Gifts Galore!

I guess it's no surprise that I have gifts on the brain at the moment. If you don't have kids or don't like toys, you might want to skip this post. I've gotten great ideas from some other bloggers out there, so I thought I'd also share some of the things we're getting this year. Hopefully I'll also get around to the *handmade* gifts!

Brynne is, not surprisingly, our focus this year. She's is a terrible 2 1/2, and I've decided I've had enough of all the cheap, plastic, battery-operated toys. This is not to say I have total control over what she gets from others, but at least our gifts (Santa's gifts) will be well made and probably even heirloom quality. She's already lucky enough to have a huge collection of the Brio Plan City toys (thanks to my mom!) - I love them for their modern look and the ability to expand ad nauseum - and her preschool teacher and I agreed that she would love a dollhouse. Since I'm very modern-minded and not into the really girly stuff, the Brio Contemporary Dollhouse seemed perfect. And, of course, there are all the various items to furnish and accessorize the dollhouse, not to mention the barn and gardening stuff!

 

She's also the perfect age for lacing cards, and I found this great set illustrated by Dan Yaccarino, one of our favorite illustrators (he also has a cute circus set).

We're pretty anti-candy in our house, so Brynne's stocking will be filled with toys from Kinder Surprise Eggs. Kinder-Eggs.com offers great deals on "toys only" if you just want the toys.

I've loved the Automoblox toy cars since they came out, but Brynne hasn't been old enough to play with them until this year. I'm thrilled that I waited because they came out with a new series this year, including the ultra-cool A9 which will be appearing under our tree. In case you aren't familiar with these, they come completely apart, and they can be re-assembled with parts from any of the other cars. So, once you have 2 or 3, you can start building your own crazy creations!

I was thrilled when I spied Lane Smith's Pinocchio, the Boy on sale for $4.99 at Barnes & Noble yesterday - another gift to go under the tree by another of our favorite illustrators!

I've had a great time discovering some amazing online toy shops this year, and my favorite thus far is Zebra Hall. I was going to highlight some of my favorites from their catalog, but I just can't choose. Their site is definitely worth a look if you're in the market for unique and quality toys. One thing we did pick up from their catalog is the versatile Bilibo chair. It's affordable, versatile, and looks really fun; I've been having a tough time not opening the box and giving it to Brynne early!

I'm also currently a bit obsessed with all the wooden food toys out there. Like Oscar, Brynne is getting a set of wooden cutting food, and I'm already seeing tons more that I'd like to get... eggs, chocolate cake, hot dogs in a tin (!), etc. I'm also torn about this wooden tea and cake set... Brynne already has a tea set that she got for her second birthday, but it's pink plastic with stickers of the various Disney "princesses" on it - ugh - definitely not my taste. So, the quandary is whether or not I should replace it with one I like, given that there's a chance that the person will find out I have done so... hmmmmm.

Well, that's enough for this post. Consider this my guide to toddler gift giving this year!

Comments

[lisa]

i love all of these links and toys!! thank you for sharing.

[Nichola]

Great stuff, i wish i had more money to spend! I love the chair.

[Fiona]

I love that dolls house, we got Audrey something similar for her 2nd birthday. Thanks for all the great links, I'm going to hide my credit card now! ;)

[Alison]

Great links! I love the Plan City toys as well, and got Max a great Ferry boat while away - we have such a limited range here in Australia. The dolls house is beautiful - I know I'd like one of them :) And those toy cars....Just as well max has a birthday coming up is all I can say!

[Jan]

What great links! I don't even have anyone of that age to buy for, but remember trying to track down similar items years ago when the selection was woefully thin. I still love looking at well designed toys!

[hannah]

awesome links! i cant wait until collette is old enough for that dollhouse. maybe by that time we will have enough space to have one. thanks so much for such great ideas. im pretty much done with christmas but eliots birthday is at the end of january. he will definitely be getting and automoblox, and he will definitely go crazy about it!

[mrspilkington]

love that dollhouse -- i think my daughter will be old enough for it by summer. for Christmas we're starting with one room -- the plan city living room set that i'm going to put in a wooden crate (kind of like a diorama) and some bendy folk that i'm working on.

love that wooden tea set! i'm trying to limit myself with the gifts, but that one really looks like a winner....
and the automoblox cars are just so cool.

[Snowbear]

Looks like we'll both be having fun with our little ones and the dollhouses! Long live the world of miniature!
I have the Lane Smith book too--there is a lot of Mary Blair references by him in that one as you may have noticed.
Brynne looks like she made out like a bandit this year!

[ani]

i love that funky chair! too bad i'm already tapped out for presents for Ruby. but as her birthday is in March, that gives me some good ideas.

[Anamaria]

You'll have so much fun on Christmas morning! We have some similar items under our tree this year, including not one but TWO bilibos (one for each)--I was completely sold by the open-ended play argument they made on their website. I hope I can fit in the thing--it looks like fun!

[Jackie]

those bilibo chairs look cool. We have a whole plan city and brio train set. It is such good quality and funky and hey we have to play with the kids all day!

[rose]

My son would have adored those cars when he was a little kid. I'm tempted to buy some and put them away for future use.

[rose]

My son would have adored those cars when he was a little kid. I'm tempted to buy some and put them away for future use.

[Rachel]

I was just wandering and happened across your blog... I have an idea for your tea set dilema... I had a couple tea sets when I was young and there were always the nice ones that were for special occasions and inside use and the ones for outside and for dirt and mud tea... it's something to think about.

[helen]

those little seats look so, so funky!

[sue]

for some reason i could not leave a comment on the exact post, but here's the link to the new magazine - cutting edge!

www.cuttingedgemag.com/toc.shtml

xo,
sue

p.s. i found this thru craftster.org - this magazine is wonderful!

many thanks!!!