Material Archive

Your child's drawing made into a plush toy – amazing!

I think this is one of the most charming, original ideas for a gift I've seen in a while. You submit a drawing your child did to Child's Own Studio and they make a custom plush toy based on it. Brilliant.



 

Cool Hand Luc: A Welcome Addition

When summer heat hits, I literally crave ice-cream daily. Thankfully a fun new ice-cream shop has opened on my route home from work on King West and I am pleased as ever about it. Cool Hand Luc is open nightly until 11pm to snare the after dinner crowd on the strip and I predict they will do well. The ice-cream is all from Kawartha Dairy and although not as distinctive in flavour concoctions as Greg's, still very satisfying! The best part of all though is that they intend to stay open all year round. Finally, someone that understands that ice-cream, although particularly enjoyable on a hot summer's day, is an all-year-round treat.

Miller Goodman's Playshapes: The Perfect Children's Toy

 
 








As a newly minted auntie to my dear nephew Alek, I am still navigating through the rich and complex world of understanding children's toys. There's just so much to choose from and so many routes to explore. For my money, any toy that puts learning and the child's creativity center stage is ideal. Miller Goodman's Playshapes is one of the most lovely block sets I have come across yet. Beautifully crafted, the set yields endless charming possibilities. There's even a Flickr group where users can post new configurations. If you're in the TDot, buy yours at Magic Pony!

Clémentine Henrion's Eternal Balloons

Clémentine makes these marvelous "stuffed" pillow balloons to order in her Paris studio. They are meant to be used as permanent interior sculpture – hung from the ceiling in groupings.

Where has this great insight gone?

I can't stop looking at these Lego ads from 1981 over and over again – I love them so much. Why? Because I feel like I don't see this type of dialogue anymore. It feels like toys today are so rarely this gender neutral. It feels like feminism and girl power have been been distorted and morphed in to something disingenuous and opportunistic that resembles Paris Hilton and the Pussy Cat Dolls.
Walking in to a Toys R Us recently, I was overwhelmed by the oppressive and dominating themes of girls' toys centered around grooming, shopping, cooking, caring for baby and being a provocative Princess. It made me wonder if the deeply sexist world portrayed in Mad Men that I marvel at weekly on HBO is really that distant.
Yes, I too played with Barbies when I was wee and pink certainly played a large role at that impressionable age too, but there were other choices as well. I played with Lego, Star Wars figures, video games, science kits, board games, art supplies, books and had a bicycle and a skate board.  And although I did like the idea of having an invisible jet like Wonder Woman, being a "sexy princess" never factored in to my plans.
This dominating "pinkafication" of all things female feels alarmingly regressive and unapologetically sexual. In addition to little girls like Suri Cruise wearing high-heels, (you can now buy them for your baby too), everything for moms, teens and young girls alike seems geared towards a more mature, sexed-up, celebrity and material obsessed culture. Even Dora, who should be dressed as her name suggests, as an explorer, has recently veered into Bratz territory. Tween Dora is now a sexy version of her former self, with longer hair, slender legs, short dress, jewels and ballet slippers – not exactly all-terrain wear.

Nice package: Mini Giants

Nice design by Camilla Lillieskold for children's online retailer Mini Giants. Illustrations by Nila Aye. Via LovelyPackage.

A Good Oeuf

 

 

Designed by a husband and wife team based in New York, Oeuf produces some truly adorable items for baby that make you wish they were available in adult sizes. I'm loving the plush guitar!

Loving these ceramic thingama-what-its or better know as "accents"

Le Petit Atelier de Paris is a charming little shop in, you guessed it, Paris! The little bunnie & owl kill me – so cute.

Zippity zip!

I think this is quite possibly the sleekest little toy car I have ever seen. The Constantin B is designed by the always intriguing Nika Zupac.