With littles of a certain age, everything goes to the mouth. Directly. I know babies learn so much about the world through their mouth and all of their senses, but I just can’t abide by board books and cardboard being gummed. (Yes, still no teeth!!)

So when I saw these wonderful fabric designs over at Spoonflower, I knew they would provide a great alternative. For him. And for me

You can order the fabric in organic cotton sateen, printed with water-based, eco friendly non toxic inks. And they are quite quick to sew up. We didn’t use cotton quilt batting inside, but you certainly could to give each page a little more depth.

Oh, and if you are looking for a custom-made organic cotton fabric book, you should check these out. They are just stunning. She had a Kickstarter campaign recently and has launched her own organic cotton book line.

The wooden floors on our 100  year old house are chilly on the toes this time of year. When it came to warming the little man-cub’s feet this winter, I wanted something that would grow with him and might even work in the early spring (outside) when I think he might be taking this first steps.

Unfortunately, so much conventional leather is tanned using chromium, and this is problematic on a number of levels. So, we found these beautiful little naturally dyed shoes here and they are as sweet as they are comfortable (I gather).

Chrome is a heavy metal that is mined mostly in developing countries under questionable conditions, sometimes, and much energy and resources are used to extract, transport and produce with the chrome. Morever, much of the leather tanning of conventional childrens’ shoes (as well as many leather goods) occurs in factories that do not use new, more environmentally friendly systems of production, which leads to the pollution of nearby water and soil with chrome effluent, and other toxins used in the making of the leather. Lastly while not all chrome is equally toxic (hexavalent chromium such as that which is found in pressure-treated wood, for example is really really really toxic… remember what Erin Brocovitch was fighting for?) studies have found concentrations of toxic chromium in leather goods, and in babies’ leather shoes. Not only can chromium act as an allergen for many people, but its residues can enter the skin and cause cellular-level damage, even damaging DNA. Yuck. You can learn more here.

When I watch my mancub work, hours a day, to pull himself up and then balance – upright – for a few moments, and then a few moments more… I am reminded of the tremendous thing that is walking. My children – all our children – so subtly and beautifully shine light on what we so often take for granted, don’t they?

Certainly the best I’ve ever had. The organic farmer who raises Black pigs near Ottawa told me it would be but me, of little actual piecrust making experience (more eating), doubted her. Aside from my sort of apprenticeship as a kid helping my mom, my own piecrust making experiences have been in the low-fat, attempts-at-healthy department. Usually yielding thick, hard to manage, and eat, crusts. And pies.

This piecrust was super easy, super simple, wheat and dairy free… and was simple to roll out ever so thin. It was delicious!

The secret? Rendered lard from organic Black pigs. I took 2 cups of light spelt flour, 3/4 cup of lard and enough cold water. And a dash of salt. I split it into 2 balls and refrigerated for a day (not intending to but life intervened). I rolled it our so easily, soo thin.

Have you, or do you use lard for baking?

Have you seen the new Styled e-mag by A Subtle Revelry’s designer Victoria?

Oh my.

A beautiful, do-able mix of styling and DIY decorating and food… I love the woodland wedding decor – using old belts for napkin holders, and lots of burlap. And her DIY geometric garland… and apple wood cake stand are wonderful.

It’s available free here. Next issue is in February!

It was pure chance. I just happened to spot these fabulous math sticks by Dominna a few months back and after a sweet gifting from her Aunt, my oldest-littlest was quickly using them every day.

We’ve never really used any other math manipulatives, so to speak, so I can’t speak about comparisons. But these sticks are truly wonderful. 100 sticks in 10 colors.

Simple and so very smart. My daughter is drawn heavily to color so these work really well for her. Counting, patterns, geometry, delving into each number….

Oh, and we found some old-fashioned, classic all-natural GUM erasers here. Most conventional erasers are actually made by toxic PVC (one of the most highly toxic substances, it’s an endocrine disruptor and carcinogen).

What do you use at home for math?

(top photo by Dominna)

We’re deep into snow here, as I’m sure so many of you are too. Ottawa’s Winterlude festival is coming up soon, in early February… and the world’s longest skating rink – on the Rideau Canal – will beckon us soon. For now we are learning (and regaining) our balance on the skating rinks at the park.

Have a great weekend!

Here are some of my favorites this week:

• a fair trade, PVC-free soccer ball that comes in kids sizes…. can spring be far off?

• the funniest Valentines’ Day card I’ve seen in awhile

• lots of Marimekko on sale here

And a decadent, quick way to use up extra risotto!

Life is funny like that. In the midst of working on our spring rabbit and egg sets – new collaborations with Erin from Imagination Kids – I discovered that my little man-cub is highly allergic to eggs.

Vega testing early on in his life, and trial and error had told us that eggs were fine for him. So in the midst of cutting dairy and gluten and nighshades and citrus… I still ate eggs and (I think) kept telling myself they were OK even when an increasingly loud voice inside said: “If he’s highly sensitive to everything else, how can he not be sensitive to eggs?”

And then the eczema went out of control, and his digestion suffered… and we knew it. Within 72 hours of cutting eggs completely, his skin was clear. It feels wonderful to know. To help him.

So I will turn my attention, instead, to the fabulous wooden, handpainted chick Erin made that we are pairing with our giant blue, wet-felted egg toy.

And the colorful wooden eggs that Erin has made and we are pairing with our handmade organic rabbit stuffed animals. Inspired by the true colors of eggs laid by heritage breeds of chicken, her eggs are wonderful toys – and with our rabbit, make a splendid spring gift set.

We have a few different rabbit & egg sets available here – all limited edition. We tend to make rabbits in spurts and probably won’t make another batch until closer to the Christmas season.

The rebirth of spring isn’t too far off now…

Here is what we prepared as birthday favours for my daughter to give to her friends at her birthday party this weekend. We did a twist on a traditional snow globe, using upcycled jam and honey jars, and vintage 1970s plastic cake toppers. And gold glitter.

First we prepared our jars (often the longest part! and tried to get as much of the leftover adhesive off the outside of the jars as possible…)

Then we filled them with filtered or distilled water, a tablespoon or so of glycerin, and glitter. Lots of glitter.

Then I carefully scraped off some of the white coating on the inside of the jar lids (being very careful not to spread that dust, as it contains toxic BPA) and hot glued our vintage plastic cake toppers to the inside of the jar lids.

Also, as the plastic figurines are from the 1960s or ’70s it’s quite possible they have lead paint on them, so I handled them carefully and washed hands well afterwards.

Screw on the lid, shake well… and repeat

When we prepared our skier snow globe, we noticed that we couldn’t see the skis very well… so we added a plastic lid we found in our pantry.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

You can find some of our favorite pieces from our shop over at uncovet today where they are part of a special direct sale (with some savings on them too).

One of them is our new boiled wool cape, topped with a wooden button and a sweet hood. We’ve made them in ivory white boiled wool (so soft, so warm!) and a Little Red Riding-hood-esque cherry red. The red cape is lined in our favorite Japanese linen/cotton fable printed fabric, and the white one in a delicate black and white.

We have them in 2 sizes in our shop (only the red boiled wool cape is part of the Uncovet sale). The smaller one fits sizes 12 months -3T (approximately) and the larger one is a 3-5T size.

We have just a few of these handmade wool capes, hipster banadana bibs, double-thick organic personalized hooded baby towels and sheep quilts up for sale today. We’re excited to be featured there as I’ve been drooling over the daily picks. Gorgeous planters and sisal rugs, and other delicious handmade pieces that seem just right. At least I’m not the only one drooling around here (Mr. ManCub has no teeth yet but I’m thinking/hoping he might be getting some?!)

We were standing at the red light, having picked up the makings of my soon-to-be spelt tourtiere pie (nursing mamas can have crazy cravings too, right?) She looked up at me, so calm but so intent. ” Mama”, she said, “I think I have a problem with the insulation on my feet.”

I couldn’t help myself. I burst out laughing – a deep belly laugh that felt amazing to release. She didn’t understand what was so funny.

“For serious, Mama. I’m never wearing cotton socks outside again.” (She had chosen to layer alpaca over cotton in the -30C weather we had a few days back). “From now on, only wool over wool.”

Oh, my subtle first born. She has hardly ever, to my knowledge, announced that she was hungry. Instead she’ll ask when supper was or could we go in the kitchen to do some art? It drives me a little crazy, all of this deciphering. But I see her perceiving her world and her place in it with such intensity and detailed delicacy at the same time. I am so lucky to be her Mama, to help guide her on her way. Sometimes (more so than ever, lately) I feel her wisdom prompting me along too. And that is a wonderfully humbling experience, isn’t it?