Rookie Moms

Today I saw an infant carrier whose plastic parts had been stickered by an obviously much older sibling with punk rock and skateboard stickers. The upholstery had a patch sewn onto it, Beastie Boys proudly displayed just above the infant’s head. Very cool, I thought, a car seat with “flare”. Then, I spotted these on Nested. I LOVE THIS IDEA! Add flare to my diaper bag to commemorate significant episodes in my life as a mother? You betcha. The badges come in ten skills, allowing you to boast about your motherhood survival skills on airplane rides, shopping trips, through diaper blow-outs and temper tantrums. Do you breastfeed? Give yourself a badge!

mama merit badges was started as a response to the dearth of authentic recognition for the very hard work of mothering. Overly sentimentalized depictions of motherhood belie the actual daily duties that alternately feel like drudgery, brave political acts, and absurd performance art. This irreverent award system invites public dialogue about and visual recognition for the unpaid and often ignored labor that is parenting.

The badges are 1½ inches, iron on, and 100% embroidery. They can be worn on your diaper bag, purse, tote, jacket, jeans, scarf or baby carrier. Stick them on your wall, fridge or bulletin board.

How awesome is that?

Did you know the Cardboard Box was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998?

My mom sent me a link to fridgeboxworld.com and I got so excited about it that I had to email the director, April Capil, and ask her to write an activity for us. She has founded a company that produces cardboard boxes especially for the purpose of imaginary play, and she explains, “I brought the cardboard box back via the cardboard-box-with-training-wheels, Fridge Box, as a way of being “green” and encouraging creativity and resourcefulness in the generation behind us. The cardboard box, of course, is one of the few toys made from recycled materials, that can also be recycled when you’re done with it!”

More from April:

“So, you’re sold on bringing back the cardboard box. Now what do you do? Well, start with a box, preferable a big one. It doesn’t have to be a Fridge Box; you don’t need to buy some McGroovy’s rivets (but you can!). Just start with a large empty box and ask your children what it looks like to them. Some may say, “Duh, a box,” but chances are, their imagination isn’t totally atrophied; it’s just been waiting for a workout. Ask them if they think that, together, you could turn this box into something else (if necessary, hit up Mr. McGroovy’s site for some fresh ideas). It’s good to start with a structure (a house or building) or a vehicle (like a train, truck, car, plane, spaceship, submarine, etc.), and let things evolve from there.If you have two or three boxes, even better - see if you can connect them somehow, like a series of boxcars on a track, or a mansion with “West” and “East” wings. Start adding to the box(es) using cutouts from magazines, glue sticks, markers, crayons - whatever you have handy. Feel free to cut out windows, doors, escape hatches… in a couple of hours, you can go to the moon and back in a cardboard rocket with your children - the only limit is their imaginations.

In closing, don’t be afraid your child will scoff at this lowly plaything made of brown kraft. The cardboard box is a favorite of children all over the world, and can provide hours of creative play with minimal costs and a minimal impact on the planet. Best of all, it builds skills that toys with more bells and whistles can’t - creativity and resourcefulness. And who doesn’t need more of that?

I saw this activity on photojojo this morning and ran right out for bulldog clips to get started.

Unfortunately, my local Office Depot does not carry them in stock (nor does the next one down the street, which I stupidly thought was a different chain… but was the same chain!) so I got these over the top zebra-printed binder clips instead.

As you can see they match the weird zebra theme we have in the office. But that’s a story for another day.

Back to the activity.

Why’s It Cool?

Why would you cover your walls with bulldog clips and hang a bunch of photos? So many reasons. It’s super cheap, it’s ridiculously easy, and it requires practically no skill. Plus it means you can change the photos you have up at any time with practically zero effort.

If you have binder clips around and some fun snapshots that you’re meaning to Do Something With, this project can be done in the span of the tiniest nap.

The instructions on Photojojo for the bulldog clip photo wall give variations like OCD-style and tips for not creasing your photos. Check ‘em out.

If you want to go the high-end route, read Whitney’s instructions for the classier “Family Photo Wall.”

Hey, did you hear? The price of US postage went up. Again! So while I’m busy double-reindeer stamping our late Mother’s Day cards, you can put your favorite photo on real US postage stamps on PhotoStamps.com. For (slightly) more than double the cost of regular stamps, you can make custom photo stamps with your adorable kid’s picture.

There are discounts when you buy 2 or more sheets. It’s an adorable concept for sure and I love to make practice stamps (like this one) with the interface, but the cheapskate in me can’t stomach the prices. I’d rather get real stamps and put kid stickers as a sealer (or inside for re-use).

Has anyone done this and loved it? Or can you help me think of an occasion when paying double for stamps could save me on putting something expensive in the envelope…?

Bye bye cheaper stamps.