Upstate Fancy » kids

ART STAR PICKS: phil barbato

peppersprouts — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:27:02 +0000

Next up in this weeks picks from the upcoming Philadelphia Art Star Craft Bazar is… Phil Barbato. Phil makes so many awesome things, from shirts, to prints, to little stuffed monsters. This guy is sure to be hit this weekend with the young and young at heart. I’m really looking forward to checking out his work in person, and I think that bear shirt has Matt’s name written all over it!

ART OBJECTS designed for kids

peppersprouts — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:19:01 +0000

Fidoodle makes some really amazing objects fro children. Centered around the art of storytelling, their objects are sure to entertain both young and old alike. Their illustration style is whimsical and quirky while remaining both age and gender neutral. I would love to have a set of their mini city blocks to adorn my bookshelf, but i also want to buy a set to send to my cousin who just had her first child. All of the Fidoodle goodies are of course handmade with natural materials and non toxic ink so there’s nothing stopping the little ones from putting the occasional block in their mouth. Fidoodle is another one of those little companies that just makes me smile.

PLAYING PRETEND for grownups

peppersprouts — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:00:58 +0000

This is seriously awesome! The kymera magic wand is a must have for all of those fantasy bookworms. This little device can control a variety of your electronic devices without any buttons. Just a flick of the wrist and you can chnage channels, skip a song or even turn the volume up for you can watch your favorite Harry Potter movie in style. Granted this gift would be fun for the kids it would also look pretty cool as the only “remote” on your coffee table.

CUSTOMIZABLE kid plates

peppersprouts — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:59:13 +0000

Does your son love pizza? Or maybe your niece loves to play tennis. Check out these customizable plates from Alphabet plates. There are sport designs, favorite foods, or just a cartoon version of your favorite wee one. It’s such a simple process, just pick and choose your design and type in your little ones name. I would have loved these growing up.

PLUSH SOUP and the plants you can’t kill

peppersprouts — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:53:31 +0000

Matt and I have quite a few plants that are doing quite well this year, and quite a few that didn’t make it. The basil we planted is quite a trooper and keeps bouncing back even when it looks like it’s on it’s last leg, And our strawberry plants are currently yielding a crop of 3 strawberries so we are pretty excited about that. I just don’t think either one of us has a green thumb, we are however really good at taking care of our corgi, so thats a gold star in my book. I’m sure you know some friends like us, the ones who love having plants but just can’t seem to keep them going for a month or more. Well Plushsoup has the perfect solution.

Check out these amazing plush plants. You don’t have to water them or even keep them in direct sunlight (or partial shade depending on the variety). With these little faces how can you keep from smiling with one of these guys on your window sill. You won’t even have to pay the neighbors kid to come over and water it while you are on vacation this summer. Plushsoup also has some other nifty little critters available for adoption. I really think this would make the perfect gift for that favorite somone headed off to college for the first time in the fall.

MOVE OVER VINYL TOYS wood is back in town

peppersprouts — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:44:28 +0000

If you don’t think these are adorable I don’t know if we can ever be real friends. These painted wood toys from bubblesinburry are amazing! And don’t worry parents these wood toys are finished in non-toxic materials so it’s okay to let your kids play with them too. I personally would probably just put them on on a shelf and admire them from afar. I love the retro look to them as well, complete with old school tape players painted on their sides. And just in case you haven’t fallen in love with one, they are also open to custom orders, I’m thinking wedding cake toppers!

DIY KITS to keep you busy this summer

peppersprouts — Wed, 20 May 2009 13:49:01 +0000

my boyfriend was joking that i need a new project to work on, (I currently have 4 rather large projects going on currently, one of them is of course my product line.) But that got me thinking about all the great things that are available on etsy, and all the wonderful kits you can buy on there to learn a new skill, make something tasty, or just make someone’s day. I used to love getting craft kits to keep me busy in the summer months. So I took a peek at the vast pages of the etsy universe and here are a few of my favorites.

a. DIY cheese kit from Urban Cheesecraft $21 b. Designer chair tablescape kit from L Brandt $30 c. Giraffe embroidery pattern from Penguin and Fish $6 d. Make your own cup cozy from byrd and belle $8 e. Spice kits from Purpose design $16 f. Cottontail needle felting kit from fancy tiger $12 g. Moss terrarium kit from Lady Farrah $35

BOMBS away!

peppersprouts — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:15:54 +0000

Happy new year to all of you. After a much needed vacation, Upstate Fancy is back in action. I was able to do most of my holiday shopping on etsy this year, and one of my favorite finds was the Missile Cat from pillowcat. Move over sock monkeys, there’s a new cat in town. Be it stripped, argyle or even polka-dotted, these adorable little cats are fashioned from some very soft socks. Collect them all and wage a kitty war of your very own, probably the cutest cat fight ever.

SLOW AND STEADY wins the race

peppersprouts — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:54:59 +0000

I’m a big fan of handmade soft toys, and todays find made me almost fall out of my chair. Terry the Tortoise, from Hel Made, is self proclaimed as being the fastest tortoise in the UK. I do wonder how he would do against my one eyed walrus in his home turf. Its a battle of the sea creatures! Terry definitely will win in the uniqueness category, his shell is intricately made with layers of hexagons that demand attention. But my walrus might win a sympathy vote, due to his eye-loss from doing battle with the great corgi Einstein.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS is my two front teeth

peppersprouts — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:31:37 +0000

Why has no one thought of this before? I love, love, love the official tooth fairy kit by Notion Farm. A beautiful way to record a precious childhood memory. The kit contains a beautiful letter-pressed certificate of Record to file with your local tooth fairy and a screen-printed cloth bag for your past and future tooth deposits. You can now keep track of the age the tooth was lost, method of extraction and compensation for said tooth. Can’t wait to see who is going to stock these amazing memory collectors.