Category : Girls Favorite Things
I wasn’t planning on writing an article warning parents of lead this holiday season but as you’ll read below, researching something on my own Christmas shopping list encouraged this article to be published. Many parents think of toys being recalled with lead in the paint from years ago..that doesn’t seem to happen very often anymore. Could it be we are supporting a new age of purchasing locally made wooden toys so this concern isn’t as high? I hope so! Besides for avoiding imported painted toys from overseas there are a few other ways to avoid lead exposure this Christmas for children.
Children’s jewelry is still an area of concern for lead. I would honestly love to hire The Smart Mama and have her walk through a big box store, dollar store – any store that sells cheap jewelry with her XRF machine and wait for the results. But since that isn’t going to happen, what is the easiest way to not have to worry about lead or cadmium in children’s jewelry? Do not purchase cheap jewelry for children. I was recently reminded of this when I started searching for personalized necklace jewelry stores for Christmas gifts. We all know how much I love hand stamped jewelry and this year is no exception. When I went to order the necklaces, there was a Swarovski Crystal attached with each necklace. These crystals are always available for mom or child necklaces so you can showcase different colors for birth months, etc. Did you know that Swarovski Crystals are man made and contain lead? Because of California Proposition 65, stores that carry jewelry containing swarovski crystals, certain base metal findings, and other leaded glass items – warnings must be posted if sold online because potentially a Californian could purchase the jewelry. When is the last time you remember seeing a warning on any jewelry sold at the dollar store, Claires, etc.? You see the State of California regulates synthetic chemicals sold in products that cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm. When a product may contain one of these chemicals, there is a strong warning placed on the item being sold. Cool hey? If you are not familiar with California Proposition 65, read more here. I found California’s Metal-Containing Jewelry Law an interesting read too. Made me think of a few more items that I should look into: the gemstones (polished stones) my girls love to play with and to go through their dress-up jewelry again. Boys are not totally exempt from this since they have metal badges and medallions. It also helps me to remove my guilt when I quietly throw out any of the cheap jewelry they might receive at parties or as gifts because unless you have a way to test cheap jewelry for children – how would you know? And I have one daughter than loves to put things in her mouth while she’s daydreaming.
So after doing more research on the swarovski crystals, I worked with the artist making the necklaces for me and she was able to recommend all materials that were lead free. I opted for stainless steel charms to be personalized and a charm with glass accent- not crystal. When you work with someone making you a jewelry piece, you really can take the detective work out of it because they are very knowledgeable about the materials in all the different stone settings, etc. I would not be able to ask these questions buying inexpensive kids jewelry at the mall, shelf, or site that doesn’t have detailed information on it’s products.
Of course other ways to avoid lead and cadmium all together is purchase felted or knit jewelry. Sound a little too crunchy for you? It’s not at all and with selling felted rings at Green Planet Parties – I can tell you my girls love them. You just need to remove them to wash hands, but they expand to fit all finger sizes and no homework here – no metal used… ditto for the ponytail holders as seen below. Sometimes it’s just nice to not have to research and investigate everything! Although I found it very rewarding to work with the artist making my girls necklaces because after chatting back and forth, she’s now sourcing all glass bead alternatives for future child’s necklace designs.
Lead in your Christmas tree? That’s up next tomorrow.
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I’ve been asked this questions many times over the last few weeks with parents getting ready for Christmas: “What is an Eco-friendly doll?” Greener dolls are often called Waldorf dolls because historically they didn’t contain facial expressions to further enhance imaginative play for children. I believe the definition of Eco-friendly dolls include ‘manufactured locally’, ‘stuffed and made with natural materials’; no plastic or polyfill preferably. I prefer a face on the Waldorf dolls when I was searching for my twins because children become quickly accustomed to how ‘real’ many of the plastic dolls look. But we know that plastic dolls are far from Eco-friendly. I have yet to find a plastic doll that’s make from a recyclable plastic or from ‘rubber tree’ design like the toy Sophie the Giraffe. When I think of an Eco-friendly doll, my first thought are Bambolettas or Dragonfly’s Hallow dolls. I was lucky enough to purchase two Bamboletta dolls for my daughters but it took me close to a year. Why a year? The demand for these hand-made dolls is so high, you are very lucky to actually get the opportunity to purchase one. Both doll makers handcraft these beautiful dolls, step by step, from dying the wool to create the magical hair, use wool stuffing, hand-embroidered faces, even the doll’s clothing is made the by the respective store. They are unique, one-of-a-kind, and like nothing you will find in a traditional store. They are truly Eco-friendly. Follow either of the Facebook pages for a few days and you will get the feel of how much work and time goes into creating these dolls. Here is the link to my article on Bamboletta Dolls from last year. Here is one of my girls snuggling their Bambo.
By now you’ve fallen in love and your chances are low to purchase a doll in time for Christmas. That wasn’t my intention – honest! There is hope, with getting a doll. I’ve also just become a fan of Crazy Baby Accessories doll’s called Gumdrop Kids and asked her about her beautiful waldorf dolls. I wanted to know what the dolls were stuffed with and the dolls listed in the shop are a mix of wool and polyester, but can be custom ordered 100% organic for an extra $20. I can’t believe there is actually a listing this time of year – walk don’t run mamas!
One of my favorite things about these dolls is the interchangeable clothing options that become available after you own a doll. There are many stores that make clothing for these dolls and the clothing is also mama-made and totally unique! One of my favorite waldorf doll clothing suppliers is Reggies Dolls. She is a very sweet person and the clothing she makes Waldorf Dolls is awesome. I purchased some mermaid tails for my daughter’s Bambos and it solved my dilemma of trying to find a Waldorf mermaid. It transformed the Bambo from a doll into a mermaid and was easy for my girls to pull onto their dolls. With different clothing options your children will play with these dolls longer. It’s kind of neat to add to the dolls wardrobe and see how adding PJs, bathing suits, mermaid tails, etc. keeps the dolls in more demand by the child. Also promotes reusing with the doll because instead of buying more dolls to change things up, you are just adding clothing.
I’ve also carried dolls stuffed with wool and bamboo at Green Planet Parties – trying to make an affordable option for Eco-friendly dolls. Also for Christmas I love the Sweetie Petites that are fabric panels, ready to be sewed to create a little doll and yes, they come with carded wool stuffing! They are a completely different designs from the Waldorf dolls I’ve talked about, but also a very nice option for greener gifts.
I hope this explanation of an Eco-friendly dolls gives you some options. You will most likely not find these in a store – check online by using Google and the phrase ‘Waldorf Doll’, checking out winter markets, or checking out my above recommendations. I love the Bamboletta and Dragonsfly Hollow blogs so much because they are able to breakdown and educate us why these dolls are so special, why they cost what they do, and why it’s important to support how they are made…it’s mama powered and mama created! That’s important.
This article has been tough to write because the crafting world is gigantic…it’s impossible to try and cover the thousands of products that crafty people have in their cupboard. I walk into a Michaels store and I’m overwhelmed by two things: the varied depth of their craft materials and how much of it is imported & very cheaply produced. So much of that stores reminds me of the dollar store and it makes me nervous. I’m an average person on the scale of crafty – my children have always loved painting and making little projects, but with the inevitable smell that comes from opening specific paints, glues, and inks, I’m admittedly a little skeptical of how healthy these supplies actually are.
The inspiration for this article comes from a woman in the US, named Julia Andrus, who created a line of crafting materials after surviving a self described ‘mean’ cancer. Julia realized her exposure to even low levels of toxic materials in craft supplies could have contributed to her chemical exposure. On a mission to change her lifestyle and environment, Julia created EcoGreen Crafts and I guess it’s because an avid crafter created this line of products, the quality is as effective and amazing as traditional supplies. I’ve found in the past that sometimes using plant-based crafting products you loose some of the texture in paint and glue. This isn’t the case with the acrylic paint and Green Glue and is the reason I’ve stocked Green Planet Parties with these products. Just like my claim with the O’Bon pencil crayons (best I’ve every used) I can say the same about the EcoGreen Crafts Acrylic Paint. They are amazing! I asked some seriously crafty people to test the acrylic paint and everyone reports back loving it! It’s creamy, comes in a great sized tube, and there is no scent because the non-metallic shades of these paints are no-VOC. The metallic paints in this line are anchored to a No-VOC base, but end up being low-VOC after the metal pigment has been added. The popular 6 colors I’ve chosen to carry are popular with children and contain no volatile organic compounds. These paints are not manufactured in North America and that is reflected in the price point. These non-toxic paints are priced equally to traditional acrylic paints which is wonderful…parents love switching to same priced greener products, but while the price would increase, I hope they are one day manufactured in the US. If you’ve been searching for plant based white glue? This all-purpose green glue is great for back-to-school shopping.
For parents that enjoy painting with powdered paint, setup your environment with plant based so that powder cannot be inhaled that may contain lead. There are several paints on the market that use plant based pigments..the only brand I’ve tried is GLOB and these paints are manufactured in the US. As far as paint brushes go – I’m actively researching a ‘greener’ paintbrush. It’s actually a very difficult product because you are dealing with two issues: the handle and brush materials. If you go for a non-synthetic brush you might have anxiety about the methods used to obtain real animal hair for the brush…and these brushes are super expensive. ‘Greening’ up the handle of paint brushes is relatively easy because there are bamboo brushes on the market, but I’ve yet to find a brush I’m happy with at an affordable price.
Hands down – this point is the most important for providing healthier sculpture based craft material for your child! Don’t ever waste your money again on store bought play dough. From the amount of traffic and comments on this article “The Perfect Home Made Play Dough Recipe!” I know how many parents have discovered how easy, affordable and fun making your own play dough can be. Kids love to sculpt and it unleashes free-play at it’s best for young children and since you’ve made the dough yourself, you don’t need to worry if a small piece ends up in a child’s mouth. I’ve also experienced headaches from the synthetic scent from store bought play dough. Another sculpting product that shouldn’t be sold or wind up in your home is polymer clay that is used for sculpting small figurines…it’s made from PVC! Invest in clay that is packaged and marked ‘non-toxic’ and PVC-free. The dollar stores are not where you should be purchasing materials like this…there are no sort of guidelines it seems for this material. The amount of incorrect information on the internet about polymer clay is disturbing. Many crafting sites list polymer clay as a safe material even though it contains PVC and phthalates…it’s disturbing. I don’t have a source/brand for an alternative to PVC based polymer clay but I will post in the comments when I find one.
I was spoiled years ago when trying Clementine Art crayons – they were like applying butter to paper. I think all children would miss the variety of colors that you can achieve with a box of Crayola crayons, but traditional crayons are manufactured with paraffin wax which is petroleum. There are many brands of soy or beeswax based crayons if you are looking to ‘green’ your art supplies. I think the soy brands offer more color options, but I have only had the pleasure of using beeswax based.
Pencil crayons and pencils can easily be ‘greened’ with O’Bon. I’ve written about this brand before and love that these pencils are not produced by trees, but made from recycled newspapers. Not only is the story behind O’Bon cool, but I’ve never been happier with the pencil crayons. The quality is amazing and children love the fruit or wild-animal designs.
You can tell from the length of this article the crafting world is a vast area to try and write about in one article. For those searching for North American made craft sets which are convenient and make a great gift – check out the new brand Artterro I found at My Little Green Shop. Just one look at the packaging and you know this brand is different. I can’t wait to try these kits with my kids – not only are the supplies made of higher quality (glass beads vs. plastic, felt wool, handmade paper) but many of the components are made in the US. The craft world has seemed slow to manufacture locally – the concern of course that crafting will no longer be an affordable pass-time. It’s nice to see companies like Artterro putting an emphasis on this and side stepping the norm of producing craft kits that are filled with questionable ingredients – both for human health and the environment. Differences that impress me are the wool felt dresses in the Art Dolls Kit, copper wire & wooden handles (!!) in the amazing Bubble Wand Kits (eeep I love these!!), and for the older crowd the Paint with Wool Kits are very unique. Imagine encouraging a child to felt? It’s incredible that the boxes that Artterro supplies are packaged in can be transformed into frames to later showcase art work. Pictured below are the finished kits from Artterro with bubble wands and felt painting.
I hope this gives you a starting point to help green your craft supplies. It’s a huge undertaking, but like greening your bathroom or kitchen, I recommend starting with baby steps and incorporating these changes when you’re looking to replenish art supplies. Look for crafts with No-VOCs (Volatile Organic Compound) which are the chemicals that produce off-gassing vapors. Packaging is a great way to improve your craft supplies and look for supplies marked ‘non-toxic’, made with soy or beeswax, PVC-free and phthalate-free. I’ll have more recommendations coming in August because once again I’ll be putting together my own school supply boxes for my children with an effort to create kits that are more sustainable and chemical free. Stay tuned and please share your experiences with sourcing better quality craft supplies.
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I’ve often said that if I spent everyday at my childrens’ preschool, I’d be writing daily for Mommy Footprint. The inspiration and wonderful ideas that come from this play-based, magical school have been a wonderful experience for my family over the last 6 years. Two of my favorite ideas that come from preschool have been around forever, but since I setup both in my house last week, I’m reminded just what great ideas they are from the amount of time all of my kids spend playing with them. And both are very low cost to setup!
Wooden Stump & Nails
Ever drive by a house that has cut down a tree and is offering the stumps/logs for free? Well next time, stop and pick one up because your children will love to hammer nails into the stump. Both my boys and daughters have loved this activity at preschool and we’ve recently picked up a stump and ball pein hammer that I picked up at my local hardware store. The ball pein hammer is normally smaller, lighter and has a ball and opposite flat face..much easier for small children. And by small children I mean 3 years olds and up. They are more than able at that age to hammer nails into wood and the stumps help the nails slide in so easily! It will keep them busy for hours and teach them great motor skills. You can teach children to hammer thin pieces of wood to attach to the stump or even cardboard once they get bored of just hammering nails. Also, pickup nails of all sizes to further encourage fine motor skill development.
If you are nervous and think your toddler or child is too young to use real nails, find golf tees and left over Styrofoam packing from large appliances. Using the ball pein hammer, kids can hammer golf tees into the packing material and you don’t have to worry about them using real nails.
Sand Table
It’s a standard in any preschool and there’s a good reason why – sand tables are wonderful. When I received my package of safe sand from Santastik, I knew what I was going to use it for….creating an indoor sand table. The sand is amazing and kids love to play with it. We added some animals, scoops, cups, and the sand into a long flat plastic container and all my kids have enjoyed playing with it. I just put the container on top of their play table and voila…they are all very happy. And unlike the bean table I set up years ago (my husband still curses that idea), the sand table is very easy to clean up. Yes, kids get excited and throw the sand around, but the Sandtastik sand is super easy to vacuum so the mess is a non-issue. To find out why I’m recommending the Sandtastik brand of play sand – check out this article. This sand is made without carcinogens or asbestos which might be found in other brands of sand.
I love my kid’s preschool. We’ve been there 6 consecutive years because of the close ages of our 4 children and although I’m very sad this time is coming to an end this Spring, I’m grateful for the many lessons the teachers have taught me. A parent participation/play based preschool will not only bring your children great memories – but you’ll be surprised how much as parents you will learn.
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It’s so much easier sticking to the concept of ‘compliment’ gift giving for Christmas with my daughters as I know it gets tougher the older kids get…but the whole idea of ‘replacing’ everything with birthday or Christmas gifts is what adds to the over consumption we, as consumers, will be contributing to over these final few weeks of shopping. It starts with parents of course. How many people do you know that ditched phones that worked great to purchase iphones or replace computers/laptops every year? And we wonder why kids suffer from the same compulsion to have the latest and greatest? Xbox, Wii, DSi, Playstation 3, and more…it’s literally ridiculous the options that children are requesting this year (including my sons!). So although this concept is easier with my daughters – I’m trying to stick to ‘complimentary’ toys rather than ‘replacing’. A few examples of this? Little girls love their dolls - why not purchase beautiful doll accessories or clothing rather than hunting for new dolls? Back in April at Mommy Footprint, I was very excited to write about Bamboletta. I was able to buy two Bambolettas for my twins and I had patiently waited a year to finally purchase these wonderful dolls. I had spent hours researching the Bamboletta experience and have discovered a few very special shops that do very well selling doll accessories. You don’t need to own Bambolettas in order to order from these sites – they sell smaller clothing (12″) for more standard (plastic) dolls and (15″) for larger Waldorf dolls or American girls, etc. Here are my favorites…I’ve ordered from them all and love the customer service and imaginations of these very talented ladies!!
Reggies Dolls
Can I start off by saying that although I haven’t met Reggie personally, if you’ve dealt with her before or followed her fun ideas on her Facebook fan page – you would want to meet her in person and give her the biggest hug. She is one of the sweetest, most generous, lovely people I’ve ever followed. I’m a huge fan of her spirit and shop called Reggies Dolls. Reggie makes a lot of the clothing that Bamboletta dolls are purchased wearing and also sells 12″ and 15″ clothing for dolls. I first purchased mermaid tails from Reggie shortly after receiving our Bambolettas because the girls always wanted mermaids. Well – voila…we got mermaids and didn’t have to settle for plastic Barbie mermaids because the tails are made from felt. I recently stayed up until 2am when Reggie sold a bunch of clothing at a discount with all proceeds going to her friend with cancer. There were a bunch of moms waiting for the clothing to go on sale thrilled that we could support such a great cause and pickup some of Reggie’s creations. One time dealing with Reggie and you’ll have a hard time ‘Mall’ shopping ever again! Check out these mermaid tails and she included little veils and purses!
Amanda Cowell
I received a pair of cloth wings from Amanda last year that my girls just love. She was specializing in matching doll and little girl cloth wings that are so easy for young children slip on themselves. Now she’s hatched a new Etsy shop and is making matching capes for kids and their dolls. Plus, skinny jeans, leg warmers, and more for dolls that are wonderful! Her shop is now closed for Christmas, but bookmark her site for future gifts. Amanda’s creations have truly evolved into unique and magical items that will keep the interest alive in any child’s doll. I’m mean really……leg warmers? My girls would freak out for these and the matching cape or wing idea is very special.
Lovely Duds
I did purchase two slings for Christmas from Lovely Duds for my girls to tote around their dolls. The simpler version of the doll sling looked best for my girls because they are easily frustrated when they can’t navigate through instructions right away. But if you have a child that is patient checkout the ‘Just like mommy’ sling version – this style is adorable too! A great older sibling gift when there is a new baby and mom is using a sling. Check out these doll slings styles from Lovely Duds:
Simple Sling 1
‘Just Like Mommy’ Sling Version 2
Fig & Me
Is it just my girls or are all children hoarders? Give them a purse or bag and they walk around putting everything they can find in the bag. These specialty papoose style carriers are at the top of my list for the girls birthday in February. The talented owner is no longer accepting orders, but this site is very special and I need to experience the papoose magic. They are modeled after the ancient native American way of carrying babies…made from 100% cotton corduroy and cotton. My girls would love these for their 15″ Bambolettas….they would love the ability to walk around ‘hands free’ just like a busy mommy!
I hope these ideas help you with complimenting gift ideas for an already favorite toy. All of the talented shop owners featured in this article are either located in the US or Canada so based on where you live – your chances of having orders arrive in time for Christmas are still good! Also, it just feels good to know where your consumer dollars are being spent…locally and with small business owners.
