Basically, We love these toys...

Toys, toys toys! I have to admit I get just as excited about new toys as my kids (sometimes more so… shhhh….) Bells and whistles can entice me sometimes, but what I really love are bright colors, remarkable workmanship and new things to imagine and play. I can look at play sets and dollhouses, fire trucks and baby toys for way too long online. Having a daughter and two sons just opens up the toy horizon even more. We pretty much drool over toys around here (and not just the baby!)

But, when it comes down to it, when you really analyze what my kids play with? The fancy toys don’t really add up to much playtime. And what they play with, oddly mirrors what I remember playing with when I was a kid.

I’m going back to the basics with this review – Blocks and play "silks."

Blocks from Palumba:

When I was a little girl I had a box of colorful wooden blocks. I used to love flipping over the box, and building a little apartment with my blocks. I would make a dining room table and chairs, a couch, a bed. I have my old blocks to this day, and my kids do love to play with them. However, when we get out the blocks, they gravitate towards the cubes and sticks they got from Palumba. (Well, from Santa a couple years ago, but I have it on good authority that Santa got in touch with the folks at Palumba.)

My kids absolutely adore their Cubes and Cherry Building Sticks. They build towers, and bury treasure, and create little houses for their little gnomes.

Both the cubes and sticks work well for loading up a truck:

As a teacher, I have to admit, that one thing I love is toys that teach through imaginative play. The last time we played with the cubes and sticks, we played around with balance, and counting.

My 4 year old is currently very interested in letters, and cubes and sticks really do make great letters!

Speaking of imaginative play, Those sticks make excellent microphones:

Also, if you need to look at something "Way far away," they are just the telescope you've been looking for!

I would love to show you more pictures of the awesome things my kids do with these blocks, but the baby kept knocking them over… then picking one up that is to his liking, and chewing on it for a bit. Sometimes he does change it up a bit by banging them together to make a beautiful song.

They are really the perfect little blocks, in my mind. They aren’t too heavy, but they aren’t too light. They are made from real wood, and are actually quite beautiful! We have the set of 40 sticks (they also come in sets of 20 or 80) and the set of 25 cubes (they also come in a set of 50). Each set comes in a little drawstring cotton bag, which I always intend to use… but somehow clean up time doesn’t work like that around here!

Etsy Play Silks:

Looking at the pictures, you may notice some play "silks." in the background. I have wanted play silks for my kids for awhile, but I didn't want to get real silk, since we try to stay on the vegan side of things around here. I have some cotton rainbow cloths, but was looking for something silkier, when I stumbled upon etsy seller, DreamSpunKids. Their chiffon play silks are light, flowing, and come in a great variety of colors. For the first set we bought (they come in sets of 6, 8 or 12), I picked a handful of bright spring colors, and most recently, I chose colors that reminded me of the fall:

Good thing. Otherwise, how would my children pretend they are autumn trees? Or volcanoes?
These play silks can really be anything. The kids dress up in them, tie them to chairs to make forts: whatever the kids can imagine. My favorite thing to do with them is to help the kids create play-scapes. Here is our lake under construction (See the spot of yellow and orange? That's the "burning hot sun!"):

Playsilks also make a fabulous back drop for plays, puppet shows, or concerts:

I may or may not have even convinced my husband to wear one as a cape at our son's Super Hero birthday party!

(I wore a blue one!)

We love having a bin of play silks in our playroom, and I highly recommend them as a must-have toy!

They aren't just toys though, my new absolute favorite use for them is as present wrapping:If you want to add some pretty special "basic" toys to your child's play room, I say give Palumba's cubes and sticks and the play silk from etsy seller: DreamSpunKids a try.
The imagination and creativity of your child will shine through.

Happy Playing!

A Toy Garden: Play silks and more Easter fun

You may have noticed that many of my recent posts include brilliantly colored play silks in the background. You may also have noticed that I keep mentioning that play silks are a safe, eco-friendly alternative to Easter grass. This is because Santa Claus was very nice this year and he replaced our tattered homemade playsilks with brand new, beautiful play silks from A Toy Garden.

Since Santa had several stockings to fill, he selected the set of 12 silks for $60, but the silks come in all sorts of combinations. I love the colors in the spring set, so I'll say it again - perfect for Easter :0)



These are nice, thick, smooth and silky play silks that are woven in China, but dyed in the USA using low impact silk dyes. Play silks make great backgrounds for block cities, table cloths for doll picnics, decorations and nature tables, capes for Super Linnea, hiding places, and Arielle says, "sometimes you can bug your sister with them." Thank you, Arielle.

Here are a few pictures:

Arielle playing "nest" in a laudry basket.


Hiding from Dad. I bet you can't find Linnea.



Arielle builds a zoo.


Cassie drinks tea.



We are very happy with our new play silks. If you are buying play silks, then check out A Toy Garden for other Easter treasures. Some suggestions:

Bunny Push Toy ($18.95)




Wood Duck Family ($9.95)




Wooden Eggs ($3.95-$13.95)

The eggs come in various sizes. Arielle loves to wrap them in a play silk and pretend it is a nest. They are also great for do-it-myself decorating.




What's Hiding In There? ($15.95)


Easter is coming soon, so order soon to leave time for shipping.

Handmade Holidays part 3

More handmade holiday! I'm so sorry about missing Thanksgiving, but we were traveling and I had limited computer access.

Swaddle Babies by Priscilla Rose are hand stitched cloth snuggling dolls. Each doll is custom designed and personalized with the child's name on the tag. They are available in fleece, velour or minky fabrics. If you go to the site, you will see the sweetest pictures of little ones and their snuggle babies. You'll want one for yourself :)

The dolls are crafted with organic cotton knit, organic eco-wool, organic thread, and natural and organic hand spun yarns. The picture is by Sara Sophia.

Swaddle Baby ($34-$56 depending on fabric)




Easy to Love makes Pennsylvania German handmade wooden toys (and toy patterns for those DIYers out there). If you don't want your children to come running, turn your computer on mute before entering the site. It plays some peppy, traditional music.

The wooden toys are just beautiful and I wouldn't be surprised if they were actually made by Santa's elves . My personal favorite is the tool box ($60), but there are also cars, trucks, airplanes, rocking horses, sleighs (see elves!) and trains.

Child's tool set ($60.00)



The Tan family offers Waldorf-inspired wood toys, naturally-dyed silks, hand-spun yarns and more. Everything by Rick and Jennifer in their home and is sold in their Etsy shop, Syrendell. Jennifer says, "I really enjoy creating handmade items for families. Some of our customers are homeschoolers, some are Waldorf-inspired families, and some people are fiber artists. We enjoy making custom orders of our handspun yarns, aromatherapy, naturally-dyed silks and wood toys. Our approach is always holistic, healthy, happy and creative!"

Check them out for naturally-dyed play silks,and felted and wooden toys.

Snail ($9.50)



These cute little snails are great for spring nature's tables or as friends to the Syrendell Sprites - little fairy figures sold on the site.

The play silks come in delicate natural colors and an assortment of sizes.



Speaking of play silks, I just discovered Desert Dyeworks where I found the most gorgeous tie-dyed play silks. I bought one for each girl's stocking ($20).





Check out the Matryoshka dolls and crowns at Little Red Caboose. Everything is on sale right now, but you'll have to act fast because the store closes on Sunday.

Matryoshka doll ($59.50)



More handmade toys next week. If you make a handmade toy and want to included, send me an email with a link to your site. If you want to know more about how the CPSIA is affecting handmade toys, visit the Handmade Toy Alliance.