Ooooh... 15% Off at Rosie Hippo

Ready for holiday shopping? Rosie Hippo has given us a code for 15% off purchases until the end of the year. Just type in "TOYBOX10" and it is good until 12/31/2010.

I plan to use the code to buy Holztiger animals for stocking stuffers.  Santa brings a few every year, and it has added up to a nice collection. Girly-girl Linnea will love the little pets like this <>kitten ($9.00).

Arielle is interested in exploring Australia.  So, I'm choosing Australian animals for her, like <>Mama Kangaroo with a joey in her pouch ($15.00).

And this big, 10 1/4 inch long <>crocodile ($18.00).

Rosie Hippo carries a large selection of natural, organic and Earth friendly toys.  If you are looking for a toddler dream gift, check out the <>rocking dory ($195 on sale) that Rosie Hippo donated for our <>Holiday Giving Auction.

Thank you, Rosie Hippo!

Buy Handmade Week!

American Craft Week runs from October 1-10 and The Handmade Toy Alliance is asking us to pledge to buy handmade at least once this holiday season.  Click here to sign the Pledge to Buy Handmade.

We say avoiding mass produced toys and treating our children to lovingly created clothing and toys is no hardship.  Need ideas?

Here are some suggestions:

Linnea hates coats, but she loves her poncho ($46.00) from Skipping Hippos. The ponchos, jackets and coats are the site are all made in the U.S.A. out of CPSIA-compliant materials.  And, right now, many of them are on sale!

Linnea gets compliments every where we go.

Hip Mountain Mama offers this Gnome Family ($15.99) made from 100% reclaimed Walnut and finished with a safe and natural mineral oil.  They are made by The Original Tree Swing, a family-based business in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Doesn't this look like fun?

Speaking of fun wooden toys,  Oregon mom Willow Baus makes beautiful handmade toys which she sells from her Etsy shop, Tweet by Willow Baus.  I am totally enamored with these toys.  I ordered a covered wagon for Linnea's birthday.  I'll let you know how she likes it.

Covered Wagon ($20)

Hanging Mobile ($40)

Sail Boat ($18)

And, check out the eco-friendly plush animals and baby toys at Ecoleeko. I have a few of these in my office right now (donations for our auction's baby gift basket) and they are oh so soft.

MooBelle ($32)

You can find handmade at Etsy, at your local farmer's markets and craft fairs, and through the Handmade Toy Alliance.  Remember, handmade helps your local economy and the Earth.  If each of us buys only a few handmade items this holiday season, it can make a big difference.

Dolly Runway - the dolls get a makeover!

It was a quiet day at my house and I thought "Hey, it's way past time to review Linnea's cool wooden cosmetic play set from Estia. We should have a fashion show."

Linnea received this kit around Easter and I have had it on my list to review ever since. It isn't that she hasn't played with it, but that she loves it so much that she tends to get very possessive if anyone else even looks at it -- just part of being three. I thought a fashion show might inspire some cooperative play.

This is the set. It is well-made and cute as can be. I wish I had a camera with me when Linnea first opened it. Her eyes just about popped out of her head. "OOOOOOOhhhhhhh!"

wooden cosmetic play set from Estia $65.99



The set is designed in Germany and made in Thailand out of rubberwood. It includes a blow dryer, handheld mirror, 3 lipsticks with a wooden holder (attached to the box), powder box with built-in mirror and powder puff, an eyeshadow compact with 6 eye shadow colors, an applicator and mirror, comb, hair roller (we use it as a brush), a perfume bottle, and jar of magic beauty cream. Everything is pretend and requires imagination for best results.



The beauty shop...



Close-up of Linnea's absolute favorite possession (other than PooPoo).



Lipstick in the holder.



But, as everyone who watches Project Runway knows, the models have to get dressed before they put on make-up. Our models are Cassie and a selection of very much loved Haba dolls: Finja, Souri, Paola, Lotta, Lilli and Nele. The Haba dolls are available at KangarooBoo.

Time for some pretend play! Our team of stylists dresses the dolls in their dolly finery.





Oh, nice hat Finja!



Time for hair. The comb has wide teeth and the brush has imaginary bristles, so the dolls can be brushed and brushed without their yarn hair being damaged.



A bit of powder for Lilli.



Cassie gets eye shadow.



Perfume?



Yes, please! Douse it on.



Almost ready, Cassie. Just a few touch-ups.



Arielle puts lipstick and eyeshadow on Souri.





Ready to go?

Uh, oh! Lilli has wet hair! Blow it dry. Now we are ready to go.



The fashion show:

A great time was had by all. The fashion show came to a sudden halt when we saw our little friend Sidney across the street. The dolls were abandoned as we ran out to enjoy the sun and play on Sidney's swing set.



The cosmetic kit also works wonderfully on little princesses, pretend fairies and other beauties in need of imaginary cosmetics. It is the perfect gift for the girly girl preschooler in your life.

Considering Earth Day

I wanted to share this article from Maple Landmark

Classic wooden school bus ($44.95)



A lot is said about the eco-benefits of wood grown is Asia, too bad much of it is the incomplete truth. To be sure, the idea of plantation grown trees sounds like a tremendous advantage over imagined alternatives. However, there is always more to the story. For several reasons, North American hardwoods, including our own hard maple, are superior choices.

1) Plantation grown vs. Forest harvested.
Plantation trees, such as rubberwood, are easy to envision as renewable and sustainable. However, what has that done to the natural, historical ecology of that land? It has been forever supplanted. Land was cleared to grow a crop, no differently than jungle cleared in South America. The biodiversity has been eliminated.

When trees are selectively harvested in our northern temperate forests, they are culled from the natural ecosystem. Modern logging techniques allow for minimal damage to the surrounding area and the natural forest continues to thrive and regenerate as it has for thousands of years.

Limited harvests actually increase biodiversity since the large trees are less dominant and most wildlife flourish with varied vegetation.

The images of a denuded landscape are part of the history of forestry throughout the world and it still happens in pockets, especially in third world countries. Generations of experience in land stewardship has taught better ways of management. In Vermont, forest coverage is increasing and, after the heavy logging of the 1800’s, is nearing that which the colonists saw when they arrived.

2) Chemical safe
Wood products that come from other parts of the world have sometimes been found to be chemically stabilized or treated against pests and fungus. The Forest Products Lab in Madison, Wisconsin says in reference to rubberwood (parawood): "Lumber requires chemical dipping to control blue stain and borer attack."

That is not used in general application in this country with our domestic woods. Air-drying and kiln-drying are the accepted ways of removing moisture from raw lumber to be ready for further processing. Maple will take on a “sticker stain” if it is not set up properly to dry. Adding chemicals is not the answer, good mill management is the solution.

3) Transportation
Wood grown and used in manufactured goods in Asia has already traveled over 10,000 miles when it reaches the US market. Most American wood products factories are near their material source. Our main mill suppliers are within 10 miles of our shop and the trees are harvested in the local region.

If you think floating goods over the ocean is low impact transportation, you would be wrong. Ships burn some of the nastiest of fuels, especially high in sulfur. The largest of the super freighters are each said to pollute as much in a year as 50 million cars (16 of these ships equals all the world’s cars).

4) Honest dealing
This from Ethical Corporation: “And China is major importer of illegal timber from forests in Indonesia, Cameroon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. Though accurate figures are hard to come by, the website globaltimber.org.uk says up to half of all timber imported to China in 2004 was illegal.” Corruption in the trade of commodities, such as timber, in undeveloped countries is common. Certifications can mean very little – look at the continuing incidence of lead tainted toys discovered at our docks, practically every week.

We will admit that a few years ago there was a case of timber rustling in Vermont, one neighbor got angry at another and cut a few of his maples.

5) Quality and beauty
While every attempt has been made to talk up the qualities of rubberwood, it just doesn’t match the durability and beauty of our maple. Sometimes called “Asian birch,” I’ve even heard it claimed that rubberwood was in the maple family (not even close). The high-pitched attempted to make it appear to be as-good-as, most likely means it isn’t.

Just food for thought.

Wooden fire truck ($44.95)

A shaky egg.... and other inexpensive Easter treasures

Are you looking for inexpensive natural toys and toys made in the USA to fill your Easter baskets? Check out Down to Earth Toys. They have a great selection of toys under $20.

We love:

Egg Shaker ($7.25)




When Linnea saw the shaker she said "OH!" in that sort of breathless way some of us might save for the perfect pair of eco-friendly shoes. I think the egg spoke to her.

When they were younger, the girls went to music lessons where the favorite activity for toddlers was shaking an egg to a song. We played a game where we sat and sang and passed eggs around the circle. Very relaxing. Or maybe she's thinking of the Laurie Berkner song, I know a chicken. Click the link to see the YouTube video :0)

The egg is made by Jam Town. They support the makers of fair trade musical instruments around the world. The egg helps employ someone in Bali. Check out Down to Earth's extensive selection of musical instruments.

Magic Fairy Wand ($2.95)



Ari preferred the magic wand. She says, "You can do anything with a magic wand because it's magic." All you need is imagination. What a deal! But, don't turn your sister into a toad.



Felt Chocolate Easter Bunny ($8.99)



I haven't seen this in person (in bunny?). But, I love Lilly Bean play food and I'm sure it is the same great quality. How cute it would look in an Easter basket!

Sara's Toy Box readers get free shipping on orders over $10 until 4/30/2010. Just use the code "SARA" at checkout. Happy Spring to all of you!

Happy Birthday Natural Pod - save 15%

Natural Pod asked me to let you all know about their birthday sale. Just in time for Easter shopping, take 15% off your purchase (including preorders) through Sunday, March 21 with the code "springbirthday2010".

Check out Natural Pod for a variety of natural toys, including Mama K's aromatic play clay (I have some in my purse). What I really love are the wooden toys - especially these birds nests ($12.99 CAD). They are the perfect gift for Arielle.



Happy Birthday, Natural Pod!

Wild Apples for Easter

It's a pleasure for me to be able to feature a local artist. Gunther Keil has been creating folk art and wooden toys for more than 30 year in his Wild Apples workshop. He creates wooden animal toys, push and pull toys, rolling toys, Noah's arks, puzzles and play sets out of local hardwoods including cherry, oak and walnut. Everything is smooth and natural and so beautiful; really, the pictures don't do the toys justice.



We reviewed Roley Poley Animals, a Bunny Bank, a Rabbit Pull Toy, and the Bunny Garden Play Set.





Linnea proclaimed them all "Booeeful." She immediately claimed the Rabbit Pull Toy ($13.95) for her own. (And, please focus on the toy and not the mess; we had popcorn for snack.)




Linnea is watching me type. She says she likes the wheels, but says the string is like a tag. I'm not sure what that means. It must be a three-year-old thing, but she's been having a good time walking the bunny. I think it would make an even better gift for a toddler.

The bunny bank bank was very popular. You could put the bunny bank ($18.00) with a few dollars and a play silk in a basket. My kids love banks.

Arielle has a piggy that I received at my baby shower before she was born. Linnea is jealous. She loves putting my coins in the bank. What I love is that the bottom unscrews. Too many piggy banks have the plug that comes out when they get full - or they don't come out and you break your fingernails (and perhaps the bank) trying to get to the money inside. The girls are putting my pennies in the bank.



And, feeding it carrots. Cute!


Linnea had fun making the bunny bank play with the similarly-sized case of the Bunny Garden Play Set ($67.00).



The Bunny garden Play Set is just beautiful. I love the little details: pumpkin, carrot, lettuce, little red cardinal, sun flower, squirrel, bunny... and they all store in the bunny box. Again, just put this and a play silk in a basket and you are set!

Arielle and Linnea had such a great time with this. When it is not being played with, it makes a nice spring decoration for a nature table.








We like bunnies, but if your child prefers Easter Dinosaurs, check out the Brontosaurus Habitat. And, browse the Wild Apples site for plenty of other dinosaur options.

Finally, we reviewed the Roley Poley Animals ($4.75 each). Linnea liked the chimpanzee best.




She had lots of fun with all the "animal cars". These make a nice little addition to an Easter basket and are the perfect size to carry in a purse or diaper bag.

I can't emphasize this enough, it is all even prettier in real life.

(Pssst.... If you look at the picture on his website, you will see that Gunther Keil looks an awful lot like a very famous toy maker.... hmmm... and this is pretty far north.... The toys look like he might have elvish helpers.... What do you think?) Kidding aside, thank you very much Gunther Keil and thank you Wild Apples.