Optimist

Etsy's Friday

Baby Yeti: These are Brownie and Addo made of old (hopefully clean....!) socks, made on a farm in the area of Washington.

Edee: Edee was born out of love and admiration for her Grandmother who has sewn all her life. You can also check out her blog.

Poppylane: I especially love this handmade quilted cottage wall hanging. Kali of Tasmania is the creative lady of these adorable items.
I am ready for the weekend. This afternoon I will go shoe shopping with and for my son (I know nicer things to do...). Tomorrow night my husband has invited me for a romantic surprise dinner. Enjoy your weekend!

Noukie's from Belgium

As you know I am a big fan of anything to do with sailing. Because we started our son's room in this theme, I am always looking for new items. When I saw this Noukie's' range "Captain Paco" I got very excited, especially after finding out they have a concept store in Frankfurt. Hopefully I'll find the time to visit it one of these days.

The other reason for my interest in Noukie's is that I am pregnant again. 6 months already but time has passed by so quickly that I have not really been realizing it. Getting a second is so different from being pregnant for the first time. Today however, I suddenly felt a need to think about the baby room and tried to decide on colors and some new accessories. I will show you my progress in the coming weeks...
Back to Noukie's; they started with soft toys for the very young children, but now they have a full line of textiles in different themes. Noukie's is sold in 26 countries around the world.

Modern cuckoo clocks

HeadsUp Design offers cuckoo clocks with a delightful twist. On the hour, a wacky farm or jungle character pops out of the doors and sounds with a ’Moo’ or ’Bawk’. I think my son would love one of these funny clocks. Smart detail for impatient kiddo's like my son: there is a button to let it up pop out again and again... For nighttime a light sensor automatically shuts off the character when the room becomes dark.

HeadsUpDesign also sells other contemporary gifts like this sheep hook that will automatically bleat when anything is hung on it, or the Ducky toilet paper holder that waddles and flaps his wings when the roll is pulled. There is an online shop for the US and UK and they sell through retailers across Europe, US and Japan.

Domburg: the Dutch North sea coast

Last weekend we were in Domburg which is a small Dutch village at the North sea coast. Together with 5 other families and in total 9 kids (between 0-5 years old) we spent a wonderful weekend in apartment hotel Bommelje. Bommelje is a modern family-oriented hotel. You can imagine that having breakfast and dinner with 12 grown-ups and 9 kids is very chaotic but the friendly staff was very flexible and supportive!

We were very lucky to have beautiful weather and spent most of the time on the beach. The kids were enjoying themselves and had a lot of fun and thus the parents as well...

Diaper bag finds

I never had a diaper bag; I just use my ordinary handbag which is always too full and gives me lots of stress to find something. Maybe it is time to buy one of these super practical though stylish bags which I saw at Kind+Jugend:

Allerhand from HongKong: Inside function outside style...They have  a huge collection in pure and trendy colors. Also some great bags for kids, including  a ball & bottle bag for soccer or other ball professionals...

Gittabags from the US: Trendy look combined with maximal functionality. It is amazing what fits in one bag with smart details like thermal pockets, cell phone compartments and clips for keys or pacifiers.

Fun items from Kind+Jugend

Skummis from Sweden: Totally adorable soft toys in bright colors and unusual shapes. The range includes stroller toys, baby rattles and cuddly toys. Available at Nordic Kids in the UK.

Oolaalaa from Holland: A new range of sit balls with a clever memory function, it always returns to its original round shape. I sat in it and it's really comfortable. Available in 5 sizes for all ages and heights. Especially the globe is very fascinating: a great way to learn about capitals, oceans and countries!
Last post for this week; we will be off to Zeeland in the Netherlands where we will spend a long weekend with 5 other families, all with 1 0r more kids. It will be fun!

Decoration tips

Today 2 Dutch companies which helps you to decorate your child's room. Very different but both unique!

Maud Design: a wide variety of decoration items like lamps, blankets, storage bags in a few different themes like "Green as Grass" and "Dutch glory".

Olgalubbers: "Animal at works" or "Beestenwerk": funny animals which appear on paintings, blankets, birth announcements. Now also available "Koppies" - 3D animal heads...

Furniture finds

These are my furniture finds from the Kind+Jugend fair:

Transform from Germany: clean and modern lines with a touch of color.

Ralph1 Design from Holland: Playful furniture: a puzzle bed and a changing table with fun details.

Lazzari from Italy: Combination of wood and canvas containers and a modular high chair which can be transformed into many other furniture pieces.
There are at least two more companies which I like to show but unfortunately their websites are not yet updated with their latest products. To follow...

Hoppop by Baby Art

I am still recuperating from the Kind+Jugend fair in Cologne which I visit in the weekend. It is just unbelievable how much is out there. I have been walking around for hours and hours and collecting tons of brochures. Now it is hard to decide what is really worth showing on Optimist!

First product to show, which won the Kind+Jugend Innovation Award 2007 in its category, is the Hoppop by Baby Art from Belgium. Many of you probably know Baby Art, the 3D imprints of baby's hands and feet. These DIY kits are a big hit and are sold in 115 countries worldwide. Hoppop is something totally different: a diaper bag that transforms into a baby seat in just seconds. You need to watch the demonstration video: Hoppop is an amazingly smart product! It is being launched at the moment and should soon be available in your country.
Many more great finds from Kind+Jugend will follow this week...

Kind+Jugend

Tomorrow I will be off to Cologne for the weekend to visit Kind+Jugend. It is a leading global fair for baby and children products. With over 650 international exhibitors I expect to find many new inspiring finds. I am very excited and I am so happy that Jolanda from Label-Label gives me the possibility to visit this fair.

I met her through Optimist just before we moved to Germany and now we live only a few kilometers apart. What a small world! She started her company Label-Label 3 years ago and has been very successful. She just introduced a new range of label blankies and playmats. Have a look at the Label-label site; I just love these cute birds made of terry toweling.