Merry Christmas!

Work of Heart Calendar

Thanks to all for purchasing your Work of Heart Calendars in support of the Pembina Valley Pregnancy Care.  As promised, here is your promo code, valid TODAY ONLY! 

Use WORKOFHEART2011 at checkout on http://www.playfulpeanut.com/ to receive FREE SHIPPING on your order! 

First Day Fun

It's been a BIG couple of weeks over here...

Not only did we survive Corn and Apple, but we also made it through the mountain of orders that followed AND managed to get a few other things checked off the to do list (including superhero capes, and something else that will hopefully hit the blog this weekend!).  And while we were doing that, 2 little girls were getting ready to do something else...

This little lady is totally decked out for her first day of preschool!  Her shoes are almost as sparkly as her personality (and I think her mom should get super fun mom kudos for buying these super fun shoes in spite of how mom might really feel about them :).  For those of you that don't know our little girls, this is definitely the photogenic one.

This one, would be mine.  And this is what you get when you bribe mine to "take a nice picture."  ~sigh~  I really should get my bribe back.  Her mom did not buy the super fun sparkly shoes, but DID let her wear this skirt she wanted to instead of the jeans I suggested (apparently I already have no taste - I cannot WAIT until this one is a teenager :).

And our brag post wouldn't be complete without this one.  If any of you happened to be at Corn and Apple on Saturday night, you may have met our awesome friend Nina.  She doesn't know how to sew (yet - hehe) but she's graciously agreed to help us out with our crazy fall trade show schedule so you might get to see a bit more of her in the weeks ahead.  This is her baby.  He started Kindergarten this year.  And I assure you he is EVERY bit as cute as this picture.  SERIOUSLY.  The casual pose, the hand in the pocket, the hair - I could eat this kid up!  The tie totally finishes it off.  :)

Drum Roll, please...

Oh, and guess what else we've been up to today???

Farewell, Old Friend...

It's no secret, WE LOVE FABRIC!  And shopping for fabric is the biggest perk of our job.  There are a number of things we think makes a great fabric, and not every fabric is right for every occasion.

Last summer, when we launched our snack-loc bags, we were excited to use some of our favourite polka dot prints, mom-friendly prints, and fun prints.  But we also saw them as an opportunity to jump out of our usual box, and try something completely new.  So we did. 

Meet Edgy Veggie.  The more I worked with this fabric, the more I loved it.  It has a CRYING ONION, people (seriously, you can even see it in this picture).  If that doesn't make a fabric cool, I don't know what does.  And it seemed the perfect fit for a snack-loc bag.

Well, tonight I made the last one.  Our supplier is totally sold out, and unsure if it will be re-ordered or not.  So Edgy Veggie is officially retired.  RIP you zany, dancing vegetables.

The good news is we've got some new ones up our sleeve (you know we always do :).  And they are C.U.T.E.  Stay tuned!

Woo Hoo!

At least once a week we get emails from customers requesting items we don't have for sale.  We love these emails, because that's where most of our greatest new ideas come from.  But every so often they provide us with a challenge.  And while we're all for a challenge, sometimes they can drag on and on and on.

Case in point.  Our elastic toddler belts are still one of our most favourite products.  We've been making them for over 2 years now, and just recently overhauled them to be even better.   And while we love our polka dotted ones, we CONSTANTLY get asked for ones that are fun but plain.  Up until now, we've only had plain black. 

But finally, FINALLY after two years of looking, we think we may have found a supplier of some fun, colourful elastic that is PLAIN!  It just showed up in the mail yesterday, so we're going to test it out on our peanuts over the next week or so and make sure we're happy with them before they hit the shop, but here's your little sneak peek (and yes, we know we won't be winning any photography awards with the picture - my camera is TERRIBLE at night with or without the flash). 



The Magic Bag

So, my baby is a month old.  A MONTH OLD!  How does this happen?  We've learned a lot about each other in this month (having a 3 year old, you sort of forget how the newborn stage goes :).  One thing I've learned is that she LOVES her cuddle wrap. 

My 3 year old is an infamous thumb sucker.  My infant seems destined to be the same.  The only way she will sleep is with her hands by her face (but with her soother in her mouth until she can get this thumb business figured out).  But she NEEDS to be swaddled up tight.  She startles SO EASILY.  I'd swaddled her up in big receiving blankets the first couple of days and it didn't go well.  Her arms easily got out the top, she startled and she was AWAKE.  So I had to buck the trend of the ol' shoemakers' kids never having nice shoes, and I made her a cuddle wrap.  I've since made another for laundry days. 

My Mom was over the other day and was trying to settle Macy down for her nap.  She had the soother and a blanket, but that wasn't cutting it.  I convinced her to listen to me.  She put her in the cuddle wrap, popped the soother in the mouth, and she was almost instantly asleep.  Grandma was impressed. 

Now, it's like she just knows.  This picture makes me smile because I just checked on her in the crib and this is exactly how she looks.  If you've never been sold on swaddling (or just generally curse the blankets when you try and wrap them up tight yourself), you just might be impressed by our cuddle wraps.

Of course, every baby is different.  But if you think of how tight and cramped the space they came from was, it really does make sense why they want to be wrapped up so tightly.  All I know is we're a month in and I'm getting a good night's sleep.  :)

Baby Pool Update

I'm just going to start by reposting all the guesses, including the ones that came in after the last post...


Andrea Miller - Apr 12, boy, 5:30 pm
Jennifer Knutt - Apr 18, girl, 5:36 am
Kathryn nson - Apr 22, boy, 3:45 pm
Kaitlin Peirson - Apr 23, girl 12:52 pm
Meagan Smolinski - Apr 23, boy, 3:23 pm
Lindsay Wright - Apr 24, boy, 9 am
Tamara Bezemer - Apr 25, boy, 3:19 am
Chelsea Helm - Apr 26, girl, 10:56 am
Adrienne Ashcroft - Apr 27, girl, 2:47 am
Krystal Wylie - Apr 27. boy, 4:12 am
Christine Peters - Apr 27, girl, 1:16 pm
Sharla Davey - Apr 28, boy, 3 pm
randy Ellerbrock - Apr 29, girl, 3:33 am
Meaghen Jones - Apr 29, girl, 3:33 pm
Tara Elias - Apr 30, boy, 6 pm
Brette Park - Apr 30, girl, 12:30 am
Tannis Wiebe - May 1, girl, 5:16 am
Msty Klassen - May 1, boy, 8:43 am
Amanda Kipe - May 2, boy, 1:23 am
Ashley Myers - May 3, boy, 2:50 am
Terry-Meg Fehr - May 3, boy, 4:27 pm
Melissa Pierce - May 3, girl, 8:20 pm
Tessa Memme - May 4, boy, 3:48 am
Jaclynn Willems - May 5, boy, 11:30 pm
Deb Penner - May 6, boy, 2 pm

Thanks to everyone for playing along. And thanks to Macy for coming sooner than later (my induction date was set for today at 10 am, so words can't express how happy I am to be sitting here with my 10 day old baby :). In the end, Macy arrived Friday April 29 at 3:21 pm. That means Meaghen Jones emerges victorious. And Meaghen will have an easy time spending her $20 gift certificate, since she was across the hall from me in the hospital having a new little baby girl of her own.

More fun to come! Next up is the Westman Baby and Kids Show on Saturday, and then maybe we'll have to run a new contest on the Facebook page...

Baby Pool Update

To help keep it simple on who's still in the running in the baby pool, I thought I'd post all the guesses in chronological order.  Still time to make one, too, just leave a note on the Facebook page!

Andrea Miller - Apr 12, boy, 5:30 pm
Jennifer Knutt - Apr 18, girl, 5:36 am
Kathryn Benson - Apr 22, boy, 3:45 pm
Kaitlin Peirson - Apr 23, girl 12:52 pm
Meagan Smolinski - Apr 23, boy, 3:23 pm
Lindsay Wright - Apr 24, boy, 9 am
Tamara Bezemer - Apr 25, boy, 3:19 am
Chelsea Helm - Apr 26, girl, 10:56 am
Adrienne Ashcroft - Apr 27, girl, 2:47 am
Krystal Wylie - Apr 27. boy, 4:12 am
Christine Peters - Apr 27, girl, 1:16 pm
Sharla Davey - Apr 28, boy, 3 pm
Meaghen Jones - Apr 29, girl, 3:33 pm
Tara Elias - Apr 30, boy, 6 pm
Brette Park - Apr 30, girl, 12:30 am
Tannis Wiebe - May 1, girl, 5:16 am
Misty Klassen - May 1, boy, 8:43 am
Amanda Kipe - May 2, boy, 1:23 am
Ashley Myers - May 3, boy, 2:50 am
Tessa Memme - May 4, boy, 3:48 am
Jaclynn Willems - May 5, boy, 11:30 pm

Since it's 8 pm at my house, it looks like Andrea is already out.  Haven't made a guess yet?  You have until noon CST TOMORROW (April 13)!

The Baby Pool

Okay, just so we're all on the same page here's how we're going to work the Playful Peanut Baby Pool...

You will be asked to guess THREE things - the baby's sex, the birthdate, and the time.  To win, the first criteria is that you have to match the sex.  THEN you have to match the birthday (or be closest to it) and THEN you have to match the time (just in case we need a tiebreaker).  You have to include your guess for ALL THREE in order to be entered. 

You can post your guesses to our Facebook page, or email them to yourplayfulpeanut@gmail.com. We'll take guesses until noon CST on Wednesday, April 13th.  IF the Peanut Mama happens to go into labour before that (hey, a girl can dream, right?) we'll do a random draw based on ALL entries we've received PRIOR to delivery.

The prize will be FANTASTIC.  I'm feeling a gift certificate coming on...

NOW.  Here's the relevant data (we think, anyhow, feel free to ask more questions :).
-Official due date is April 24th.
-This is baby number 2 for her.  The first one was due May 2.  She went into the hospital to be induced on May 13. She finally had a baby on May 15 (no, that is NOT a typo - I WISH!).
-No braxton hicks, no false labour, no ANYTHING to suggest some fun is on the horizon anytime soon.  Doctor agreed at today's appointment. 
-Peanut Mama is 6 feet tall.  I mention this just because some people feel this gives a woman "more room" for a baby, who therefore won't hurry out.
-Peanut Mama REALLY believes she's having a boy, but her husband wouldn't let her go and find out so she has nothing to go on but her gut instinct.  :)

I will post some photographic proof, but blogger doesn't seem to want to do it right now.  I'll maybe try the Facebook page too.

So, get those guesses in!

Attach of the Giant Snack-Loc Bag!

So, every once in a while we get asked to create something new.  (Well, we actually get asked very often, but sometimes we have to weigh out our workload versus the amount of time it will take to create said new product.  :)  But this week we got one that was an easy yes.  Through playfulpeanut.etsy.com, we had a request for a mini and a giant version of the snack-loc bag.  She'd bought some of our regular sized ones a while back and loved them so much she wanted to add to the collection.  A couple of snips later, the mini snack-loc bag and the giant (gallon-sized) snack-loc bags were born.  At first I wasn't entirely sure what to use a giant snack-loc bag for, but as I was sewing the ideas starting to come...  First off, it would make a great lunch bag.  Second, it would be great for the diaper bag to keep the soother, bottle, medicine, etc all together and protected from whatever else you find at the bottom of your diaper bag (hello spit rags!).  Would work great as a make-up bag, too.  And I think the possibilities for it if you're travelling are endless.

But don't just take our word for it - have a peek for yourself! It measures 10 x 12 inches and functions exactly as a snack-loc bag does (ie, the same high-quality, food-safe liner, the same easy-open velcro top, the same hidden seams and the same ability to pull out the liner and just wipe it instead of having to toss it in the wash every single time). Interested in one for yourself? Drop us a line! yourplayfulpeanut@gmail.com!

Elastic Toddler Belt Twist

I hate it when we get all excited about something and then it doesn't work...

A couple days ago we had a customer email us with a great twist on how to get more bang for your buck with your elastic toddler belt.  We're ALL about practical and economical solutions to things, and hers was all that and more.

So we teased you about it on the Facebook page.

And tonight it totally went bust for us.

We'll share it with you anyhow, along with how you can try and make it work for yourself, and how it didn't work for us.

Her issue was that some of her son's pants don't have belt loops, which make the elastic toddler belt useless.  She was planning to email us and see if we could make something that had clips instead of the snaps, when she realized she could combine the 2 ideas for a fraction of the cost.  She went to her local craft store and picked up some clips - similar to those we use for our mitten clips.  She looped the elastic toddler belt through them, snapped them up, and voila!  Problem solved.

So I was all excited to snap some pictures of how it worked tonight using our mitten clips.  Problem is, the hole on our mitten clips is no match for the snap.  So I can't get it to loop through to close.

That said, there are BAZILLIONS of manufacturers of clips, and no two are exactly the same.  Obviously some on the market have a bigger space than others (after all, hers worked!).  So if you measure the length of the post on the snap, and head to your local craft/fabric store, you just might be able to get it work for you, too.  And if that happens, we'd love an email on who makes the clips so we can share that information with our fans!

Nothing like a major let-down on a Friday night!  We'll do some shopping around as well, and see if we can't find some that will work.  Or, if you can't wait and love the idea of an elastic toddler belt made with clips instead of snaps (for the belt-loop-less pants), drop us an email at yourplayfulpeanut@gmail.com and we'll hook you up.

PS - Looks like gas prices aren't the only things on the rise lately.  If you haven't purchased a $5 elastic toddler belt yet you may want to soon.  We're trying to maintain our prices as long as we can, but in the re-stocking of supplies we're starting to see a lot of increases which will means a few product price increases in the near future...

Logo!

Let me start by saying how much we love our in-house graphic designer (and not just because he's logged more hours getting our .com up and running than we have sewing lately :).  When we launched our etsy and facebook sites, we was there for us to play around with our little elephant friend and make him cuter than cute.  He was also there to help out with all the packaging materials, and has even designed all the pamphlet-type stuff we've had at trade and craft shows.

And it's not that we didn't like our logo, we just thought it was time to LOVE it.  And we really didn't want to bother the GD right now - his to do list is SCARY. 

So we got some outside help, and are pretty excited about how it's all come together.  So while the .com continues to progress, here's a little sneak peek of the logo that will come with it.  What do YOU think??

Dresses or Skirts, Anyone??

Okay, so nothing gets us excited like new fabric.  We are worse than kids at Christmas when we know it's been mailed out.  Let's just say we're on a first name basis with all the post office workers.  :)

One of us was sick a couple weeks ago.  Good and sick.  Could barely get out of bed, sick.  Makes it hard to get much sewing done, but it makes it REALLY EASY to click and buy fabric.  LOTS of fabric.  We still have a couple new product launches up our sleeves, so we needed a few new designs.  And then there's nothing like adding in some new options to replace a few old favourites that are now out of stock. 

What do you think of our 3 new favourite combinations for dresses and twirl skirts???

 daisy flowers with candy

grey plain jane with citron

boho blossom with orchid

Christmas Show and Tell

I facebooked a while back about being the "homemade" Aunty, and finding it to be just a little bit harder each year as my nieces and (especially!) nephews get older. I went for something completely different for the boys this year, and it sounds like they are quite the hit...  It's a bird, it's a plane, nope - it's a PERSONALIZED SUPERHERO CAPE!

The pictures don't really show them off, but my 2 and a half year old didn't want to model them for me so until I can convince her to show off hers (yup, capes aren't just for boys!), it's the best I can do.  I may have also saved my sisters-in-law from having to get too creative for Halloween!

Not to be outdone, I did have to come up with something cute for my curly-headed little niece, so since my other niece got a tutu for her first birthday it was time to make one for Miss M.  I gotta say, I think I'm getting into this tutu thing.  I LOVE these colours together.  Purple is the colour of choice in that house, so I added in some blue, green and yellow for good measure.  My daughter was a little sad to see it leave...

Hello January!

Where oh where did the last 2 months go? 

We have a zillion posts just waiting to be written, but in the meantime, here's a Happy New Year from the Playful Peanuts (no, these are the sewers - yet - they are just the inspiration behind our little business :).

First up, the "original two."  Pardon the sweaty hair and goofy faces.  These 2 play hard when they get together.  And they're 2 and a half, need we say more?  Is there any way to properly prepare a parent for 2 and a half?  We don't think so either, but we love them just the same.  :)

Then there's a our new little man.  Who I'm sure is really, really hoping for another little male peanut soon.  There is no doubt he is smothered with affection from the little "mothers" above.

So from our peanuts to yours, have a WONDERFUL 2011, and keep checking back because we did resolve to update this blog a little more this year than we did last year.  :)