Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Girl Tools

I'm a little bit of a girly girl at heart, not the frou frou type just a little love of some good pampering and SHOES don't get me started on shoes! but nonetheless growing up I climbed trees, went fishing and camping and hung out with the boys. My dad had a construction company so I'm proud to say I also know how to use power tools and enjoy the occasional DIY at home. One of the classes I enjoy most in my course covers electricity, audio/video, lighting and air cooling systems, not exactly fluffing pillows! I hope to raise my little girl in a way that will evoke balance, (I'm not crazy about Barbie dolls but heck I grew up with them, played with them longer than I'd like to admit, and I came out pretty o.k.) so I plan on doing my best to introduce her to as wide a scope of activities as I can. There probably aren't many men who grew up without a toy tool set as boys except of course maybe my dear hubby... but I haven't seen any tools geared towards little girls besides those horrid pastel plasticy fisher price sets.
I was so excited by these new "Girly" tools that I just had to have them! we're not talking girly tools that you hide deep at the bottom of your purse, I have a few years before I need to explain those, rather these awesome tools by Fiona of Fede.


Hand crafted out of a mix of new and vintage fabrics these tools are tres chic and every baby can use a little sophistication, even if she's just drooling on it! These are already ours, sorry...but you can order your own through her etsy shop and she'll happily do custom orders, and there's a great selection for the other little builders in your life too.

Sitting Pretty

My little one has reached the ripe old age of six months and has started to eat solids! actually her maiden voyage with "real" food started with some mushed up banana at exactly five months old, which she gobbled up, problem is nothing since seems to compare, we've tried apples, pears, avocado, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash.... we're not even talking the yucky green stuff that even I won't eat! I hadn't planned to start weaning her till the text book six months but she'd been so vocal and teary eyed every time we ate in front of her that we just gave in. If she was eating she was going to need a place to sit so we started looking for a highchair, I'll admit that I was biased to start with, I've always had a thing for wooden highchairs and I've scrubbed down enough crusty baby food leftovers out of traditional plastic highchairs to know that that probably wouldn't be the route I'd take, not to mention I think they're plastic monstrosities! I refuse to have plastic baby gear take over my life and cramp my style so imagine my joy at spotting the Stokke tripp trapp early on in my pregnancy. I love the concept of your child being at table height and how it encourages us to sit and eat as a family, it's great for babies posture and it blends in great with our existing table and chairs. We opted for the natural finish but it comes in ten vivid colours/finishes.


It will definitely put a dent in your wallet but unlike other highchairs which cost quite alot here anyway you won't have an urge to banish it to storage or give it away, after just a couple months of use. Turns out this chair was designed by a like minded dad who designed the prototype for his son over 30 years ago! there's something to be said of scandinavian' design relevance spanning over decades.

I must say that I did do a little market research before making my final decision and I tried giving some other chairs a chance, we checked out the Bloom Fresco available here at Shilav, it looks really cool and modern in a "Jetsons" sort of way but my main turnoff was when I attempted to snap the tray on at the store it pinched my hand resulting in a rather unsightly bruise that took weeks to go away! that and the arm and a leg price tag! it also has a rather large foot print and cannot be folded.


While visiting that Shilav we also came across the Inglesina Zuma, it looks like a Fresco/tripp trapp Hybrid. It comes equipped with a two layered seat pad and a removable tray insert. It appears Inglesina is branching out into the world of Baby "Interior Design" with it's new line M'home, awash with metallics and primary brights It's a little too Hi-techy for my liking and even designer plastic is still plastic.


It was Mies van der Rohe who announced less is more, and I couldn't agree more, I love the simplicity of great design and who knows maybe my grandchildren will be proud to use this great piece of "vintage" design in the years to come!




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