2019 Gift Guide
We've invited a few of our favorite IG mamas to share their gift picks for the Holidays! They'll also be taking over our IG stories for the next few days, introducing themselves and showing their picks. We're excited to show you their picks that includes gift ideas for kids of all ages and includes toys that are wonderful quality that can be passed down. This post also features many of our favorite small shops so we hope you take a peek at their stores and just wanted to say THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING SMALL for the holidays!
Happy Holidays, everyone! I’m Emma and mama to our nearly 8 month old, Theodore. As the holiday season quickly settles in, I wanted to share the gifts we’re giving our little one this year. As a family, we value the joy of gift-giving, especially this time of year when presents symbolize the greatest gift that has been given.
When thinking about Christmas gifts, I knew that I wanted sustainable, heirloom-quality pieces, made intentionally and help nurture our guy as he explores and engages with the world around him. We first chose these Fin & Vince mittens to keep Theo’s little hands warm throughout our cold Minnesota winter. They also make for the sweetest winter decoration when not being used. Just hang on a dresser or peg rack and ta-da! Our second gift is a wooden walker for our busy little bee. This gift is perfect for encouraging little movers in their walking adventures. I also love that it has a little cart in the front for collecting and pushing toys around. Our last gift is this rainbow stacking tower to foster hand-eye coordination, color recognition, and sensory exploration. I truly adore all of these items, and am so giddy to wake up Christmas morning just to watch the joy and wonder.
I hope you enjoy this beautiful season and all of the little moments that fill your cozy, December days.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Emma
Hi friends! My name is Bruna Masalin, I'm a home-educating, mom of three, based in New England. Today I'll be sharing a simple Christmas Gift Guide that features some of our favorite open-ended toys and some adorable outfits from Fin & Vince!
My children spend endless hours playing with open-ended toys, not only these sparkle their imagination, they are also are made to last. I love watching my kids engage in imaginary play, sometimes I act as the construction chief of their city building, they love creating quaint little towns, with civilians, tunnels, rivers and even a fire station. There are no limits for creativity when you are working with toys that allow your mind to wander. After a few years of being a stay at home mom, I can assure you, investing in sustainable and educational toys is worth it!
Toys:
Alphabet Tree Slices by Stepping Stones : My little girl loves playing with these! That's how she's been learning all her letters. She uses them as logs for her forest while also reviewing each letter every time she's engaged in free play.
Sunday Arch Stacking Toy by Linden Bee : This is a new toy around here, ready to be wrapped! We will gift it to our kids this Christmas. I love that this toy encourages concentration, creativity and it also helps with fine motor coordination.
Rainbow Stack By The Wooden Wagon : The most used toy in this house. My kids get busy stacking the rainbow pieces or using them to make tunnels for their city. The quality is great and it's been one of our best purchases!
Grapat Toys by Rose & Rex : Peg dolls are a must around here! These guys wear many hats, literally. They can be fire fighters, moms and dads, doctors, forest fairies, gnomes or police officers. These are perfect for storytelling! The possibilities are endless.
Maileg Baby Mouse in a Carry Cot by Linden Bee: My little girl loves playing mama, so this will be the perfect gift for her this season. I love the entire family collection of these little mice.
Books:
Tiny, Perfect Things by M. H. Clark
Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales (Peter Rabbit)
Outfits from Fin & Vince:
XO
Bruna Masalin
Hi there! I’m Amanda! Happy wife & home-educating mother to 4 lovely little ladies under age 7. Because our girls are so close together in age, we like to invest in quality gifts that can be enjoyed and passed down to one another. I really enjoy gifting well-made gifts that are both pretty and practical. My husband emphasizes things should have form and function. Our older girls are developing new, and rather strong opinions, as they grow and we want to respect their personal styles & interests as we gift. We really like the the idea of gifting a want, a need, something to read, and wear. Here are some gifts that meet this criteria, have been a success in the past, and that will be gifted this year!
The girls love matching with one another! We’ve adopted a tradition of gifting them new jammies every Christmas. Pajamas kind of meet a need, a wear, and a want, so they’re a great gift! We have gifted them sets from @happyhannahs , @finandvince, @simplefolkco, @chasingwindmillkids, and this year we’re gifting them hot pink butterfly thermal sets from @garnethillpics. They’re going to love them!
Some of our favorite toys are wooden stackers, puzzles and blocks. @woodenstory @grimms and @thewoodenwagon are some of our favorite shops for these! Wooden toys hold up really well and, let’s be real.. they’re beautiful😊
Books!! We love gifting books! Personalized books, i-spy books, and book series make for really fun gifts. Something I have learned in a family of book lovers is that books can be expensive! I enjoy thrifting books and using thriftbooks.com because you can find gently pre-loved books for incredible prices!
We also want to invest in making new memories, so games that we can play together as a family are a great investment! The girls have been asking for slippers for quite some time. We found some really fun boiled wool slippers from @garnethill. They are different animals and so cute and will be such a fun addition to their matching jammies! We always gift the girls a fun new toothbrush and, honestly, they’ve been more excited about this than more of their gifts ☺️ I hope this was a helpful gifting guide and that everyone has a lovely holiday season full of peace, rest, and joy for you and your family! ❤️
Kindly,
Amanda Pahls
Amandapahls.com