On Saturday, May 4th, we celebrated our 10th anniversary
at our newly renovated Chicago location. Customers were greeted outside
with Nod 10th Anniversary
balloons designed by artist Michelle Romo. They could also indulge in the ever
so popular Sweet Mandy B’s cupcakes, get a temporary tattoo by Tattly Designs, or
get their face painted by artists commissioned from our friends at Aden + Anais. A looming stage also
hosted a variety of outdoor entertainment throughout the day. Musician Justin
Roberts played
some tunes.
The
Emerald City Theatre performed The Cat in The Hat. The Old Town School
of Folk Music’s very own Maria McCullough taught a ¡Hola! Wiggleworms music
class. And magician Sean Masterson amazed the crowd. Inside, customers were
super excited to see the new renovations. Kids were treated to some crafting
from Sweet
Paul Magazine’s kids’ edition and Make a Mask from Mudpuppy let kids design
their own mask. Local apparel retailer Psycho Baby sold exclusive Land of Nod
t-shirts and Smilebooth set up a photo booth for the customers, complete with
fun products from the store to pose with. Checkout this Smilebooth video
montage:
I was inspired by this beautiful wooden rainbow
stacking toy
to create a simple rainbow party! Nope, no buckets of crazy colored buttercream
or tie-dye cupcake insides or layers of coloured cake here! Just some lovely
vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, dressed to impress in
every-colour-of-the-rainbow cupcake liners and fashioned with colourful flags.
Children's parties needn't always be jacked to the nines! All you need is a selection (even three different colours!) of cupcake liners, a few rolls of Japanese washi tape and the cutest inspiration: your baby's own toys.
You can even use those coloured cupcake liners to make a very cute and very easy festive garland, as I wrote about here - the striped liners with the white centers work great because they look like stripey little starbursts. Simply open cupcake liners flat, and use clear tape to adhere them to a few feet of string!
The "Family Business Wall" was born out of a had-it-up-to-here moment with clutter on the kitchen counter, family calendars being unavailable at a glance, and sounds of "I'm bored!" from the kiddos while I'm fixing dinner.
We had a smallish wall in our kitchen near the pantry with very little on it. (Just a dry erase calendar that hadn't been updated in half a year. For shame.) I thought it might be cool to add some texture and interest to the otherwise black and white kitchen by installing a sort of "message board" on that wall, with things that could serve the whole family.
I carefully selected things that would solve each of our issues: a calendar for us to write all over, clipboards for rotating photos and prints, a magazine pocket to hold mail and important papers, pretty artwork to make it lovely, and fun chalkboard and magnetic activities for the kids so they could be with me in the kitchen (yet out of the way!) while I'm cooking. I even added a tray at the bottom to hold chalk and erasers and a magnetic face game. I had a plan!
Then came time to draft out the plan. Mmmm... I love a fresh sheet of graph paper! I worked out dimensions, drew all the different items to scale and cut them out so I could rearrange them on my little paper wall until I figured out the perfect set up for our space.
Next, it was time to stain the wood (I used those rough fencing boards at Lowe's that are $1.65/ea and mimic the look of pallet wood without all the trouble of harvesting it). I got a lot of questions about staining when I shared my wood wall tutorial, so I thought I'd include a little video this time around to demonstrate just how not-intimidating it actually is.
I had two cans of stain that were both nearly empty (walnut and black, I believe), so I just married them to get a dark-but-not-too-dark brown. Using an old t-shirt and light swipes (just keep your hand moving - that's the key!), the staining step went super quickly and it was time to let the stain dry and the wood acclimate to the indoor temp before I put it up on the wall.
I'm not going to assume everyone has the same size space as me, so sharing dimensions and such is silly. But I will tell you that if you're not butting your wood up against another wall, installing a temporary straight edge board as a guide (I used a spare piece of baseboard we had in our garage) will yield a nice, straight line in the end.
Also a level. Don't you dare tackle this project without a level nearby.
Once I knocked out the wall installation (in case you're wondering, I used a nail gun and tried to stick to the studs), it was time for the fun part: hanging all the goodies! I wanted one of my magnetic circles to also act as a chalkboard, so I applied a (slightly larger) chalkboard decal directly on the metal circle and trimmed the edges with the sharp edge of a pair of scissors.
I was super excited to hang our Alphabet Soup canvas on the wall, though I've been tempted to move it around the house so I can enjoy it in different rooms as well. (Up close it's crazy cool!)
I managed to finish the project in a day, so you can imagine Oliver's delight to get off the bus and discover what Mom had been cooking up in the kitchen while he was at school.
The magnetic face game was an awesome icing on the cake for the kids. They love getting silly with eyes and hair, or using the chalkboard to draw bodies on their people.
xoxo, Raechel
Raechel Myers blogs at Finding My Feet. When she's not elbow deep in her next DIY project, you'll likely find her helping her 6-year-old with his Kindergarten homework or playing babies with her 3-year-old daughter. She lives with her husband in Franklin, TN where they can only hope to train their kiddos to love the Lord and take their dishes to the kitchen sink.
Once out of toddlerhood, kids start to understand the world better and
ask more critical questions. Sometimes the questions are so deep and
layered that I’m shocked that they are coming out of such a young child.
The wheels in my daughter’s brain never stop turning, and coming up with
answers to her detailed questions certainly keeps me on my toes. When she
is not trying to unravel all the mysteries of the world, she is just like every
other 6 year old, spending hours upon hours playing with her toys. These are
some of her favorites.
1. Bowling Lanes: Family fun for everyone. Great indoor or outdoor
activity and there is no threat of damage with the soft construction.
5. Off Broadway Puppet Theater:
Storytelling, for both adults and kids.
Provides an escape from a media-soaked environment, and provides family
bonding and imagination.
6. Easel: Art promotes early
forms of communication and social and emotional skills. Providing a child with their own special art
space provides a sense of ownership of the process of their art. From
beginning to end, the art is truly theirs!
7. Slipper Chair and Beanbag: A
place of their very own. Even moms and dads can fit on the 40” beanbag.
8. Strum and Get It: Teaching a
child to play an instrument helps memory retention skills, enhances
coordination, and teaches persistence.
Jayne
has a lot of experience with children as a former elementary school teacher and
a mom of two kids. In her job as a customer service specialist at Nod, she
offers advice to customers on our wide array of products, 90% of which she and
her family already own. A Chicago native, she’s mastered multiple seasons,
often in one week, while being able to cite 90’s pop culture and musical
references at the drop of a hat. Speaking of hats, ask her about the time
she looked like Blossom.
Our windows needed something pretty to brighten up these winter afternoons, so I cut tissue paper into squares and then had the girls attach them to contact paper. We used a second sheet of contact paper to keep everything in place and hung our creations in the window. Easy.
Oddly, I didn’t like pink
growing up but I’m embracing it as an adult. This month I have bright fuchsia
hair that is rapidly fading to a soft pink. I’ve realized pink doesn’t have to
be just girly and feminine; it can be strong, nurturing and passionate.
This classic combo is so
easy to achieve through our bedding collections and accessories.
Remember, you can start small with accents and
curtains. Although, you might be confident and ready for pink bedding, walls
and rugs! Embrace pink.
By: Julia DeNamur
Growing up Julia loved color so much she gave
her crayons different genders and specific positions in the box based on who
they got along with. Fast forward to adulthood, and Julia had the opportunity
to work for a paint company where she honed her eye for color, and
sometimes even got to name colors things like Dandelion Scream and Wild Child.
Today Julia works at Nod as a Graphic Designer, and channels her love of color
into her constantly changing hair & nail colors, as well as colorful
designs for Nod's website.
This
was another story
book-based art experience that Avery had when she was a toddler.
We read Eric Carle'sLittle Cloud together,
which is a charming and of course beautifully illustrated and collaged story
about Little Cloud and his shape-changing adventures. Avery glued cotton
balls onto paper to resemble clouds. Other creative ideas for pairing art
with Little Cloud can be found here.
Once
your baby transforms into a toddler, the game really changes! I know my
kids were absolutely fascinated by the world around them, and I had to work
overtime to keep up with all of their questions. I always found it
helpful to have talking points to help explain why things were the way they
were, and we often had long conversations that stemmed from our wide variety of
toys. These are some of the toys that helped my kids develop their
ever-growing vocabularies and helped to broaden their horizons.
Toddler Gifts:
1.
Big Box of Colorful Blocks: Absolutely
Gorgeous. Hand crafted heirloom piece that your grandkid’s grandkids will use.
3.
Crocodile Rocker: Great for developing large motor skills as kids climb up on
it and as they demonstrate mastery of balance while they rock back and forth.
4.
Nod Blocks: A CLASSIC! Stimulates
children’s minds and offers a variety of developmental activities, from
learning the alphabet to understanding the spatial relationships between
objects.
5.
Nod Chair: Story Time, Rest Time, Play
Time! Everyone loves a (personalized)
space of their own.
6.
Rainbow Stacker: Great for early problem
solving development. As the puzzle is built, any piece placed out of order
disrupts the triangular shape of the toy, and prompts redirection. On the
other hand, this toy also promotes abstract art when the circles are placed
however the child pleases.
7.
Gummy Bear Nightlight: Eases fear of the
dark, plus kids can invite it into bed and have a sleepover with it.
8.
Personalized Growth Charts:
Personalization makes it extra special; this is a gift that literally
grows with your child.
9.
Abacus: Letters +
numbers + counting = early literacy skills. Provides consistent repetition, making
it perfect for aspiring mathematicians and grammarians alike.
By Jayne Mangione
Jayne has a lot of experience with children as a former elementary school teacher and a mom of two kids. In her job as a customer service specialist at Nod, she offers advice to customers on our wide array of products, 90% of which she and her family already own. A Chicago native, she’s mastered multiple seasons, often in one week, while being able to cite 90’s pop culture and musical references at the drop of a hat. Speaking of hats, ask her about the time she looked like Blossom.
I'm mortified to admit this. I don't even know
when it happened. But my children are spoiled. Not in the Veruca SaltI-Want-It-Now type
of way. But in the I-Can't-Do-Anything-For-Myself kind of way.
I first realized we had a problem when tripping over abandoned shoes and
backpacks became a daily occurrence for me. The problem escalated further when
even the simplest of tasks were handed over to me:
"Hey Mom, can you get me a drink of
water?"
"I can't get dressed. Can you do it for
me?"
"But I like it when you brush my
teeth."
Every time I ask anything of the kids, one quickly responds
with "I can't" (Translation: I don't want to); while the other stands like a statue, unmoving, staring at me like
I'm an alien directly from the planet Zebulon.
Time to put on your shoes.
I can't. // Bewildered stare
Put on your seatbelt. I can't. // Bewildered stare
Take your dishes to the sink,
please. I can't. // Bewildered stare
I'm the cause of the whole problem. It's embarrassing to
admit, but it's the truth. Oftentimes, it's easier (and quicker) to do things
for my kids than to coax and plead and listen to their never-ending chorus of
complaints. Clearly the path of least resistance is getting us nowhere fast. So
it's time for some changes.
I'm mentally prepared for the imminent eye-rolling, whining and protesting as I
unveil and enforce our new plan. But it's high time I teach my children to be
self-reliant. They'll thank me for this someday. And even if they don't, I'll
know I did my best. And that's worth something in my book.
My plan: Simple,
realistic, non-negotiable chores and expectations. No rewards. We all live
here; we all get to help. And I promise to stop doing things for my children
that I know they can do for themselves. Easy, right?
To make things a bit more exciting and motivating, I've made some visuals.
Everyone gets their own daily dry-erase checklist. Even the grownups.
(Who doesn't love a good checklist, anyway?) That way everyone can see
we're all helping out. And I've got "chore sticks" for some
additional weekend fun.
Wish me luck as I stand my ground and teach my kids some good life-lessons.
I'll let you know how it goes.
***
Due
to the overwhelming response I got when I first unveiled these checklists, I'm
happy to say I just added a customized
printable version to my Etsy Shop.
As a special bonus for all my Honest to Nod buddies, I'm having a Buy One, Get
One FREE sale on the checklists through the end of May. Simply add two
checklists to your cart and type in the promo code CHECKLISTBOGO at
checkout to receive your second one free.
When we first laid our eyes on this photo from writer/photographer
Kelle Hampton, we knew we had to use it for our catalog cover. And, after
hearing the story behind the photo in Kelle’s own words, we knew we had to
share it with you.
“It
was a moment that took me by surprise—not that I hadn’t anticipated tearing up
when my eldest daughter met her new brother, but I guess I hadn’t prepared for
exactly what that scene would look like—a completely breathtaking display of
love. For all the preparation I had given her those last months of my
pregnancy—holding up my hands to show how he’d be “about this big,” describing
how babies cried, demonstrating with dolls how newborns needed to be held with
their heads safely supported—I couldn’t have expected the instant and natural
way my little girl mothered her baby brother the moment he was placed in her
arms. From my hospital bed I watched as my daughter protectively embraced
my new son, slowly and silently bringing her nose to his until they
touched. And they stayed like that for a good minute while I wiped tears
from my cheeks and reached for my camera. Here she just met him and yet
suddenly, he belonged to her. I knew then I need not stress over how we’d
all adjust to a new baby or what we’d have to do to ensure everyone felt
loved. We’d figure it out.
Instantly, instinctively, he fit into
the spaces of our lives that were waiting for him. Where there is family,
there is love.” – Kelle Hampton
Kelle Hampton
is the photographer and writer behind Enjoying the Small Things, the
award-winning blog where she weaves together photography and words to share
with fellow life enthusiasts. She currently resides in Naples, Florida with her
family.
