Holiday Gift Guide: For Babies and Kids

Here are some of my favorite gifts for babies and young kids--there's so much cute stuff out there right now, I could have gone on and on. Here's a list of my favorite childrens books and my favorite toys for kids.

1 /  Areaware Horseshoe Magnet - Made of beech wood, this super strong magnet has twice the lifting strength of a bar magnet.

2 /  Plae Sneakers - We LOVE these shoes. They're flexible, breathable, washable, lightweight, stylish and vegan. Plus, they're customizable with interchangeable tabs.

3 /  Deuz Organic Nature Playmat - This mat is perfect for little ones to hang out on and let their imagination run wild.

4 /  Little Miss Workbench Natural Camera - I love this camera and recently bought it as a gift for friends due very soon. Handcrafted in the USA and finished with natural beeswax sealant and packed in an organic cotton canvas case.

5 / Rylee + Cru Foxes Jumper - This is just adorable. If only I could stuff Theo into one!

6 / Hedley & Bennett Wishbone Jr. Apron - Theo loves baking with me in the kitchen and we love our Hedley & Bennett apron. This would make an awesome gift for your little baker or chef.

7 /  Whoa Bots Ninja! - Make a tower, knock them down, build them up. Lucas is all about ninja everything these days.

8 /  Sycamore Street Press Indigo Alphabet Print - Such a beautiful print for a child's room and doesn't look too kid-like.

9 /  Mabo Organic Fleece Sweatshirt - How cute is this cozy sweatshirt with wooden buttons on the opening? We love Mabo everything!

10 /  Iddy Biddy Fleece Jogger - We love Iddy Biddy clothes--remember Lucas and Theo sporting their duds earlier this year? These cozy fleece joggers are so cute and comfy!

11 / Walnut Animal Society Clover the Fox - Made of soft brushed wool, these charming animals are lovingly handcrafted in the USA, using natural and locally-sourced materials whenever possible. We love our Henry the Fox!

12 / Pengaloo - Instead of a traditional board game, go on a South Pole Egg-spedition with this all wooden memory game. Strengthens color recognition, visualization, memory and social skills

13 / Janod Alphabet Puzzle - Learning the alphabet is super fun with this all wood puzzle.

14 / Different is Awesome Book - We love this book by Ryan Haack. Simply written with a powerful message, this book helps kids understand how everyone is different and that being different is awesome.

15 / A Magical, Personalized Storybook - This personalized storybook is far from cheesy. Choose from two books that will take your child on a courageous journey personalized to the letters of their name. 

16 / Butterfly Joint Gift Certificate - Another great gift idea is an experience. Give a gift certificate to a favorite museum or a class like a woodworking class at the Butterfly Joint. Lucas had the best time when we visited.

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December 10th: Girls Night Out to Benefit Girls on Fire Leaders

Please join me for wine, nibbles, friendship and shopping for a good cause on Thursday, December 10th at 7:30 p.m. at Brushstrokes Studios (upstairs event space) in Berkeley for a Girls Night Out to benefit Girls on Fire Leaders, an adventure leadership camp for young girls in the slums of Kenya. The next camp is coming up in just 4 weeks so we are hosting a fun holiday boutique with goods from Erica Tanov, Ginger Caftan, Ash Dry Goods, Carrie Saxl and more. And I will be selling curated holiday gift boxes as well as our new 2016 Calendar. Portions of the sales that night will benefit Girls on Fire Leaders. I hope to see you there!

+ Brushstrokes Studio / 745 Page Street, Berkeley, CA

+ Photos by Jennifer Graham via Girls on Fire Leaders
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New 2016 Calendar -- Jennifer Young Studio x Good on Paper

I'm so excited to announce my second collaboration with super talented photographer Jennifer Young for our 2016 Calendar! Inspired by Jennifer's travels around the world and our love of clean, minimal design and copper foil printing, it is available in a special limited edition of 250 in each of our shops--each calendar is hand numbered on the front cover.

+ Find me on Instagram (@good_on_paper), Twitter (@good_on_paper), Pinterest (@goodonpaperdes) and Tumblr (hellogoodonpaper)
+ Buy it here in my shop or here in Jennifer's shop
+ As seen on Anthology Magazine, Rue Magazine, Shop Sweet Things, Mother Magazine, Oh So Beautiful Paper, and Shutterbean
+ Also available in these awesome shops: Social Studies, Len Collective, Left Field and Ruby Rose

Favorites: Fall Cheese Plate with 34 Degrees Crisps

I've been prepping this week to host Thanksgiving at our home. It's my favorite holiday of the year and I love everything going on in the kitchen. On the menu this year is turkey (brining is key), roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar, butternut squash soup with ginger, homemade pumpkin pie with gluten free crust and Nick is making a homemade non-gluten free apple pie. Our family will be bringing cranberry sauce, salad, mashed potatoes and my mom's making shrimp fly lice (aka fried rice!). :)

I usually like to put out a cheese plate for guests to nibble on before dinner. Remember the fancy spread I put together last year with 34 Degrees crisps? I collaborated with 34 Degrees again to put together a simplified plate with just a couple of cheeses (I used Cambazola and Manchego from Whole Foods) and some flavorful crackers like the Toasted Onion, Rosemary and Cracked Pepper. Beautifully simple and a delicious start to a giant feast!

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Recipe: Best Granola Ever No. 2

Remember last year when I said this was the best granola ever? Well, not that I changed my mind, but I decided that I can have as many "best" recipes as I want. And this recipe is aptly named Best Granola Ever No. 2. With its crispy coconut chips, maple glazed pecans, Maldon sea salt (that salty sweet combo effect!), and crackly texture, this granola is seriously addictive. I may or may not have eaten an entire Ball jar of granola in one sitting.

Granola shards! I've decided I like crispy shards over chewy clumps.

The original recipe is so damn good but I modified this recipe slightly to eliminate refined sugar. My modifications include using half olive oil and half coconut oil, adding unsweetened coconut flakes for more coconut flavor, replacing brown sugar with coconut sugar, adding raisins and only stirring once during baking.

+ Click here for a printable pdf
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Holiday 2015 Photo Cards are here!

I'm excited to announce that my Holiday 2015 Photo Cards are here in my shop! Customize your holiday card with your favorite photo and a personalized greeting. Blank envelopes included with your order. This year's cards will be printed on Premium Double Thick 100% Recycled Paper (this stock is SO awesome) and I'm offering it at the same price point as last year. Best sellers from last year's line are also available. :)

Feel free to email me with any other customization you'd like on your cards.

+ All photos except for "Oh What Fun" by Sarah Hebenstreit of Modern Kids
+ Additional holiday card designs for Tiny Prints can be found here and here
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Banchan Workshop No. 4

It was that time again--another opportunity to attend, pig out, oh and shoot photos for Banchan Workshop No. 4 hosted by Selina Lee of Skycreatives and Feastly. Remember Banchan Workshop No. 2 and No. 3? This time the workshop was held at the beautiful Feastly studio in San Francisco. With its flood of natural light and high ceilings, the space was a really nice backdrop for all the delicious food and fun guests.

Here are some of my favorite shots. Tons more details, photos and recipes on Skycreatives.

Love how Selina decorated with succulents for each guest sitting on top of Korean newspapers with white paint strokes.

Lots of goodies donated by the awesome Whole Foods Market Berkeley and Allegro Coffee from Whole Foods Market Gilman.

Look how cute my friends Nancy and Meg are!? ;)

View fullsize

Selina doing her thing.

Um, drooling! I need to make this for my kids!

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DIY + Recipe: Thanksgiving Dessert Toppers

I made these easy Thanksgiving Dessert Toppers plus a yummy recipe for Layered Pumpkin Pie in Mason Jars. See the full post over on Oh Happy Day.

Happy Weekend: Pumpkin Patching in Petaluma

We recently went with friends to the Great Peter Pumpkin Patch at the Petaluma Creamery - Home of Spring Hill Jersey Cheese. It was such a beautiful breezy day for some pumpkin picking, maze running and corn kernel diving. They're open until October 31st.

I really want to go apple picking again but not sure we will have time before the season ends. I really want to be better about planning these outings--I miss cherry picking season every single year and cherries are one of my favorite fruits!

Leave it to Lucas to find a huge ass pumpkin, carry it up to the top of a huge haystack tower, and get his friends excited about rolling it down the haystack tower. Woohoo! Boys will be boys!

The kids loved the hay maze and would run back in every time they found their way out--everyone except Theo who would find a dead end and hang out there playing with hay. Haha!

Here's the stash of gourds Lucas put in our "shopping cart"--we left with about half of it.

The kids absolutely loved the corn kernel pool.

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Halloween Monster Movie Night with Whole Foods Market Berkeley and 100 Layer Cakelet

I can't believe Halloween is just around the corner! A few weeks ago I designed/styled a fun Monster Movie Night party along with the talented catering crew from Whole Foods Market Berkeley for one of my favorite blogs 100 Layer Cakelet and all shot by the talented Michelle Drewes. It was super fun! I designed these fun invitations with finger monsters in kraft jewelry boxes.

Whole Foods Market Berkeley's catering team did an AMAZING job with the spooky spread (remember Lucas' 5th birthday party they catered?)--monster pizzas, witches fingers (hummus and veg dip), graveyard dip (7 layer bean dip), banana ghosts (frozen bananas dipped in white chocolate), and caramel apple and pears. They provided gorgeous fall flowers with ghosts made of cheesecloth, "healthy" candy and not-too-scary Halloween books. We played "Monsters, Inc." on a white sheet and the kids were hooked.

I created this monster backdrop for the food table complete with eyeball pumpkin.

That watermelon brain! Those carrot fingers!

"Healthy" M&M's from Whole Foods Market Berkeley were packaged in these super cute glassine treat bags from the Oh Happy Day Party Shop.

I had no idea that Whole Foods Market Berkeley made custom cakes like this one--using one of Lucas' monster drawings. So cute! They also make character cakes using licensed images like Star Wars. Who knew?

I set up a low table with some goodies for the kids including glow sticks and jars with neon bouncy balls and spiders from Target. Lucas set out place mats and drew monsters on each one. He was so excited to help!

One of my favorite crafts was the giant pair of balloon eyeballs that were so easy to make.

Theo's favorite thing to say (or scream in your face) is, "I AM BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" so naturally we had to get him a Buzz Lightyear costume for the shoot.

Side note: Lucas' hair looks hilarious to me here! Also, he looks like me in this pic!

+ Check out the feature and all the photos on 100 Layer Cakelet!

+ Photography by Michelle Drewes
+ Catering by Whole Foods Market Berkeley
+ Design, planning, decor, invites by me
+ Party decor by Oh Happy Day Party Shop and Target
+ Cute kiddos by Lisa and Lisa

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