2 for the baby gear browsing and gushing:

Your friendly neighbour Domestik Goddess in the final stretches of the exciting countdown to the arrival of the New Baby Great-Niece!

Yes, that’s right — great-niece, as in daughter of my adored and adorable big tall nephew….
(Wait, should that be grand-niece? Anyone know?)

How exciting is that?
Quite apart from making Auntie feel older-than-dirt, of course…

As you may know, there’s a new baby niece on her way into our family this spring.

Her parents have chosen a name for their baby girl already, but that doesn’t stop the rest of us from talking about our favourite baby names — or the ones we just can’t stand! Not that we expect the expectant parents to change their minds, but there’s just something about debating a list of baby names…

I particularly enjoy going on the occasional rant about people who give their baby girls a name that’s more appropriate for a stripper than for a bank president. Don’t get me started!

Anyway, if you’re in the throes of picking out baby names, for whatever reason, here’s an online tool that might help:

Nymbler is the smart baby name guide that responds to your personal taste. Just choose a few names that appeal to you or let Nymbler offer ideas. Then press “Find Names” and Nymbler will start using its expert knowledge to brainstorm names tailored to fit your style.

Nymbler combines human expertise (Linda Wattenberg, author of The Baby Name Wizard) and artificial intelligence (software by Icosystem) to sort through a database of thousands of names to find the ones that fit your taste.

Each name is categorized based on not just the origin and meaning of the name but on a host of other factors — baby name popularity, history of the name, the ethnic, religious and literary associations, even pop-culture references. Choose to search for names for girls, names for boys, or search through both at once. As you mark the baby names that you like and don’t like, Nymbler “learns” about your preferences and suggests more baby names that are based on your personal taste.

(No, not Gertrude, thanks.)

Technorati Tags: baby, names

Yes.
Yes, you’re right.
I am looking at baby stuff a lot, recently.

It’s because — breaking ‘Baby Bump’ news, here!! — there’s going to be a new baby niece or nephew coming into our family in April 2008.

Somewhere in the third week of April, to be as precise as anyone can be, you know that first babies can have their own timetables for birth…

So, World’s Most Doting Auntie here… browsing the baby gear boutiques and making goo-goo noises at every infant I see, that’s what I’m doing these days. Baby-obsessing, in fact — and also long-distance chats on plans and colour schemes and flowers for a certain family wedding that’s planned for July 2008 (but we’ll talk more about that later) …

At the moment I’m stuck on The Little Seed and my sudden urge to meet up with my pal Mer in Los Angeles for a baby gift shopping spree. Yeah, like that’s going to happen. {sigh} But it sounds like such a cool new boutique…

A selection of products carried at The Little Seed includes the ultra modern and streamlined Orbit Baby Strollers; non-toxic Stockmar crayons and paints; handmade eco-toys by Barbara Sansoni; organic bed linens from Amenity & Coyuchi; stylish linens from Dwell Baby; organic cotton clothes from Fauna, Speesees & Kate Quinn; built for beginners bicycles from Like A Bike; 100% certified organic Merino Wool clothing and blankets by Nui Organics; organic toys from Zid Zid; and sustainable furniture from Kalon Studios, among others.

The Little Seed is the brainchild of Soleil Moon Frye, Paige Tolmach (she was the co-founder of Swoon Candle, you may recall) and fashion designer Beth Birkett.

New mothers, they drew on their own experiences of shopping for baby and decided to create a one-stop shop that would help parents get up-to-date information about non-toxic and organic choices for a healthy home environment, as well as buy all sorts of stylish organic and eco-friendly products for babies and young children.

These women are committed to their whole green vision, too. The store offers classes to parents, has a play area for the little ones, and even the paint on the walls is VOC-free. Very cool… and I’m prepared to bet that this is the way that mainstream stores are going to have to go, too, in the very near future.

Most of the family men I know are perfectly cool with changing diapers, cool with taking a baby around town and doing the Daddy routine, just as much as the mothers are into active parenting. Yay, dads!

Just one snag — the guys aren’t too keen on toting a cutesy diaper bag done up in kitties and duckies.

Here’s the solution for Dads Who Do Diaper Duty —

A cool, hip, funky diaper bags that comes complete with changing pad, cell phone holder and key ring for dads (or moms!) on the go. Diaper Dude bags feature plenty of compartments and space for diapers, changing pads, clothes, toys and extras. Most of all, Diaper Dude is form fitting to the body, comfortable, and affordable.

Manly fabrics and designs include camouflage pattern, black, grey, even a skull-and-crossbones version for the Johnny Depp Wannabe, and my personal favourite, the sleek black dragon diaper bag.

Designed for men… but it’s a diaper bag that’s good enough for women, too!

Technorati Tags: diaper bags, fathers, Diaper Dude

Sometimes simple is best.

Case in point, this friendly elephant crib pillow.

It’s designed to coordinate with dwellbaby‘s sheet sets, but the simple silhouetted shape is just as appealing in any nursery.

No skimpy small pillow, this elephant is a generous 13” x 20” of softly rounded, poly-filled fun. The shell is cotton but it is machine washable — as you’d want any baby bedding to be — so the comforting pillow can last for years, no doubt becoming a playful toy companion as the baby grows to a toddler…

It reminds me of some silhouette animal-shaped toys I used to sew up for craft sales, paying my way through college. Lions, dogs, cats, giraffes, all in simple stylized shapes and bright fun fabrics — a quick sewing project and a good way to use up all those fairly small fabric remnants.

I used to embroider eyes, nose, and something of a mouth on the pillow toys that I made, but I do think I prefer the simple silhouette. What do you think? An embroidered face on your elephant, or a face that the child imagines?

If you’re thinking of getting into quilting, a baby quilt or wall hanging is about the right size of project to begin with.

Fat Quarter offers a number of free quilt patterns to download and print, including the simple yet interesting Baby Four-Patch Quilt.

It’s a great way to use up any odds-and-ends of fabric you may have leftover from other sewing projects, and the small scale makes a baby quilt so encouragingly quick to finish up! I’d sew it up in soft flannel and just machine-quilt it straight along the main seams, for a fast and easy “blankie” to keep baby comfy on car trips and picnics.