Weddingness- Top Ten Wedding-related Websites for Planning

10. Emmaline Bride-Emmaline sometimes has cute posts, but mostly they schlep for a bunch of independent (read- mostly etsy) sellers. If you have something in particular in mind, sometimes you will have better luck starting here and then getting linked over to Etsy.

9. The Perfect Palette- This blog is the best for the very beginning of your wedding planning, when you are trying to figure out exactly what you want the feeling to be. She even organizes her blog by color, so if you have one color that your really love you can start thinking about combos. I personally think that color is the heart of all happiness, so people should really keep it in mind when they are making those big picture decisions in the beginning.
8.WeddingBee-I have to say, I never really navigated WeddingBee as I site on its own, but if you type in an angsty question on Bing, often weddingbee chats will be the first thing to come up. It is nice to realize that other people are going through the same thing, hearing these things won't matter in the long run, and even hearing actual solutions! It helps for making decisions and moving on.

7. Style Me Pretty-  Pretty classic WeddingPorn. Nothing too outside the box, but the photos are beautiful and they put up more than anyone. You can definitely identify the trends by going through the pictures.

6. Love my Dress wedding blog-Great British wedding blog- since they are European, you of course can count on them to be super fancy and fashion forward. This blog also is great because it offers a lot of different body types without congratulating itself for doing so. If I wanted to see what a dress looked like on a model, I would just look at the pictures with models. I like seeing women with curves- even more so, I feel like this blog is encouraging because it is mostly women who are genuinely cool with who they are and choose dresses that correspond accordingly. They show off their bodies and personalities in a way that you can go through the blog and see a ton of women who look amazing, but you don't want their look, because they totally look like themselves.
5. Ruffled- Wedding Porn if your favorite store is Anthropology. Also, if you want all of your wedding pictures to look like instagram. In all seriousness, their photographs are often so pretty. They also talk about people's song choices and which have reminded me that we will never be cool enough to be on this blog.

4. Green Wedding Shoes-A little bit quirkier than Ruffled, and they often feature cool how to's which are very simple and useful.I have so many pictures saved from that site. My favorite part is where you hear the couple's favorite memory and advice for the big day. So important to see what people can come up with while simultaneously maintaining having a life and being a couple.
3. The Knot-sign up. If nothing else, you will love actually getting to check things off their online task list. It shouldn't be as satisfying as it is, and yet, I love it. Also a good choice for etiquette advice. Or you can read some of their chatboards if you want to feel better about your dramas.

2.Pinterest- Pinterest is a clear window into every woman's psyche, but it also can be very useful in early brainstorming phrases. My main advice would be to use the search as much as possible, rather than just browse the wedding section. That area gets repetitive (really, how many of the cutesy picture of bridesmaids butts do I need to see? definitely between 0-1), but if you use it to look up retro hairstyles or wedding shoes, you will be impressed with things you find. Remember, it's all about maintaining inspiration!

1. Offbeat Bride- When you are going through the heavy blog, always always always check Offbeat Bride. First of all, some of the ideas there inspired the ideas we are most proud of in our wedding. Way more importantly, you need to see the 99% of the content you would never use, because it is totally them, not totally you. I mean this as much as I have meant anything in planning- the more you can throw out what you should do for what you want to do, the happier you will be not only with the wedding but just enjoying the planning itself. Even if you don't want a super retro backyard lesbian polka dot wedding (I mean, I do, but I get not everyone does), this blog and all of its super fun posts serve as constant reminders and inspirations to do what is actually true to yourself and your relationship. They also write great, very thoughtful posts on everything from brides who want to wear their glasses to secular wedding readings and more. Plus, it is just way way more fun than other blogs. If you want to wade in, try following them on Pinterest, and just see how many of their ideas you love, you closet nerd!

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How to Accessorise your Vintage Wedding Dress... and the super new-look 'Love My Dress'

Dear Reader

Do you already know Love My Dress? It's a wonderful wedding blog, full of ideas and inspiration by brilliant blogger Annabel. Well, today it's all looking rather new and different... Check out their pretty new design here.

And it reminded me about a post I wrote for Annabel a little while ago, all about accessorising vintage wedding dresses. Just scroll down to see it below. (Some of these beautiful dresses may no longer be available, but do call me to check!) Or visit LoveMyDress to see the original post and admire the lovely redesign at the same time!

HOW TO ACCESSORISE YOUR VINTAGE WEDDING DRESS…

BY ANNABEL

AFTERNOON LADIES :)  I'D LIKE TO FEATURE AN

ADVICE PIECE FROM ONE OF MY FAVOURITE
VINTAGE BRIDAL WEAR SPECIALISTS, HELENA
BUTLER OF HEAVENLY VINTAGE BRIDES.

Helena has kitted out many a Love My Dress bride in one of her gorgeous original vintage wedding dresses, so knows a thing or two about how to team vintage dresses with different bridal accessories…

♥   ♥   ♥

I often get asked by my lovely brides for my advice regarding accessorising 

their vintage wedding dress. With this in mind I have some images to share – 

all the dresses are vintage and are from my own stock at Heavenly Vintage 

Brides, but the accessories are a mix of old {original vintage} and new.

Shoes…

with a short wedding dress like the first few photographed  here, there is  

great scope for fabulous statement shoes, which don't have to be ivory or 

white.  Lots of my Brides wear coloured shoes, red or pink in various shades 

being the most popular.  Several of my lovely brides have chosen the Melissa 

shoe, by Vivienne Westwood {below right in various shades}, and in the 

photo below {left}, the model is wearing Lady Dragon by Vivienne 

Westwood in red.

The sweet little 50s tiered lace dress the model above is wearing is 

unfortunately sold, but I will be making some copies of it in the Spring in 

fabulous French lace – keep an eye on my site for news of my own little 

collection of vintage inspired wedding dresses.

The shoes that my model Patience is wearing below are very modern 

but go well with the dresses, they are in a great nude pink colour which 

make her legs look super-long.

The lovely knee length dress here is 1960s Tulip style and has a very 

elegant, couture look and feel. It is approx a size 10 to small 12 and 

priced at £900, and is currently available to try on at the Heavenly 

Vintage Brides studio.

When my clients ask me for shoe ideas,  I often suggest a Spanish 

designer called Chie Mihara, her designs manage to look both vintage 

and contemporary at the same time. Take a look at Chie's website – 

her price start from around £240.

Another shoe designer I often suggest to my clients is Rachel Simpson 

whose dainty little shoes have a very vintage feel. I particularly like the 

Ginger style, in gold or silver as seen here. This designer has also just 

collaborated on a new range of shoes for dance-wear specialist Freed of 

London. 

A more cost effective alternative is to have a look at Next wedding 

shoes. The prices start from £30 and the shoes are really very pretty, 

and fantastic value. 

Vintage Bling…

I do love a bit of bling, so I often add a vintage brooch to a dress, 

the 1940s brooch Patience is wearing goes well as it's the same age 

as the dress and adds a bit of subtle sparkle, and the diamante pattern 

is quite lacy.

A great place to buy affordable vintage jewellery is the Hammersmith 

Town Hall Vintage Fair, run by Paola of P & A Antique Fairs, I get lots 

of great accessories, and petticoats there.

The little white flower and heart hat is by Cherished Vintage and the 

cocktail ring is from Top Shop and is just added for fun…

In one shot we have the ultimate accessory -  the 'handbag-sized' dog….! 

In this case JJ, who behaved very well considering she is only a few 

months old!

This dress by the way, is in beautiful cotton lace original vintage number, 

that was worn by a bride in Richmond back in the 1940s. I love the fact 

that I know her name and the year it was worn.  The Bride stored it so 

carefully with a little mother of pearl Bible and a coin dated 1940. It is 

in fantastic condition so it was obviously a treasured possession.

The dress is approximately size 8/10 and priced at £900.

The next dress is a 1950s tulle prom style dress. I have used a dainty 

little vintage diamante necklace which belonged to my model Cordelia's 

grandmother. I think it's lovely to try and use a family piece of jewellery 

- it doesn't need to be a valuable piece, just go through 'Granny's' 

jewellery box!

The headdress the model is wearing is made from vintage gold leaves 

and delicate diamante jewellery – a design by Cherished Vintage. The 

dress is priced at £850 and is size 8.

Headpieces…

The headwear is of course very important an accessory, particularly for 

my photoshoots. I have used a range of styles made by Abby and Debbie 

at the wonderful Cherished Vintage.  They use original vintage jewellery 

to make lovely unique headpieces and bands, and to my delight - great 

little hats, which are a recent addition to their range.  All the headpieces 

I used on my shoot were made by Cherished Vintage.

The dress here is a 1960s very classic style with a beaded neckline, and 

tulip skirt. The headdress made from vintage pearl jewellery was perfect 

with it – I needed something very simple in shape, to reflect the simplicity 

of the dress and the beaded neckline, and  It had just the right kind of 

beading and just the right 'weight' to it – again, from Cherished Vintage.

I though the style demanded a simple Audrey Hepburn style hairdo, but  

I made it a bit loose, to keep it modern.  The dress size is approximately 

a size 8.

Hairstyles are of course very important and I feel that they should echo 

the period of the dress but with a modern feel. Hair styles of the past 

were very fixed and lacquered and these days, girls don't want anything 

quite as stiff. 

Here, I again used a cute little hat from Cherished Vintage, and false 

eyelashes, which are great for capturing that vintage feel.

The dress, again modelled by Cordelia is silk organza from the 1950s 

with French Lace appliques, priced at £1200, it has a long sweeping 

train and a beautiful sash and fits approx a size 8. The little hats are 

hand-made on new bases using vintage flowers and textiles, and will 

be a feature of Cherished's ready to wear collection, or can be made 

bespoke to order.

The dress shown below is again from the 1950s and is beautifully 

constructed with  many panels forming the skirt.  It almost has a corset-like 

effect to draw attention to a neat waist.  It is approximately a size 8 or 

small size 10, and priced at £1100.

The final dress is a cute sparkly tulle and lace 1950s prom dress with 

pearls and sequins following the pattern of the lace around the neckline.  

I have used a great headpiece which has a sparkly vintage brooch at its 

centre, as of course the sparkles on the dress demand a bit more sparkle 

in the hair!  The dress is a size 8 and priced at £1000.

All these dresses are available at Heavenly Vintage Brides, and I love 

to meet Love My Dress brides, so please feel free to contact me to book 

in for an appointment sometime to try some on!

My prices range from £350/400 to around £1250 for an original 

vintage wedding dress. Unfortunately I don't have space to stock many 

accessories,  but I do have some nice original vintage wedding veils, 

and some great cocktail veils – designed by Helena Talbot of HT 

Headwear, that compliment my dresses in the most wonderful way.  

Helena can also create headpiece designs to match your specific ideas.

I hope you've enjoyed this post. Do check out Annabel's blog,
LoveMyDress. And please do visit me later this week when I'll be 
featuring some fabulous 1930s wedding dresses!

Love

Helena 

Heavenly Vintage Brides

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Doing the Walk to End Alzheimers!

from act.alz.org/

Now that we have finished with all our wedding craziness, The Boy and I (and now my Mom who will be visiting!) are putting all our planning energy into participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer's in San Francisco on September 29th  at the Mission Creek Park. We have been talking about it for a while (we became aware of the walk doing research for our wedding), but we finally signed up this week, and I am really excited for it (even more so now that my mom is coming too)!

Nick and I are doing this in honor and memory of his Grandpa Shiley, who suffered from Alzheimers for many years . I wrote about his passing in early 2011, but we still think about he and Granny a lot, so I am excited to do something in his memory. Currently, more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and that number is expected to grow to as many as 16 million by 2050. We have seen and experienced firsthand just how devastating this disease is to the person who has it and to their support system. The thought that it will continue to grow is so scary, and we want to help others facing the disease.

The Alzheimer's Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research, and the funds we raise will go directly toward supporting their efforts. If you want more information on them, check here: http://www.alz.org/about_us_about_us_.asp I am honestly not sure why they are amping up their fundraising and public relations, but it seems to really be putting itself out there. This being said, it seems to me there is a lot of research and work to be done to effectively treat and manage Alzheimers, as well as trying to end it.

I am attaching the link here, so if you feel moved to donate you can. Or you can do the walk wherever you are, because they really have them everywhere! Here is the link:

http://act.alz.org/site/TR?px=6850550&pg=personal&fr_id=1556&et=HZH0PjUpAgjEPAjYqA7lrw&s_tafId=9523

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6 Things I am Grateful for (But not Exactly Excited About) for the Last Two Days

1. When guys publicly claim feminism- Someone sent me this clip on Tuesday after we talked about my questions/ concerns/ excitement for raising a boy as a feminist. I am not saying that celebrity endorsements (or dismissals) of feminism should be mistaken for anything overly important, but I think it is valuable to have people we perceive as cool be non-chalant, yet smart about their personal stakes in feminism. And can I say, in the face of this truly awful summer where women have been treated as pawns by a number of radical conservative fronts (Isis, Boko Haram, even the increasingly violent radical pro-lifers), you have to ask, conservative or liberal, why you wouldn't be a feminist. I can't imagine anyone would disagree (clearly they do, but its hard to imagine it, especially from women) that women should be denied education or feel threatened with violence in public spaces. Really, if you aren't a feminist, why the hell not?

2. Debates around mental illness- Oh vey, it feels like a conversation we have now had too many times, but based on some of the reactions around Robin Williams's death, clearly it still need to be said. Mental illness is a disease, like cancer or parkinson's or arthritis; having a mental illness doesn't reflect your character or strength or selfishness. It's disappointing that these sorts of things need to be said, but it is encouraging that so many people are saying it.

3. Jezebel's finally getting rid of the comment rape gifs- I think it was 2 weeks ago that I saw the first of these genuinely horrible gifs on a Jezebel comment section (about Conor Oberst maybe?), and it ruined my day. I mean, I was so upset all day. I have never seen something like that, and I really never needed to. Online forums like Gawker media or Twitter (who has been forced to deal with this when nasty trolls were disgusting toward Zelda Williams, including putting fake images of her father's body on her responses) need to come up with better solutions to counter these responses. The internet has only become a more nasty space for both men and women (yeah, women might get it worse, but I can't imagine guys want to see this stuff either), and comment sections clearly need some sort of change. I have been avoiding the jezebel site (and especially their comments) since the incident, and I was shocked when I read that their primarily female writing staff is supposed to delete these gifs one by one, thereby having to look at them all. No one should have to do that, and there has to be a better way. So I hope they work it out, and the trolls can retreat to their bridges.

from www.artnexus.com

4. Chuck Ramirez Candy Tray Series- My favorite genoming subject this week are these large-scale, highly-detailed photographs of empty candy trays. They feel happily familiar and sad all at once, not unlike opening a candy box which is totally emptied out (or only has the weird ones left, and you have to debate whether it is worth it or not).

5. This bald, cancer-battling bride- Style me Pretty posted a blog earlier this week that has now gone viral of a bride who went totally bald (with a gorgeous lace cap) to her wedding, mid-cancer treatment. It made me cry, but basically anything that mentions cancer in any way makes me cry now. The honesty and beauty of this woman is also just really inspiring.

6. The power of "social media" in the face of nastiness- The Michael Brown story is devastating. An unarmed 18 year old was shot down by a (still unknown) police officer. The officer was pulled from the scene immediately to protect his identity, and the man's body was left out on the cement in August for over 4 hours. I feel the outrage there is well-justified, and people deserve answers about how and why this happened, not the threat of extensive and shocking violence. What seems even more shocking in this day and age is how much effort the Ferguson police seemingly put into removing media from the event, trying to keep it quiet, etc. Stories like these do make me glad to live in the time we do, where various live feeds have been up this week (though last I saw, they are mostly down right now) to make the situation much clearer. As horrible as the whole story is (I mean, no one looks great here, but the city's police look really really bad), it makes me grateful that people have so many tools available to make their voices heard, so the various sides of the story can all be publicly represented.

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Throwback Thursday- 10 Perfect First Birthday Gifts

 One of the unexpected things about having a baby is that you end up with a gaggle of baby friends. This turns out to save your sanity, but for the first time ever, we are looking down the barrel of a first birthday party season. My niece will turn one at the end of the month, so we are starting to look for her as well. The first of the birthday parties is in a few weeks (and they last until into December), but unlike wedding season, we are not seasoned vets.

 We don't know what we are doing! Having a baby only sort of helps!

For first birthdays before, I think we got the babies clothes? Probably niceish clothes because I figured that it's easier to splurge if you aren't responsible for the whole wardrobe. I know I bought my niece Aubrey a purple tutu which she preferred to wear on her head (in my defense, that's some damn foresight, because she woulud love it as a kindergartener)! Now as a parent, I have some ideas of what might make good gifts (most of which we own, so I can vouch for them).

Replay from Amazon

1. Eating Tools, Snack Storage, and Sippy Cups- Toys make great or at least cute presents, but as a mom, I now live in fear of them taking over our house. I feel like if the first birthday party truly celebrates the survival of the parents, help them continue to survive by buying actually useful things while the baby is too small to care anyway. These little ones will quickly grow out of their veggie mush and baby bottles, so getting the next phase of eating stuff could be fun and helpful! It may not seem like a fun gift, but the Bub carried around a spoon for two+ hours today, so he would tell you differently. Sometimes these simple gifts which are useful to the parent can be the most interesting to a curious little one year old.

Green Eats sells all recycled, Made in the USA silverware set that we already use all the time with our adventurous eater. The spoons are my favorite. They also makes all kinds of bright, affordable, and earth-friendly plates and bowls.

I think Re-play has the best selection of sippy cups, some of which we might buy for the Bub. They have some really simple sets that I think would be perfect (and are clearly well-loved). If the baby or his/her parents are obsessed with their lifefactory glass bottles (like I am), you could get them the sippy cup tops, so those same bottles can last multiple years (I think you owuld have to be pretty close to know that). If you want something with a little more pizazz, maybe get them one of these cute Lollaland bird sippy cups!

I know buying people snack storage may sound like the absolute worst, but I think this might be the ultimate first birthday gift. Awesome for the parents, fun for the baby, good for the Earth that baby will one day inherit. We have these stackable containers from Kids Konserve, and we use them every day to lug around cheerios and raisins (The Bub enjoys using them to bang on things on the daily). I can't even imagine how many zip loc bags we will bypass just with these three little cylinders of greatness. I would love to receive a second set or even a different snack set like this Snack Stack from Re-play, because I know things get lost, but I am hopeful we can use these throughout his cheerio-laden early years.

2. Clothes- If you want to give a kickass gift of clothing, I have two very important tips for you. First, buy in a variety of sizes (12-18, 18-24, and 2T maybe?), because parents of babies are always thinking ahead to the next size. Second, buy basics and one cool thing, avoid cutesy sets or outfits that can't really be used on a regular basis. We always need pants, socks, and pajamas. We are in less need of baby suits or foofy dresses (moms of girls please let me know what you think is most useful). We have no need for anything that says "Daddy's Future Accountant" or the like. Babies are cute on their own, so you don't have to point out how cute they are.

About 90-95% of the Bub's wardrobe is used (either a gift from my amazing cousin or bought in consignment), and I know I would think it was cool if people bought clothing items at places like these for gifts. For example, you can buy one super cute button up onesie on the Gap for about 30 bucks. Or you can buy 5 or 6 of them in consignment for the same amount of money. You can get a lot more bang for your buck!

Like I said, I loved buying the babies I knew cute things from the Gap, because they really do have adorable stuff. But they aren't ethical at all. They waste fossil fuel travelling a long way and have pretty unimpressive labor standards. Now, I've replaced their clothes with adorable (and completely reasonably priced) basics from LA-Made American Apparel and City Threads or fair trade companies like Pact.

from Garbella on Etsy

 If you want to get something with a bit more impact, you have lots of great options as well! Winter Water Factory makes one pieces, pajamas, and dresses in really unique adorable prints.

On Etsy, you can get all kinds of baby leggings that are basically the cutest things ever. If Etsy trends are any indication, all toddlers will be wearing these- my favorite came from Lola and Stella, but you can also find cool designs at Hazel and Holly, Haus of Zoe, Hold You Me, Skuttlebum, and Lucky Palm Tree.

Baby Bear Threads,  Garbella, Oh Little Rabbit, and First Love Threads sell adorable t shirts and onesies. Garbella won my heart with their pierogi onesies. I am slightly obsessed with the baby clothes (especially the cuffed jeans) at Mabel Retro out of Vancouver. Lindsey Lee sells super cute Dino hoodies that might be perfect.

 I can't speak for other moms, but I freaking love baby hats and hair stuff, so I feel like this would make for a fun gift. You can get hats for bubs their size in basically every design known to man- pineapple, Yoda, viking, lions, truly anything.  I also love the turban headbands that are very in right now and keep unruly little girls' hair in line (though in general, I support unruly little girls' anything). Haus of Zoe, Hazel and Holly, miniwhatnots, Princessory, Lucky Palm Tree,

 
3. Bubbles- They easily fit in your diaper bag and are endly fascinating to small people. Not expensive, but sometimes the simplest gift is the one that kicks everything else's ass. I think bubbles are the gift that makes the baby ignore all the fancy plastic Fisher Price nonsense. A perfect little addition to any gift. 

Uncle Goose on Amazon

4. Uncle Goose Nursery Rhyme Blocks- This company sells many great sets of good old fashioned wooden blocks, all of which would make a beautiful gift, but I LOVE our nursery rhyme blocks, because it opens up multiple avenues for play and learning at once. We can build towers and I read the nursery rhymes off the block as we do it (I forgot them all). I imagine Uncle Goose as Mother Goose's kid brother, so it serves reason that he make this spectacularly cool block set for those of us who need a nursery rhyme refresher. They also make regular alphabet blocks and ones in other languages for all the bilingual babies out there!

5. Books- If you want to buy board books, I recommend looking at children's consignment stores first, because board books are almost all printed elsewhere. If you want something tactile, you can get soft quiet books at Etsy stores like Rose in Bloom Creations. On the other hand, most regular children's books are still printed in the US, so you can support children's writers, illustrators, and publishers. Books never get old as a gift, as the Bub and I read at least 3 books a day (2 are the same and 1 of those is epically stupid, but he loves it).It's a gift that benefits everyone. And don't get goodnight moon, because every one year old you know already has it. Same with that book meant just to make moms cry.

 I would recommend going to a local bookstore for recommendations- there are still kids bookstores lots of places and lots of people have very helpful opinions to share. There are so many children's books out there, and many of them prove just how hard it is to write children's books. I am no expert, but a few of our favorites so far are The Pout Pout Fish, Giraffes Can't Dance, Pigeon Wants a Puppy, and The Monster at the End of this Book. Dr. Seuss never gets old. We also love all the Little Critter books, The Day the Crayons Quit, and a bunch of books left over from when I was a kid. Going to show, for the millionth time, that kids could care less if something is new.

6. Date Night Gift Card (and babysitting?) for the Parents- Happy parents = happy baby. It's another one of those gifts that encourages family survival, so I am all about it. I have thought about putting a coupon for one night of free babysitting in each of the birthday cards, because sometimes people need a reason to go for it, but a dinner out (or going to a movie, do you know how much new parents miss going to the movies?) might make a perfect gift!

Green Toys on Amazon

7. Green Toys Tug Boat, Airplane, or Kitchen Set- When I found out we were having a boy, I had waking nightmares of trucks, hot wheels, and Larry the Cable Guy as an old truck. Eeek! Still, if you are going to get the little one some toys (even horrifying ones with wheels), it won't get better than Green Toys. These gems are made in the US out of recycled plastic. With that much good behind them, it's hard to fight with a convertible or boat or helicopter, no matter how tedious I find masculinity in general. I personally love this kitchen set, and am plotting the basket it could live in on ou kitchen floor underneath a desk (A+ parenting, but he likes it back there).

We have 2 Green Toys so far, and they remain beloved by Baby and mother alike. If you want to go the toy route, these are a homerun. I also love their kitchen sets, which we may start getting for the baby to play with while we cook.

If you have another plasticy gift you are dying to give, may I suggest trying Buy Nothing or thrift shopping before you get it? Fisher Price is just the worst for the environment, so even if their toy is oh so cute, it may not be worth it.

8. Shutterfly Gift Certificate- I have an addiction, so this feels a little like shouting into the wind that I want cake (I do! I always want cake!), but I think that this makes a good gift for anyone who spawned, because they took lots of pictures in the last year. Shutterfly offers lots of products, but even if they just want to put their instagram pictures into an album, the site makes that happen pretty easily.

from Amazon

9. A First Wagon or Outdoor Toy- I think my mother-in-law buys a wagon for first birthdays (I could be wrong!), and it's a rock solid gift idea, because they will probably need one in the coming year, and children love them. My son loves putting things in things and taking them out over and over again. Those little red wagons are all made in China, so let's look at some other options- Berlin has a wood wagon made in the US. If you want a plastic one, Step2 wagons are listed as Made in the USA and look like the kind of thing you take to a parade.

Other outdoor toys can be real winners as well- Little Tykes still makes about half of their stuff in the US (be sure to check if this matters to you). We have one of their little cars at my Nana's house that was a hand me down when she got it 20 years ago, and it is still a grandchild favorite. So this could make for an awesome gift? Even cooler? Buy an old faded one and refinish it in colors all their own!

Bears for Humanity found on Amazon

10. This Teddy Bear- After doing my research for the babies in our life, this teddy bear and something practical may be the winning combination. The fact that Bears for Humanity even exists makes me feel better about the world. They are made in the US and their filling is even recycled, but best of all, for every bear that is bought, another is donated to a kid in need. You are basically making 2 little ones happy with one purchase. You can get the 20 dollar bears or they have larger 40 dollar ones.  I just love the idea, and I feel like it is doing good on so many levels, so I think we will do this and see how they land. I will let you know, but I highly recommend this if you are thinking about something soft and loveable. This is just awesome.

I would also recommend puppets- we bought an eagle at the consignment store, and our son loves him. Bizarrely, even, because that eagle is always getting kisses. How about a kiss for your mama? I gave you life, for goodness sake.

If you are looking for more gift ideas, shops like Muse and Scripts Gift Co offer all artisan-made, made in America, or ethical gifts. Good places to browse and wish you could buy them all!

Parents of tots, what do you think a perfect first birthday gift is? Do you have one you particularly remember? 

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