Snap Happy.

Perusing Etsy this morning, I stopped mid-scroll when I came across these: handmade, heirloom-quality toy cameras, with knobs and a view finder that twist and turn like the real thing. (Well, almost.) Customize your own — complete with embroidered strap — or choose from an array of punchy, picture-perfect hues.

"We knew our kids would grow up loving to play with the newest tech," say Utah-based makers Twig, "but we didn't want them to spend their entire childhoods glued to a screen. So we started designing toys that were inspired by modern gadgets, but powered solely by imagination."

Shop these and more on Etsy. Happy snapping.

What My Daughter Wore.

These color-splashed illustrations are the work of Brooklynite Jenny Williams, whose blog What My Daughter Wore showcases the sartorial savvy of her children and their peers. Scrolling through reminded me of an interview I did earlier this year with stylist Andreas Kokkino. Andreas told me that his greatest style heroes were "kids on the street" — in particular, one who wore Nike slides with socks and a Disney Princess beach towel. I loved that, and I love these, too.

See more at What My Daughter Wore. For further inspiration, please refer to this photo of my niece, Calla, captured at age four on the streets of Brooklyn.

Li'l Lenox.

This is Yung Lenox. He's seven. He likes rap and he likes to draw. What happens when those two passions collide? See below (and here, and here, too). 

See also:
1) If I slip, then I'm slippin'.
2) Circuses in the forests.
3) Children with swag.

Hide & Seek.

For a dozy, dazed Monday morning, (I'm finding I'm still slow to get going post-holiday), a collection of photos of children playing hide and seek. That alligator, those kitchen cabinet toes? Brilliant.

See more at 22 Words, and have a wonderful Monday. I'm off to Roberta's for lunch, and a trapeze class at the end of the day - trying to get a running (or flying) start on the week!

Holiday Gift Ideas 4: Holy Wood, Handmade Houses.

Tis the season: every day this week, I'll be posting ten holiday gift ideas - fifty total by Friday. This year, I aimed to feature items from small businesses (Etsy and otherwise), or my favorite local  shops here in NYC. Other items are things I own and love.

Day 4: Holy Wood. Handmade Houses.

-Woodstock Handmade Houses, $35. From 1974, a peek into the homes of the Woodstock generation.

-Bradley Mountain Traveler's Mug, $20. For camping trips and outdoor excursions, mugs wrapped in hand-stitched leather. I'd use them in the city, too.

-Turkish slippers, $45. Hot pink for cold mornings.

-Beaver pillow, $108. The best part of this pillow, which features a woodland scene embroidered on linen: there's a pocket sewn into the beaver's dam, so you can tuck him in at night.

-Flower Power Healing Bath, $24. A floral elixir of rose buds and witch hazel, clover and chamomile. 

-California pouch, $25. For pencils, pens, and magic wands.

-Felt party hat, $40. Made by hand in Bolivia, these alpaca wool party hats are fair-trade and hypoallergenic.

-The Adjustable Clampersand, $40. Says creator Tony Ruth, "I'd recommend using it to clamp verbally-associated objects together into some sort of visual pun: bacon and eggs, salt and pepper, turner and hooch. That sort of thing." (More inspiration here.) 

-Audubon Field Guide Series, $60. Everything you'll ever need to know about shells, mushrooms, spiders, and the night sky.

-Palo Santo Wood, $15. My friend Jamie got me some of this incense (also known as "holy wood") for my birthday, made from the bark of the Ecuadorian Palo Santo tree. Use it to "cleanse a space, cure a hangover, or ward off mosquitoes."

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More tomorrow! For the rest of this week's guides (and other gift ideas from my archives), click here.

Holiday Gift Ideas 3: Foxes, Feathers, Beauty Every Day.

Tis the season: every day this week, I'll be posting ten holiday gift ideas - fifty total by Friday. This year, I aimed to feature items from small businesses (Etsy and otherwise), or my favorite local  shops here in NYC. Other items are things I own and love.

Day 3: Foxes, Feathers, Beauty Every Day.

-Sailing Ship Kite, $40. As magical for adults as it is for children. Made in New York City.

-Hand-stitched baseball, $39. I once asked during a high school baseball game whether there were two balls in play - which pretty much says it all about my knowledge of sports, both then and now. Still, I think these baseballs, handcrafted and stitched in waxed linen, are gorgeous.

-Cat paper doll, $8. This cat is tiny and adorable and ballet-slipper pink - and he couldn't care less about any of it.

-Antique astrology chart, $65. For astrology addicts and stargazers, a map of the sky that dates back to 1873. 

-The Diary of Anais Nin, Vol. 4, $17.96. Anais Nin has felt like a spiritual guide to me this past year. I have this line taped to my wall.

-Della MacBook case, $38. Handmade in Ghana, using local, sustainable, vegan materials. (Della is an amazing company that offers education and skills training to its employees in West Africa. Read more, here.)

-Feather tattoo, $5 for 2. To encourage free spirits.

-Honey Maple Cream, $13. Made in Pennsylvania using fresh milk, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Indie food website Mouth suggests pairing it with almond butter for what sounds like the most astoundingly delicious sandwich of all time.

-Anthony Burrill print, $75. For your bedroom wall, because what better words could there be to wake up to?

-Woodland socks, $38.63. To ensure warm toes when doing this.

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More tomorrow! For Monday's and Tuesday's guides (and other gift ideas from my archives), click here.

Holiday Gift Ideas 1: Bobcats, Mermaids, Tiny Mountains.

Tis the season: every day this week, I'll be posting ten holiday gift ideas - fifty total by Friday. This year, I aimed to feature items from small businesses (Etsy and otherwise), or my favorite local  shops here in NYC. Other items are things I own and love.

Day 1: Bobcats, Mermaids, Tiny Mountains.

-Bobcat and Other Stories, $14.95. One of the best books I read this year - and one of the strangest.

-Mermaid Sea Salt Spray, $22. My friend Megan and I love this rose-scented sea salt hair spray. We douse ourselves in it in hopes of becoming mermaids - it hasn't happened yet, but we'll keep trying.

-Three Stars Champagne Chalk, $11. This chalk is made by a German company over a century old using natural chalk deposits from Champagne, France.

-Tiny Snow-Capped Mountains and Sky Earrings Set, $55. Two moons, a cloud, and three snowy peaks, made to order. 

-Ceramic Incense Yurt, $62. This four-by-four-inch yurt is made in New York; its cousins the beehive and the teepee are pretty sweet, too.

-Mast Brothers Chocolate Chips, $19. The Mast Brothers chocolate factory is in my neighborhood. Sometimes I visit on my way to the train, just to take a deep breath in. 

-Red Jumping Leopard Dreamcatcher, $85. I love everything about this.

-Vintage movie camera, $42. It no longer works, but it'd be beautiful on a bookshelf.

-Starlight mug, $24. Handmade by Marina Temkin, brushed in blue, speckled in stars.

-Fingers Crossed lino print, $26.95. An image full of hope, from one of my Etsy favorites, Kaye Blegvad.

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More to come tomorrow. In the meantime, I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving! With many of our friends out of the city, Megan and I had what we called a Tiny-giving, with a little roast chicken, the tiniest blue potatoes you've ever seen, and a cranberry sauce we made from scratch. It was cozy and quiet and the second Friendsgiving in a row that felt - despite its hodgepodge nature - pretty close to perfect. How was yours?

Lucky Boy Sunday.

Lucky Boy Sunday products are carried in quite a few stores in my area, and I've always been a fan of the eccentric, offbeat personality of their toys and textiles (all made from alpaca wool).

I also love the way founders Camilla Ebdrup and Camilla Kørschen describe themselves on their site. Turns out, both were born in 1977 and have never enjoyed a sunlit birthday. When she was little, Ebdrup carved wooden men out of knives; Kørschen made pink marzipan roses and was a "childpriest" for having buried a multitude of deceased pets. Incredible.

Visit the Lucky Boy Sunday website, here. (Also, on another note, I'm excited to share photos from my weekend in a couple of days, along with a new POV post. How was your weekend?)

Mysterious Shrimp, Angry Fairies.

For aspiring artists, young and old: storybooks from Paris, awaiting illustration. Extraterrestrials on skis, fuming fairies, homicidal shrimp - who could be bored with prompts like these? Break out the crayons and paint, the glitter glue and the googly eyes. Go wild.

See more at Supereditions. Available for purchase in the U.S., here. Happy Monday!

Night Light/Night Bright.

This afternoon, just for fun, French-made neon night-lights in glass jars, presented by a very cute, very inquisitive little brown-eyed model. Capped with a tiny silver toggle switch, each light features a brightly-colored furry or feathered friend, for company on even the darkest of nights.

Shop these and many other children's items at Cecile Bernard's Etsy shop, here.

Circuses in the Forests.

Poets House is a national library in New York City that offers visitors the chance "to step into the living tradition of poetry." Its Children's Room features typewriters (not computers or iPads) for aspiring poets to record their thoughts, and the library's Twitter feed features snippets of verse written by city schoolchildren. I've clipped a few of my favorite lines; perhaps not surprisingly, seven of the eight involve animals.

Thank you to my favorite librarian, Natalie, for the introduction.

Further reading:
Accidental poetry found in Google autocorrect suggestions...
...and in the words on the spines of books...
...and in bits and pieces of the New York Times.

Enjoy!

Sleep Spaces.

Photographer James Mollison's book "Where Children Sleep" features "stories of diverse children around the world, told through portraits and pictures of their bedrooms." Below, a few standouts:

From top to bottom: Fifteen-year-old Nantio of Lisamis, Kenya; fifteen-year-old Risa of Kyoto, Japan; nine-year-old Dong of Yunnan, China; seven-year-old Indira of Kathmandu, Nepal.

According to the photographer: “I hope the book gives a glimpse into the lives some children are living in very diverse situations around the world; a chance to reflect on the inequality that exists, and realize just how lucky most of us in the developed world are." 

Purchase "Where Children Sleep," here. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!