Amolia Mae sells these beautiful Powell Craft brand handcrafted, embroidered pajamas for boys. Along with that, they sell teddy bears wearing matching pajamas. What could delight a little boy more? My almost six-year-old was recently treated to a sample pair of pajamas and teddy bear from Amolia Mae. It arrived at the perfect time, while he was quarantined inside our house with strep throat during the Blizzard of 2010. The pajamas are long-sleeve, beautiful 100% fine cotton, and arrive in an Organza case. The matching teddy bear is darling as well. My son has a friend now to take to bed every night (and a favorite pair of pajamas as well!) You can purchase these for your own child, at a price of $42 for the pajamas and about $20 for the bear, at AmoliaMae.com.

This handmade onesie is perfect for all the city-dwelling babies out there. Made by etsy seller LittleBrownPaperBags, the onesie has “Ity Bity City” written on it in rhinestones and has an embroidered city scape. It comes wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a bow, perfect for gift giving. This onesie sells for $17 at etsy.com. While you’re there, you can view all of the original designs by LittleBrownPaperBags.

Baby in a Fishbowl produces handcrafted baby items. One of them is this Custom Made Sling. You choose the color, fabric, size, reversible or non-reversible, and email your specifications to Theresa, who then custom handcrafts your sling. With prices starting at just $15, this is an affordable, fashionable, practical accessory many moms can’t do without. Visit BabyInAFishbowl.com to see the array of choices available.

Fawn and Finch makes handmade pacifier holders designed to make life easier for both mom and baby. I wish pacifier clips had been popular when my son was little - would have saved a lot of crying and shrieking for the pacifier by baby and frantically running to wash off the dirty, dropped pacifier by mom or dad! These handcrafted pacifier holders are really cute, and come in a variety of styles. I particularly like this one - Monster Mania. With its teal blue and chartreuse green colors, it works for a boy or a girl. Measuring 6.75″ x 3/4″, you can purchase this pacifier holder for $9.00 and view the entire line at FawnandFinch.com.

Designed especially for a baby boy, this Minky Baby Blanket in the Little Dablings Couture line really catches my eye. This luxury baby blanket is stroller/travel size (30″ x 30″). It’s handcrafted from a tanner embossed pre-washed cotton-poly blend fabric, and bordered by 2″ of black satin binding. The fabric is washed after creating the blanket also, to ensure that it won’t shrink. Machine washable and made in the USA, you can buy this beautiful baby blanket for $55 at Dablings.com.

Don’t you hate it when you have to fish your way through everything in your diaper bag or purse to find a small item (such as lotion or even goldfish crackers?) These Ity Bity Bags are the solution to that problem. Designed by Lisa Macchia, these bags are made from cotton with handcrafted designs featuring cotton candy, happy food, retro rocket, or goldfish, with a zipper at the top. Measuring 6″ x 4″, they are the perfect size to keep small items from mixing with bigger ones in any bag. I just might have to order one of these for my own purse. You can order one for yourself at thebabygardener.com, where each Ity Bity Bag sells for $15.

  
Just about the cutest knitted cap I’ve laid eyes on in a while, this custom made Silly Monkey Hat is made by Etsy seller tiptopapplesauce. It can be made for anyone, baby right up to adult (for the youthful in spirit.) For the safety of children ages 3 and under wearing the hat, the eyes are crocheted. A bonus to the already cute cap is that you can choose just about any color you please; the seller will make it to your specifications. Also, if monkeys aren’t your thing, she’s got other animals and shapes that you’re sure to love. Handmade with care and $45, it’s the perfect accessory for your little tree climber. Get it at Etsy.com.
 

[This is another in a series of posts by Susan Maphis covering the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade and sign up for her CPSIA Alerts Mailing List ]

Mary Blakeley is the owner of A Touch of Heaven, a home-based business in New York that sells handcrafted jewelry and baby apparel online. “I started this business when I left the work force a few years ago,” Blakeley says. “I wanted to be able to continue to contribute to my family finances but also wanted to be able to do what I liked to do - make things! I make make hand crocheted baby sweaters, hand crocheted baby hats and handmade fabric baby shoes.”

Blakeley knows that the CPSIA will affect her business after it goes into effect on February 10. “I will have to restrict my materials to all non-metalic — no zippers, metal button, snaps, etc.,” she says. “I generally don’t use much metal components as a rule anyway and now will have to be extra careful about materials, especially buttons that may have metal shanks.”

Blakeley’s shop also sells custom-designed, handcrafted jewelry, which she will be able to continue to sell, as long as it’s marketed to those over the age of 12. You can view her products at TouchofHeavenGifts.com.

[For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade]

[ This is another in a series of posts by Susan Maphis covering the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade and sign up for her CPSIA Alerts Mailing List ]

Cindy Chrysler is a Founding Consultant of Streamside Farm, a company that makes toy barns from 100% reclaimed barn wood. Currently, they are using cork pine from a barn that stood near Vassar, Michigan to build their miniature toy barns.

Each barn is individually hand crafted from wood gathered from historic barns around Michigan. Some of these barns were close to 150 years old, offering cork pine wood that is perfect for the creation of these miniature barns. The finished barns are never painted or stained, so each finished barn is all natural and free from any harmful chemicals.

Chrysler is not sure how the CPSIA will affect this unique business. “I believe we might be able to still make it work, but we would be narrowing our market even further than it already is,” she comments.

Two styles of barns are available, the Gambrel (shown above) and the Monitor. Streamside Farm also offers customers the option of creating a barn made from wood provided by the customer. You can read more about the business at StreamsideFarm.com.

[ For more information about the CPSIA, read Susan's previous article: The End Of Handmade]

No little girl’s kitchen is complete without her homemade cupcakes. Good enough to eat the soft texture of these cupcakes make them just right for little hands. This set of four brightly colored knitted cupcakes come complete with icing and sprinkles, as well as removable wrappers and a little box, making them an ideal gift. Perfect to serve their little guests at a tea party! Cupcakes with a conscience – these are handmade in Bangladesh by a Fair Trade Company who ensure their craftspeople receive fair pay for their work and have safe and healthy working conditions. You can purchase these at ThreeSistersToys.com for $31.99

In an effort to bring awareness to the Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA) and in an attempt to save handmade children’s goods, the EtsyBaby Team of shops is having a promotional sale. Over 100 shops are participating, from stores such as Elliebeans (handcrafted babies and girls clothing), which is featuring free shipping and 10% off, to Knitstyle, creators of handmade toys and blocks for babies, who is offering free shipping on all medium play blocks. This is a great way to support handmade children’s goods and to get good deals at the same time.

Here is a great little stocking stuffer for the infant on your holiday shopping list.  Handcrafted from wood and dyed a deep and appealing red with all natural vegetable dyes, this little egg shaker is sure to delight.  Babies will enjoy exploring the wonderful sounds that this shaker makes. It is designed for babies age 6 months and up.  Older children will no doubt enjoy making music with this toy as well.

Each shaker is made by Channapatna artisans in India.  Earthentree Toys donates a percentage of their profits to support these artisans.  You can purchase one of these shakers for a very reasonable $6 at Chulamama.com.

These Handcrafted Treat Bags are a great alternative to the usual plastic treat bags and a lot more fun. They’re made by Hanna Andersson from felt, blanket-stitched all around, and have holiday appliques. Your child can choose a spooky spider, a witch on a broom, or a midnight owl. After all the festivities are over you can use the treat bag to store your child’s costume.

Appropriate for children one year old and up, the Treat Bag measures 12.5 inches long. Order your child’s bag now at HannaAndersson.com where they are currently on sale for $10.

The handcrafted Heirloom Baby Rattles by USA Artisans is designed by renowned Artist William W. who has been making them for more than a decade.

The wood is hollowed and very lightweight, just big enough for baby to wrap his/her little fingers around.Each rattle is made from carefully selected native and plantation grown exotic hardwoods such as bird’s eye maple, cherry, walnut, purpleheart, ebony, redheart and cocobolo. The rattle is sanded smooth by hand and finished with walnut oil and beeswax, making it very soft and smooth to the touch while enhancing the warm colors of the wood.

No stains or dyes are used in making these rattles. The all natural finish makes it completely safe and friendly for babies as well as our planet.

Each rattles measures approximately 5 inches in length and make a gentle rattling sound. It comes in a small ivory colored organza gift bag. They retail for $30.

Unfortunately, the artist is currently having problems with his hands, and therefore, this rattle has been discontinued. KangarooBoo hopes to have them back in stock again once the artist’s health improves.

Kathe Kruse has been a leader in the high end European toy market for more than a hundred years. With so many worries about lead and other toxins in toys these days, handcrafted toys such as these are more and more in demand. My youngest daughter has several Kathe Kruse dolls and this is my favorite. She is so soft and sweet—made out of 100% cotton fleece. The little butterflies embroidered on her gown are as cute as can be. She is 12 x 12—a perfect size for little arms to snuggle. You can buy one for $24 at blueberryforest.com.