Baby Teething Toys - New Collection at Casa De Gato on Etsy

I am happy to announce that  new spring collection of baby teething toys is now available at Casa De Gato store on Etsy.

These new flower's teething toys are perfect for keeping your baby occupied.

*  The flower rustles when crumpled
*  Beads to slide through loops and rings at both sides
*  Bright colors, different textures and forms to develop scenes and fine motor skills
*  It can be hung (on a mobile, baby stroller, baby carrier, when breastfeeding/bottle feeding)
    by  sliding the big bead into the thread loop.
*  Made of 100% natural materials, safe for teething baby

2 wooden rings are used.
The big ring is made of ash tree and measures about 6 cm (2.2 inch) and perfect for baby's hand.
Perfect for teething baby. Great baby shower gift

Made from 100 % cotton fabric and cotton thread, ash wood rings and Juniper wood beads.
Washable. Hand wash with mild soap.


The nursing toy can be made in any fabric I have available, if you see any particular sample that you like in my shop, please, contact me and I'll make special one for you.

Best Wood for Teething

 Most of the babies like to teeth and chew different things. It is essential to find a right toy for this purpose. It has to be safe for the little one: no choking hazard, soft enough  not to harm the young teeth but also durable enough to withstand the process.
 We usually think that teethers have to be made from a hard rubber like material but here is may be a better and more natural option. A nursing toy that is made from  wood may be a perfect teething toy.
 The next question is what kind of wood will be best for such a purpose?
 The wood needs to hold up well in water and be hard enough to endure sharp baby teeth and be non toxic and free from toxic additives. 
 For example, ash, maple and birch have the necessary qualities for a teething ring or a nursing toy. These types of wood are hard enough according to the hardness scale. The new collection of nursing necklaces with teething rings of Casa De Gato has rings that are made from unprocessed natural ash tree.
  As an opposite, pine and oak are not good. Pine is too soft and could be chewed apart too easily and oak may splinter and injure the infant's mouth.
  Another important question is whether the wood should be finished. The possible options could be natural oil and bees wax. Nut oils might be a problem, since some people are allergic. However, if the toy is sanded up really well, there is no need for a finish. It will get chewed off anyway.
 
 Next time  I will look into cleaning of wooden baby toys.

 Subscribe to the blog posts to stay tuned.

Tracking baby toy

 It is super important to have a toy when you are on a long track. It could be very boring to your child just to sit on your front or back when you are enjoying sightseeing, not to mention that you still need to feed the baby while tracking. In this case you might want to have something for him/her to play with. The toy should be easy to carry, washable, simple and not expensive and most important it should fit you tracking clothes and be attractive for the little one - in other words ideal for outdoor trips.
 You can find such nursing toys in Casa De Gato.

2013 Nursing Necklaces Collection

 A few months ago I got a generous present from my friend - a collection of small fabric pieces. The beautiful colors gave me an inspiration and here is the result - a brand new 2013 nursing necklaces collection. I created a lot of new flowers based on the best seller of the previous year - orange flower necklace.

 The new necklaces are an elegant combination of crocheted beads with fabric flower. The necklaces are made of Juniper wood beads, cotton fabric and thread which makes them natural and safe for baby teething. They are also perfect to complete mom's or any woman's or girl's outfit.

  The collection is not fully published yet, so subscribe to my blog and stay tuned for updates :)

Colorful Nursing Necklace / ... CasaDeGato $24.00	Crochet Nursing Necklace / T... CasaDeGato $24.00	Crochet Nursing Necklace / T... CasaDeGato $24.00
Crochet Nursing Necklace / T... CasaDeGato $24.00	Pink Crochet Nursing Necklac... CasaDeGato $24.00	Nursing Necklace / Teething ... CasaDeGato $24.00
Nursing Necklace / Teething ... CasaDeGato $24.00	Mom Nursing Necklace / Teeth... CasaDeGato $24.00	OOAK Teal Nursing Necklace /... CasaDeGato $26.00
Lime Lavender Nursing Neckla... CasaDeGato $24.00	Flower Nursing Necklace / Te... CasaDeGato $24.00	Elegant Black White Nursing ... CasaDeGato $24.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Christmas Gifts - Be prepared

 You know how it always happens - you start thinking about next Christmas presents right after it passes but you do nothing. When winter begins you are in a rush to get the gifts to everybody and sometimes you buy things just to fill the gap in the list, in the short amount of time you have left and not because you really like them.

 I decided to gather a few gift and decoration ideas more than a month ahead when I got an unexpected gift from Tonya from CityCrochet. She just sent it to me without any reason. It is a completely magical feeling when you get such a sudden present - just feels like Santa brought it to you. We've received these beautiful acorns

and a rose brooch.

Since we've got such a cool decoration element for the coming holidays, I want to find more original ideas for the rest of my family. And I am going to share my findings with you!

 Amazing christmas decoration stained glass candle holder. This will warm the atmosphere in the house especially when it is freezing outside.

 Next on the list are stunning felted toys created by my friend from Israel. She prepared a whole collection for Christmas, but I especially like this one (Vlada's shop):

One more shop, that I like, produces knitted accessories for women and men (and this is very important, at least I am struggling to find ideas for men's gifts).

 Everyone has many acquaintance (colleagues, friends that are not close enough), so I was also looking for small gifts ideas - something that doesn't cost much but is cute and positive. And I found these ornaments.

I also came with a new collection of necklaces which are a perfect gift for any nursing mom, but also for any woman that likes country style accessories.

 These are just a few ideas, but I hope they'll help to find an inspiration for gift shopping.

Toys guid for young parents

When my first son was born I actually knew nothing about baby toys, just nothing. I knew theoretically that little ones play ruffles, or may be some funny sounding toys, but nothing more. I was looking at the local baby stores and feeling completely lost in this sea of possibilities. I was overwhelmed by all those variations of small and big, cheap and expensive, natural and artificial toys. What will my son like? And more importantly what will be safe and educational for him? I guess most of the new parents are asking themselves the same questions I did.

  Well, time passed and I understood that no one can really answer these questions since all children are different and some toys can be perfect for one and be useless for the other. A few tips from parents who have used the toy can really help. So this is what I am going to do in this and a few other publications - share our experience.

   I want to start with our very new toy, since we've got it as an unexpected present from a very nice girl and also because both my children (3 years and 8 month) surprisingly love it very much. So we've got a pair of Waldorf wooden toys - man and women. I will not tell here about Waldorf's philosophy, since there is lots of info on internet. I will tell that the dolls are wonderful for the toddlers to play role games: you can tell a lot of stories using these dolls, my son is already telling such stories to me. As for my baby daughter - these dolls are perfect for her as well - wonderful size for her small arms and natural wood is safe for teething.

  Oksana has a rich choice of the Waldorf toys in her store, she is not only selling the wooden toys, she sews amazing dolls and creates many other unique things. I am completely in love with her cute toys and planning to order the 'GROWN UP DOLL' for my daughter's first birthday :)

Sunflower Story

Well, you never know where inspiration will come from! Mine came from a customer's question. One day I've got a message where a girl was asking me if I can make a sunflower necklace.
So, I decided to crochet this very new sunflower necklace that will pair with the teething ring that I already have in my store. Look and compare :)
You can find the flowers here

I am planning to create a matching necklace to each teether that I have in the shop.