Childhood Friends

Kasie's Best Bear Friend "Jasper", from JellyCat

[Spotlight: Eco] Reusable tarp bags + give away

We made these cute tarp bags to give away at one of our trade shows last year. We have some left over and the kids have been taking them to put their toys and books in. They're great for little lunch bags too. The tote dimensions are 12 by 14 inches, have grosgrain ribbon for handles, and we letterpressed the label on chipboard and sewed everything together.

First 10 readers to send me an email to smuppykids@9spotmonk.com will receive one! Please include your name and address. We'll let you know via email when it's in the mail!

[Spotlight: Creative] Play food with Model Magic

Little ravioli made with Model Magic for the kids' play kitchen.

Model Magic is made by Crayola, a soft air dry clay that is so easy to mold with little hands and dries to a nice rubbery hard surface in about 24 hours. Once dry, it can even be coloured in with markers or paint.

We recently went to the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA. The kids had loads of fun there and we brought back Model Magic in all the colours to experiment with. Making food was our first order of business. We made ravioli, string beans and peas. Before I could even take a picture of the veggies, they were already swallowed by 'a mysterious bear who wandered in the play kitchen' - or reading between the lines - mamma, I can't remember where I hid them.

I heart you

King and Queen of Hearts Stamps from the USPS

These are the nicest stamps I've seen in a long time! It's time to get out our letterpress stationery and send our friends some letters.

[Spotlight: Educational Play] Wooden Puzzles

Number Snail from ImagiPlay, available at Oompa.com

Lately, nothing can hold our little guy Sandro's attention like a puzzle can. He can sit still and stay quiet (for 10 minutes) to put these 3D wooden puzzles together by ImagiPlay. I love that some of their puzzles have numbers and letters so after the puzzle is finished, we can learn the them as well.

Counting Octopus Puzzle from ImagiPLAY, available at Oompa.com

Butterfly Alphabet Puzzle from ImagiPLAY, available from Oompa.com

[photos: Oompa.com]

[Spotlight: Toys] Green Eggs and Ham

Lily Bean Play Food, Green Eggs and Ham from Mayhar Dry Goods

I found the the neatest play food breakfast made by Lily Bean Market. All of their play food is made by hand using wool felt made especially for kids. Some of our favorites...

Lily Bean Big Box o' Food by Lily Bean Market

The Original Brown Bag Lunch by Lily Bean Market

Make it Yourself Sushi Kit by Lily Bean Market

Feeling a little DIY? You can make your own food too with their kits! We're getting the sushi kit for sure. Kasie loves sushi so she will have so much fun pretending we're at the sushi bar eating her favorite cuisine.

[all photos: Lily Bean, green eggs and ham photo: Mayhar Dry Goods]

[Spotlight: Creative] Thank you card

The cutest thank you card we ever received! Made by Harlan and Hudson (with a little help from their mom), our friends from Brooklyn, NY.