Starbright Baby Blog

Freezer Giraffe Trick

2012-02-15T09:01:00.001-05:00

Something I do for my little one when she's struggling with teething is give her something cold. It's hard to find something that is warm for her to hold, but cold on her little gums. My sister came up with the great idea to soak her Teething Giraffe's head in water, put it in a baggy and stick it in the freezer. Don't let it freeze all the way, but just get nice and cold. That way, your little one has the warm giraffe body to hold, and the nice cold giraffe head to teethe on. Try it out!

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Pinterest!

2012-02-11T08:13:00.001-05:00

Yes, I've finally been sucked in... Mwa haa haa!!! If DH thought the computer was a time suck before, WATCH OUT!!! http://pinterest.com/starbrightbaby1/

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Teething Giraffe - Hootie

2012-02-10T10:49:00.001-05:00

Hootie is such a cutie!

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It's bedtime, baby!

2012-02-10T10:47:00.001-05:00

Fingers crossed my teething baby sleeps tonight... Any tips or tricks?

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It's bedtime, baby!

2012-02-10T10:46:00.001-05:00

Fingers crossed my teething baby sleeps tonight... Any tips or tricks?

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Wrap Scrap Teething Giraffe - Inara's Rainbow - $22.00

2012-02-10T10:44:00.001-05:00

This Teething Giraffe is made from a scrap of a Girasol Inara's Rainbow baby wrap. It is accented with cotton fabric for the underbelly, tail and ears.

I love this wrap so much because it was named after a dear friend's daughter, Inara.

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Sensory Play!

2012-02-10T10:41:00.001-05:00

Sensory play day!!! We're making shaving cream snow piles and running trucks through them. The boys will smell so nice when they're done! Do you do sensory play with your kiddos?

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Valentines!

2012-02-10T10:38:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentines Day!!! Starbright Daddy teaches a night class on Tuesdays. Boo! But the kiddos and I are going to eat some heart-shaped chocolate cake and heart-shaped pancakes for supper! We may throw in a messy craft or two. ;)

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Winter go away!

2012-02-10T10:34:00.001-05:00

We're getting sick of winter around here! (Or I know I am...) What do you do with your littles to cope with being cooped up indoors in the winter?

We have been trying to go to the YMCA 3 times a week. We also try to hit as many playdates and playgroups as we can. My Starbright Kiddo, who is newly 5, loves to go out and ride his bike in full snow gear. I like the snow if we don't have to go anywhere, but I'm an on-the-go type of person, so that's not often!

Spring, where are you?!?

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Teething Giraffe - Daisy - $16.00

2012-02-10T10:29:00.001-05:00

Daisy is such a sweet and cute giraffe. She was actually one of the first giraffes I made when I started the business! She is funky, fun and ready to help your baby make it through teething!

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What to do?

2012-02-10T10:26:00.001-05:00

My littlest Starbright Baby is 9 months old (almost 10! Waaah! Where does the time go!) Right now, she and my 2 year old have epic battles over *his* favorite toy, his ride-on choo choo. (By "epic battle" I mean he says "No BeeBee! MY choo choo!!!" and drives it away while the baby wails in disapointment.) I am thinking about getting her the same toy, but then I just know the minute I do, they'll move on to other things to have epic battles over. I keep hoping the two year-old's obsession with his choo choo will go away so the baby can claim it, but it's not happening! *sigh* I think it's time to visit my local toy seller. :giggle

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New Giraffe in the shop! Joyce!

2012-02-09T15:58:00.001-05:00

Joyce is super cute and named after my awesome neighbor's giraffe-loving mom! <3

Your little one will be delighted with this whimsical Giraffe! The neck and head are the perfect size for little hands to grasp and chew. Babies enjoy playing with the ears and tail, and the legs are easy to grab!

This teether is all natural and BPA free! (a huge advantage over traditional plastic teethers)

All of my Teething Giraffes are made using 100% pre-washed cotton fabric and they...

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

Twitter Giveaway!

2012-01-15T19:23:00.003-05:00

With the help of my little brother, I started tweeting. :) I want to get up to 500 followers, and then I'm going to randomly pick a follower of my twitter account to win a free Rhino! So tweet about it, and we'll see who the winner is! :)

Rhinos, Giraffes and Zebras, Oh my!!!

2012-01-14T12:22:00.003-05:00

I've been working on my Zebra pattern for about a year now, on and off between having a baby, moving, moving again, having another baby and then moving. (We're DONE... with moving at least!) I wanted to add another safari animal to the collection http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifbecause, well, three is a nice number. ;) I tried and tried to make a hippo, to no avail. He ended up looking like a deranged chipmunk and I ended up frustrated.

Luckily, my mom was here for a visit, and she suggested a rhino! Perfect! I knew that babies would love to teethe on the horn, as well as the legs. I got to work on the pattern and it only took 4 go-arounds to get it perfect! There are several listed in my etsy shop! Check them out!

Starbright Baby Blog

2012-01-14T12:14:00.002-05:00

I'm back to blogging! Watch for upcoming posts!

Vote For My Spring Fling Item!!!

2009-03-03T09:34:00.001-05:00

New Website!

2009-02-25T14:14:00.002-05:00

Starbright Baby has a new home on the web! It's starbrightbabyonline.com

There you can find out how to order Starbright Baby products, blogs that have featured us, contact info, and our new swatch page where you can see all the gorgeous fabric we have available for custom giraffes.

I'll still be posting finished custom giraffes and other items over here too!

Take a look around!

SAVE HANDMADE!

2009-01-23T13:56:00.002-05:00

Last summer after a flood of recalls due to lead tainted toys, congress passed the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) It mandates that all products intended for kids under the age of 12 be tested for lead. In effect, every toy on the shelf out there would be considered "toxic waste" if not tested. Sounds like a good law to help keep kids safe, right?

What congress didn't consider is the costs and affects this law would have on crafters like me as well as resale shops and people who donate kids items.

For me, I make very small batches of giraffes (like 10 per fabric pattern). Put aside the fact that the materials I use are either certified lead-free by the manufacturer (like the stuffing I use) or very very unlikely to have lead in it (like the fabric I use). I would have to pay anywhere from $500 to $2000 per fabric pattern to have it tested. That could add anywhere from $50-$200 in the pricetag for each giraffe! $214 giraffe anyone?!? ;)

The reality is that crafters like me, who use proven safe materials are going to put out of business or have to change thier business drastically.

Another thing that wasn't thought of when they passed the law was resale shops. There are thrift shops that are already pulling kids items from the shelves. The law says they don't have to test children's items to sell them, but that they'll be held liable if anything goes wrong. Many shops will just pull the items rather than put up with the headache of all of the regulations. I buy a lot of used clothing for my little guy, and this will change the way we shop for him.

The American Librrary Association is almost begging the CPSC and Congress to clarify their stance on books for children. At this point to comply with the law, libraries will have to close their children's sections! (see here)

This law also states that items that aren't tested can't even be GIVEN away. First of all think of all the perfectly good and safe toys that will end up in a landfill. Secondly, I think of the precious little knit hat volunteers made to give to newborn babies at the hospital. The ladies that make those put their hearts into each and every hat. No longer will they be able to make such a sweet donation.

This law touches everyone with kids, grandkids, or even people who just know kids. I urge you to write your representatives and ask them to add some common sense provisions to this law. I'm all for protecting kids, but we need to go after those who caused this problem. Right now the only punishment the companies that imported these toxic and dangerous toys is a larger market share.

Facebook Group!

2009-01-13T23:11:00.003-05:00

I finally broke down and started a Facebook group for Starbright Baby (actually I just finally figured out how to do it!) It's called "Starbright Baby Teething Giraffes." Come join us!

Wrap Scraps! (My Favorite!)

2009-01-08T15:17:00.002-05:00

I have been collecting wrap scraps for months now, and I finally got a bunch of them ready to go! They turned out really cute, and it makes me want to have another baby just so I can wrap him or her... ;)

I didn't wrap my almost 2 year old Aaron much as a newborn, and only got into it when he was about 9 months old. We were pouch and mei tai people before that. And now he's too big for me to wrap comfortably. Hopefully soon I'll have another one to snuggle! (and I already have a wrap on the way!)

Check out my shop for the full line, but here's one of my fav from the bunch:

Inka

Custom work

2008-12-11T15:02:00.006-05:00

I've been so super busy with the Christmas Season approaching! I've had a bunch of custom orders, and they've been really fun to make! Here are a few photos of some of the Giraffes I've been producing lately:

A toddler and teether made from a Didy Katja wrap

A toddler and a teether made from a Miami Hopp.

Teether made with some beautiful purple flowery fabric a customer sent in.

Here's a cute trio made from a set of coordinating fat quarters a customer sent in. They turned out so cute!

New! Organic Teething Giraffes

2008-10-24T16:34:00.002-04:00

New at Starbright Baby! Organic Teething Giraffes!

These cute giraffes are made with 100% organic cotton fabric. The stuffing is our usual renewable and eco friendly fiberfill (made with corn!) that is hypoallergenic.

Eliza:

Charlie:

Jack:

Some Customs!

2008-09-28T15:07:00.005-04:00

I finished up some custom Teething Giraffes this weekend.

First up, is a cute set of 2 Dinos and 1 giraffe made from an Iris Didy. The Dinos turned out so
cute, I'm offering it as a custom in my shop!

Also, a really talented lady from TBW sent me a scrap of a wrap that she had woven herself!!! It was just amazing to see, and I feel so lucky I got to work with the material. The weave is so intricate and beautiful, and it feels like it probably wraps like a dream! (It makes a pretty cute Giraffe too!)

I also got a request from a customer to make a larger sized giraffe for her little one. It turned out so cute! I also decided to list this as a custom option. I call it the "Toddler Giraffe" and it's approx 11" x 5" x 2.5"

Here it is next to a regular-sized Teething Giraffe. It's perfect for the big brother/big sister that is always stealing the baby's Teething Giraffe! (trust me... my little 3 year-old niece is ALWAYS stealing her little sister's giraffes!)

Freezer Giraffe

2008-09-27T00:07:00.002-04:00

My sister is the person who prodded me to make these cute giraffes. She lives 8 hours away, and while on a visit here, her sweet little 3 year old daughter latched onto my son's Teething Giraffe that a friend had given us when he was born. We actually had to hide it the night before they left or she would have taken it home!

I asked my friends where we could get another giraffe to give my niece. Unfortunately, their grandmother who had passed on was the one who made the giraffe.

A few months later, my sister came to visit again, and again her little girl carried the giraffe around with her everywhere she went. I knew I had to try and make one for her before she left. I ended up making 5, and she clutched all of them in her little fist (by the necks!) and was so delighted that she was able to take them home!

My sister now has another daughter who is 1 and teething a lot right now. Lulu has been whiny and irritated all day. Tylenol didn't help, teething tablets didn't help, and she only took a 1 hour nap! My sister was at a loss of what to do to help her little Lulu!

She spied a giraffe across the room and decided to do something drastic... she dunked his head in water, soaking it, and stuck him in the freezer until he was almost all the way frozen.

Lulu grabbed the giraffe and went to town. The cold felt good on her teeth, and it was still her familiar friendly giraffe. No plastic, no bpa's just cotton and ice.

When my sister called she said that Lulu is the happiest chewing on that cold giraffe than she has been all day. It feels great to have been able to help from so far away!

Here she is last summer chomping away! Little sweetie!

Someone Blogged about my Giraffes!

2008-09-25T22:50:00.004-04:00

Wowza! I always feel so blessed when someone notices these little guys and gives them a shout-out!

I was featured on a blog of a fellow etsian!

This Humble Abode

She makes these adorable lovies:

How cool!!!

New Giraffes!

2008-09-25T22:42:00.002-04:00

There are a few new giraffes that were posted yesterday.

Eve:

I just love this apple fabric from the Farmer's Market collection!

Haven:

Haven is another Farmer's Market fabric colorway. She's named after one of my little guy's sweet little friends! I don't know why, but the pinks and reds just remind me of her.

Jayne:

Jayne is such a cute print. I found this fabric at a little shop that was going out of business in a teeny Iowa town. It's the perfect scale for a little giraffe!

Some Customs I made last week

2008-09-25T22:38:00.004-04:00

I received this fabric from a nice mama from TBW. She had two carriers made from this fabric, and wanted giraffes to match! I think they turned out pretty darn cute.

I'm not sure of the name of this fabric ...

This is the beloved "Disco Dot" and it looks so great on a giraffe!

Welcome!

2008-09-25T22:33:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to start a blog for Starbright Baby since it started up, and just now have a minute to do it! I'll be posting photos of custom giraffes, new products, new lines and other fun things here.

I have a ton of ideas for Starbright Baby, and this will be a fun place to showcase them all!

Thanks for looking!