Last call for the Baby Stuff Giveaway and other shop news

Some house cleaning items...

1. A couple of days ago, I wrote about a really cool baby stuff giveaway hosted by Jodi Kendall.   The Baby Stuff Giveaway ends TONIGHT at 11:59pm. If you haven't had a chance to enter, please enter on her website.  I'm giving away these 3 Josh & Teo Toy leashes.

2.  For the month of August, my ETSY shop will be stocked mainly with ready to ship items and toy leashes.  I have temporarily removed the mini wallets, wrist wallets, and stroller bags but will bring them back in September.  Toddler Backpacks are available for order but they won't be shipping until the 3rd week of September.  I hope to be seeing a lot of the beach over the next couple of weeks.

I'm going to be taking some time off in August to enjoy the rest of the summer with my family.  Joshie starts J/K in September and I want to spend as much time with him before he is in school for the next 20+ years.  The craziness has already begun as I have been buying a ton of uniform clothes already. 

It's July 31 but summer is still here!

Baby Stuff Giveaway!

This past January, one of my customers Jodi wrote a review about her Stokke Stroller and my Josh & Teo Toy Leash.   Jodi is a writer so it only makes sense that she continued to review baby products once her son was born.   Last week she invited me to participate in a major giveaway that she is hosting.  I was quite honoured as there are several well known brands who are also participating:  Stokke, Inglesina, Peg Perego, Baby Bjorn, Summer Infant, BornFree, Joovy, Britax, and many many more.

This is what I have put up for grabs (Sophie the Giraffe is not included).

I love how she grouped the giveaway items into 10 categories to suit what a new mom may need.  How cool would it be to win one of these packages??

Here are the ones that I am in...

Photo Credit:  Jodi Kendall.com

Photo Credit:  Jodi Kendall.com

Photo Credit:  Jodi Kendall.com

The contest is open now and runs until 11:59pm on Tuesday July 31, 2012.  All you have to do is leave her a comment with your email address and let her know your top 3 picks.  There will be 10 lucky winners and they will be announced on August 1, 2012.

OK so enough about the giveaway, right?  Here's how to enter... go to Jodi's website to read about the rules and to enter. 

Happy Giveaway!

The Bata Shoe Museum

So it's summer and there's not enough time to be writing, playing, and running my Josh & Teo ETSY shop.  There's a ton of stuff to do here in Toronto and every weekend is a festival of some sorts.   I almost need a vacation from summer!  Of course the kids are so happy to be running around outside, riding in their tricycle gang, and enjoying some cool treats.

It's always nice to check out new venues so I took them to the Bata Shoe Museum.  We go to the ROM so often that it's nice to see something different!  The promise of a scavenger hunt and puppet theatre lured us into the Bata Shoe Museum.  It's been years since I first went with my friend T.  We both wore our Fluevogs of course!

So a shoe museum is pretty much all about shoes.  Surprisingly the kids had fun!  They thought these very big feet were really funny.  Baby Bunny kept on saying "dat's funny!"

We then went to the puppet theatre.  It started off with the kids but ended with hubby.

I really wanted to see the Roger Vivier exhibit.  The shoes were so beautiful - a far cry from my mom-shoes.  The kids couldn't understand why I kept on staring at the shoes.  My fave were these orange beauties!  I love how the addition of the little bow makes these shoes really stand out.

We did our scavenger hunt.  Baby bunny had no patience but Joshie was really good at searching for the shoes.  We saw shoes from many cultures and eras.  I love the Louis Vuitton shoe closet!

We ended with a certificate for Joshie - none for Baby Bunny!

What a fun place! 

The Bata Shoe Musuem is located at 327 Bloor St. West, in downtown Toronto

Enjoy your summer!

Summer in the City... Taste of Lawrence

Nothing says summer like street fairs!   For years now, we've been going to the Taste of Lawrence street festival.  I remember when it used to be really really small. 

It's a nice little festival...  I discovered a really cool quilting shop called Sewing Machine Factory Outlet in a tiny strip plaza.  If you're into sewing, you have to go in.  They have a huge selection of really nice fabrics!

There's a big selection of truck food

Entertainment (fire guy!)

 Rides

Kid in a bubble was probably my favourite to watch.  I think the "Canada Bubbles" attraction was new for this year.

There's always room for some carnie games.  Unfortunately our favourite was closed!

That's ok though... we had fun watching the carpet slide with the bear.

Joshie tried his first game and won a little dolphin

 By the end of the night, we all had some cones and headed on home. 

 Can't wait for the next one...  Happy Summer!

Taste Test: Organic vs Non-Organic

A couple of weeks ago, I was a vendor at the Leslieville Tree Festival.   One of the best things about being situated near the food people was that food started coming our way by the end of day.  We really enjoyed the  muffins that showed up on our table.  The organic food in a box girl also stopped by and offered us her produce.  So, we decided to have some fun and do a taste test.

My kids get their daily recommended portions a la Canada Food Guide.   We don't buy organic mainly because there isn't any evidence that proves organic veggies/fruits are more nutritious than conventionally grown fruits and veggies.  So this was a fun little exercise for us to see if organic food was tastier than non organic food.

We did about 6 taste tests for celery, red leaf lettuce, spinach, garlic, mango, and pear.

It's funny that the fruit looked very similar.  It wasn't easy to tell which was which.

Over the course of a few days, I cut up the food, served it side by side and asked:  Which do you like better?

The verdict:   Hubby couldn't tell the difference visually or by taste.  The kids didn't know why I was making them eat two of everything.  They just thought it was fun.  I didn't really see much of a difference in the taste EXCEPT, I found that the organic veggies were slightly less bitter - especially with the spinach and celery.    Again, hubby didn't notice a difference.

So there you have it, my "highly scientific" taste test!

Bulldozer Toddler Backpack

 
This toddler backpack was made especially for Baby Bunny. I spent a lot of time trying to decide between his favourites: choo choo train, buses, garbage truck, and cars. Every time I make a backpack, he always asks if it's for him so this time, I designed this one especially for him.

My favourite part of this backpack is the label placement.  Looks great as the back light.  If I had the foresight to shift the bulldozer to the right, I would have placed the label right above the shovel.

Here are the side views.  I decided to do a flat pocket instead of an elasticized pocket.  I like that it looks sleek but next time, I'll put in 1 or even 2 elasticized pockets.  The superheroes need a place to go.

I also found this cool stars fabric at my local sewing shop.  So of course I had to have it and love how the lining turned out. 

Here is a pic of the backpack inside out so you can see the lining.  It's such a happy print!  If the fabric was a heavier weight, I would use it as my outer fabric.

I hid a little "m" at the back.  It's small enough not to be too noticeable. 

It's so nice to make things for your kids - especially when they are so happy to see it.  The little guy knew I made it for him and said "Mama made it!". 

Not even 24 hours after I gave him the backpack, I saw this...

and then this!  Aah!!  The horror!

The good news is that pen ink comes out really easily with a bit of hairspray.  Phew! 

Happy Sewing,

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

It was a scorcher but we managed to go to Thomson Park and enjoy some of the festivities.  We saw some animals from the Bowmanville Zoo and we met up with Tall Guy again. 

We always love to see the Historical Museum.  I felt bad for the "pioneers" - they were in full costume today. 

Of course every party needs some bouncy castle type things. 

Most exciting of all...  Joshie flew his first kite! 

After our evening plans were cancelled due to sick hosts, we ended up watching the last Eurocup game.  So sad Italy lost... so much so that we had a parenting FAIL!  We forgot to take the kids out to see the parade down the street.  By the time we got there, it was pretty much over.  So, we all got popsicles which made the kids happy and turned the FAIL into a PASS! 

It was really hard to settle down for the night - lots of sparklers and glow sticks turned the kids a wee bit  hyper.  But, eventually they settled down and didn't wake up when the real fireworks started. 

Oh Happy Day!