Football fans come in all shapes and sizes

All-in-Two One-Size Cloth Diaper by mamamade

Boys Hooded Towel by inkydinkdesigns

Football Curtain Holdbacks by LittleElephantCo

Ribbon Ruffle Socks - any team colors by KPCreations

I ♥ Football Comfy Pants by babeagogo

Cheer School Spirit Bow by fortheloveofzebra

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Hello 2012!!

Happy New Year to all our team members and blog readers!!!

For 2012 we have so many wishes and hopes. As a team we want to grow and welcome new members and make the Etsykids team bigger and better than ever!
We want to wish all the luck and success to our team members and hope you continue to work together as a team, so that we can make 2012 the greatest year yet!

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EtsyKids Design Challenge: We have a Winner!

This month we have a tie!!
Congratulations to the winner's of our Decembers's challenge, bisongirl & thatmoxiegirl!!

Spotted Owl Bison Booties Size 6 to 12 Months Baby

bisongirl sells some amazing and colorful booties for babies! Keep those little toes warm this winter!

Nightlight owl retro design

thatmoxiegirl has lots of other nightlight designs in her etsy shop too, and also some other nursery items.

It looks like everyone had great fun designing and creating owl an friend themed items for this months design challenge. We had some lovely items entered and thank you to everyone who participated and voted, especially during this busy seasonal period.
Next months theme will be announced in the coming weeks.

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Thank you letter printable

Courtesy of Steffi of Toastie Studio

I have to admit I am terrible at sending out thank you cards after Christmas. Half the time I send them out so late I should just ring and say thank you.
This year I saw in the shops some thank you cards for kids and knew I wanted to design my own. I think having a fun design and letter format can make writing thank you letters more fun for kids! So here are two designs for a thank you printable.

You get two letters per sheet of paper. Simply print at 100% scale and trim down.

Download: Red Girl / Blue Boy

I also have other thank you card printables in my etsy shop, including ones like this where you can design the character and colour scheme yourself.

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Easy Holiday Truffles

By Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks

I love making sweets during the holidays, and this year, I decided to make mostly truffles and cake pops. I’ll be starting with these recipes, which are two of my favorites: Oreo Truffles and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles. Add a lollipop stick for a fun treat!

Oreo Truffles

This recipe comes from a friend in my MOMS Club. Super, super easy. Start them now, and they’ll be ready to eat in just a couple of hours.

16 oz. package of Oreo cookies, crushed in food processor (or in a Ziploc bag with a wooden spoon)
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

Mix the cookies and cream cheese together. Form into balls (I used a melon baller for size), and place on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Freeze until set. (I left mine in about two hours.)

Melt chocolate (white or semisweet), and dip the frozen truffles into the chocolate. While the chocolate is still soft, decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, etc. – a great way for kids to help out!

Cookie Dough Truffles

This recipe comes from Spare Time Baker, the blog of a talented baker friend. I recently started following her on Pinterest, and the baked goods she shares there are just sinful! These truffles are always a hit, and my son loves them because I let him try the raw cookie dough. No eggs!

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2- 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1-1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate candy coating, chopped

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts, if using. Shape into 1-inch balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and freeze for 1-2 hours or until firm. (The dough softens quickly at room temperature so it works best if they are frozen, not just chilled in the refrigerator.)

In a microwave safe bowl, melt candy coating, stirring often until smooth. Dip balls in coating; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. If desired, melt remaining candy coating and drizzle over candies. Store in refrigerator, not that they’ll last that long!

(Thanks to my friend WB for this awesome photo.)

Now, try to limit yourself to just one. Or two.

Happy holidays!

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Eco-Friendly Gift Wrap

Courtesy of Danni of Alphabet Emporium.

How many rolls of wrapping paper do you have stashed in the back corner of the closet, or in a plastic tub under the bed?  Birthday, baby shower, wedding and holiday paper - a different roll for each event, each theme.  It's expensive and not all city recycling centers will take glossy gift wrap.

EtsyKids Team member, Alphabet Emporium, has a couple of simple, genius ways to wrap packages with eco-friendly supplies; many you can put into practice this holiday season.

1. Use 100% recycled butcher paper (craft paper).   It works for every occasion, is totally gender neutral, and a 200 yard roll wraps a lot of packages!  At $6 a roll (hardware section of your local Wal-mart), it's hard to find anything more economical.  Butcher paper is a great eco-friendly alternative to wrapping paper and is very versatile, creating a beautiful canvas for Christmas wrapping.
   
   Have your children help you decorate the presents by coloring or painting the paper.  Embellish the boxes by splurging on gorgeous ribbon, using wide strips of burlap or fabric, or multiple strands of string or yarn.   In lieu of gift tags, stamp the recipients initials or name all over their boxes.
2. Not everything comes in a box, or fits in a box, and for those items gift bags are essential.  If you want to be extra eco-conscious, buy material from the local craft store and sew draw string bags to use over and over again.  I stamped bags with the numbers 1-25 and place some of the bags on the tree as decorations.
3. I like to embellish my gifts with gifts, a kind of teaser that will get the recipient excited about what's inside.  So if the gift is a cookbook, buy a set of measuring spoons and string them through the ribbon you are using to embellish the box.  Or say it's a gift for someone who likes to sew; you can buy a measuring tape and use the actual measuring tape as ribbon.  For my son (see packages wrapped in picture above) I used an infinity scarf (middle package - red) I made, a mask (top left), my daughter get's hair accessories (top right) and some felt food (middle - red strawberries).  There are endless ways to embellish gifts with little gifts, and with a little forethought and a pinch of imagination, you'll come up with the perfect little addition. 

When done simply and done well, eco-friendly gift wrap is a chic way to personalize each gift you are giving in an extra special and individualized way with being easy on the pocket book and the environment.  It's that extra step that makes a difference.

A huge thanks to Danni of AlphabetEmporium for sharing her tips with us.  You can find Danni after the holidays on Etsy at AlphabetEmporium and on facebook.

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EtsyKids Design Challenge: It's time to Vote!

It's time to vote for your favorite item! Voting will be open until December 29th, and the winner announced on December 30th.

This month, EtsyKids members were challenged to create an exciting new item based on the theme "Owls and Friends". We received a bunch of fantastic entries from some talented people! 

Please note your favorite from the list below and place your vote. You can also view each entry in detail by clicking on items image or HERE.

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