Handmade Holidays Part 2 - Polkadot Patch Boutique (and a coupon)

This week, things didn't turn out quite like I expected. My husband has swine flu, the children are cranky because I've quarantined him in the guest room, and I didn't get all the pictures that I needed for my Handmade Holidays post.

So, it is Saturday, and instead of featuring individual artisans, I'm going to feature a store that celebrates the handmade. Polkadot Patch Boutique supports many small businesses and artisans that are threatened by CPSIA. In fact, many of their smaller toy manufacturers had to close shop or stop making toys because of CPSIA.

But, there are still many awesome handmade in the USA gifts on the site.


Rocket Man Super Hero Cape ($55.00)



Perfect for the little boy (or girl) who enjoys rescuing aliens who are stranded on moon rocks. This cape has some stupendous imaginary super powers... Girly styles are available as well.

Here's a super cape ca be personalized with any initial. It comes in four color combinations.


Super Hero Dress Up Set ($58.00)



Polkadot Patch Boutique has a huge selection of sock monkeys and sock monkey gifts.


Handcrafted Sock Monkey ($24.00)




Sock Monkey Hat ($30.00)





Eco-friendly Inchworm Baby Toy ($16.00)



The inchworm is handmade from all natural organic materials, including: organic Cotton thread,Bamboo Fleece,Organic Cotton/Hemp Corduroy, Bamboo/Silk blend yarn and Natural Kapok fiber. There's a little jingle bell in the stuffing that makes it ring. What a fun, healthy and eco-friendly grasping toy.

Big Eye Monster Organic Shirt ($38.00)



I wish this came in my size. What child wouldn't enjoy a monster on her tummy?

Check out all the beautiful items at Polkadot Patch Boutique. Sara's Toy Box readers get a 10% discount with the code “Toybox".

P.S. Toymakers, Polkadot Patch is always looking for new handmade toys that are in compliance with the CPSIA.

Jumble Balls - reviewed by our very cute friend Lucy

Jumble Ball ($15.00)



Jumble Balls are soft fabric balls made by Jennifer of Wood Pond Designs. She started making the balls about five years ago after being inspired by a ball that her mother had made. At first, she made them for her own children and for friends having babies. Soon more and more people wanted Jumble Balls, and Jennifer started an Etsy shop.



The balls are lightweight, squashy and easy to grasp. Each square is individually stuffed leaving a hollow center that makes the ball squishable and easy for little hands to hang on to. The balls are made of 100% cotton fabric that is safe and machine washable on the gentle cycle. So, these balls can be chewed on and drooled on and dragged on the floor.



Jennifer describes herself as a "fabric junky". She has lots and lots of colors and fabrics and never makes more than a few balls that are the same. The ribbons and rickrack are a new addition to the balls, and customers can choose to have either a rattle or jingle bells sewn securely inside. Jennifer now offers Bamboo fiberfill, and she will soon have organic cotton fabric available. If you have a specific color scheme in mind, she welcomes custom orders and would be very happy to create a ball using specific colors/fabrics/patterns.



The balls are great for tummy time for tiny ones, and for rolling and tossing as the baby grows older. Jennifer's children are now 4 and 6 and she says "they still love throwing the jumble balls around and they are light enough that I don't worry about things breaking".

I'm sure that Arielle and Linnea would have had fun with the ball, but I wanted to get a real baby reaction. So, we hired a consultant. Our eight-month-old friend Lucy (and her two-year-old big sister Tess) volunteered to help us out. They loved it.



Here's what mom Sarah had to say, "That is the ball! It is so great! Totally squishable so Lucy can tumble on top of it and it smooshes flat, then pops back up. The colors are great, the ribbons are perfect and it jingles just enough to keep the kid interested, not enough to annoy the mama. We seriously love this ball! Tess and Lucy both have so much fun playing with it and it's just as great for playing catch with Tess as it is for tumble time with Lucy."



Thank you Jennifer and thank you Lucy and Tess.

Poo-Poo the Organic Sock Monkey

Once upon a time, a little girl named Linnea met a monkey. She named her monkey Poo-Poo and they became best of friends.



Poo-Poo wasn't just any monkey. Poo-Poo is a Maggie's Organic Sock Monkey ($19.95 and available in a variety of natural colors). One of the many wonderful toys made in the USA and sold at Down to Earth Toys.



Poo-Poo is made of Maggie's Socks. These are the socks they sell at the food coop, which are made at a 100% worker-owned cooperative in North Carolina. Monkeys like Poo-Poo are made using the less than perfect socks (85% cotton certified organic cotton, 13% Nylon, 2% spandex) and are stuffed with reclaimed fiber from mill scraps. So Poo-Poo is eco-friendly.

Maggie's Sock Monkeys are safe for all ages. Linnea likes to chew hers, fortunately the friendly hand-embroidered face makes Maggie's monkeys perfectly safe for this.

Linnea likes to take her monkey everywhere. When we ride in the car, she yells "Need Poo-Poo!" This is only a little confusing as we are also working on potty training.

So, they go potty together.



They watch Dora.



They even share a cupcake with a friend.





Fortunately, Poo-Poo is washer and dryer safe -- just machine wash warm and tumble dry on low. Poo-Poo is up to anything that Linnea can dish out. I wonder what is next?



If you know anyone who needs an organic sock monkey or other fine toys made in the USA, Down to Earth Toys is offering our readers free shipping on all orders over $25. Use the code MAMA03 through April 15, and yes, the little girl on the home page does look familiar.

Toys in the car

I guess car safety is one of my obsessions. I have completed EMT training, my husband is a volunteer fire fighter/EMT and I've had many close friends who have been first responders of some type. I've seen and heard so much about the injuries that can occur from having loose objects in a car, and I'm very strict. For more about missiles, read this or visit http://www.car-safety.org/ which has tips on everything related to safe driving.

Of course, the flip side to having an empty car is that mom isn't nearly as safe of a driver when kids are bored and whiny. My solution is to allow soft, lightweight toys. A big favorite for my children are cloth books like the that rear-facing Linnea is "reading" in the picture.

Amazon.com has a huge selection as does Borders. A few I really like are the Usborne cloth books like Mouse and Snail ($12.26), which have bright simple illustrations and fun textures, and the Roger Priddy cloth books like Snowy Bear and Friends and Fuzzy Bee and Friends ($8.95), which also have a variety of textures as well as crinkly parts and flaps and bits to pull. Haba-lovers might find it worthwhile to spend $15.99 on a Catherine Caterpillar or Max Mole. These books include a soft finger puppet and are available from Oompa.com. I don't have these books and they received primarily poor reviews on Oompa.

Cloth books are a hit with both Arielle (3) and Linnea (11 months - today!).

Linnea has this airplane which fastens to her strap and has soft rings for chewing. There is also a bear in a car. The airplane has gotten mixed reviews from Linnea. It is very cute and is chewable, but doesn't hold her interest as long as a book or doll.

I know, I know! It has both plastic and is MIC (as are most of the board books), but it is made by a French company with an excellent safety rating and European standards require safer plastics. In the car, I think that potential missiles and unhappy children are greater safety hazards than unpainted toys that are made in China by companies with a good reputations. If anyone has other options that are not MIC, let me know!

Arielle loves dolls. Our Nicki dolls ($19.99) more or less live in our car seats. These are made in Germany out of all natural materials. We've had Nicki dolls around since Arielle was a baby, and these 8 inch, light-weight dolls are great companions in car seats, diaper bags, restaurants, and at home. Arielle still enjoys "Baby" after three years. I love the Kathe Kruse Poupe Rose ($16.99, also available in a boyish blue/green) for babies who still drop things.

A no cost option is to bring the smaller of the numerous stuffed animals that magically accumulate around a child out to the car and store them in a cloth bag. Make sure they are machine washable (as are all my suggestions, as they will fall into puddles and get stepped on/spilled on).

And, of course there are Arielle's ever present finger puppets, but that is another post.