Tag Archives: commercialism

How to give the best present at the baby shower

Rockford’s mother gave us the little white blanket around the time Poppy was born. It bounced from crib to playpen for a few years, but it didn’t meet its true destiny until 2007. That’s when Pete was born, and his big sister bestowed upon him his Very Favorite Thing of All Things. Pete and White Blankie have been fast friends ever since.

As scientifically proven by Linus Van Pelt, there is little more adorable than a little boy and his favorite blankie. So a few years ago when my brother Perry Mason and his wife told us they were expecting, I set out to find their child’s very own Special Blanket. I searched neither far nor wide, though, because I was already familiar with Erin Glaser’s work.

I contacted Erin about making a custom-made piece for my nephew-to-be, and she was happy to help. My brother is a big fan of the Detroit Tigers, so I asked Erin to incorporate that into the baby quilt. The result is sweet, whimsical and tigery.

quilt

Erin has a gift for pulling together colors and patterns in unexpected ways, and I love nearly every quilt in her shop. Looking for something sophisticated? The Modern Baby Quilt, Polka Dot and Woodland Quilt are perfect. Is your baby more Comic-Con than Pottery Barn? Erin’s got you covered from superheroes to Harry Potter to Doctor Who.

I’m saving my pennies for a colorful, modern quilt of my own to snuggle with on my couch.

Check out Out of Character Quilts on etsy! Which one’s your favorite?

(This is not a sponsored post. I just really love her stuff.)

Harbingers of my favorite time of year

I was at Michael’s this week looking for the finishing touches for Poppy’s Halloween costume, and do you know what I saw there? Christmas stuff. And lots of it. Which made me think that even though we aren’t quite to Halloween yet, it might be time to start thinking about Christmas cards.

In years past, I admit that I’ve resorted to the extremely discounted card bin at Big Lots for my Christmas greetings. That’s due to a combination of (a) cheapness, (b) laziness and (c) procrastination. This year, though, I’m going to order some holiday cards from Shutterfly. And not just because — disclaimer! — they’re giving me 50 free cards for writing this post. I’ve used them for postcards and prints in the past, and they make a very nice product. A very nice photo-based product, which is why I need to start planning and taking pictures of my squirrelly little family now, so maybe I’ll have a good one of all of us by Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I really like a lot of Shutterfly’s designs for 2010. I’m tending toward minimalistic and vintage looks these days, and they have a good selection in those categories. Here are a few designs I’m considering for the ButterscotchSundae Holiday Card:
Little Red Tree

Sweet & Retro

With Glee

Cute, aren’t they? And if Christmas isn’t your thing: They have Thanksgiving cards and New Years cards, too.

Disclaimer: Shutterfly is giving me 50 free photo cards. And guess what? If you have a blog, you can get 50 free cards, too. Click here for more information.