Recently in Keepsakes Category

A friend of mine sent me the link to these make-your-own board books and I have become obsessed over the last few days trying to write my own book for my two tots. The Me And My Peeps board books are fully customizable with picture AND text. If you are not so inclined, there are templates available - you just provide the pictures. I began by just trying to personalize the text in the templates and somehow I ventured into trying to write prose in rhyme. I did come up with a few that were pretty good: "The doctors told us you were a boy, and then you arrived and we jumped for joy!"; "You love to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, And daddy plays along on his guitar"; and "Taking a nap on daddy's head, Is so much nicer than any bed". You can see how fun this is! And we all know how tots love to look at pictures of themselves. You can make books with family members who are far away so your tots don't forget them or make it educational with objects and vocabulary that is important to you. If I can muster up more inspiration, I would love to make these as gifts! Start making your own at Me and My Peeps, $27.95 plus $5 for shipping.

Both my kids have a piggy bank and my 3 1/2 year old already understands that saving money means she can buy something she wants. I like teaching this concept so I continued it with my younger daughter by buying her her own little piggy bank. The one thing I never thought of was to buy a piggy bank that could never hold as money as the value of the piggy bank itself. Like this one from Tu Tu Cute. It is covered in pink Swarovski crystals and adorned with a crown and tutu. It is a gift fit for a princess but what does that teach them about saving though? The most ironic part of this piggy bank is the description for it, "this pig is the perfect gift for the penny-pinching princess". Uh, this thing is $1795 at Neiman Marcus.

Gia Giasullo, a mom and graphic designer, wants your tots' unwanted art! She is working on a book called Untitled_1 A Collection of Children's Rejected Drawings, which is pretty much self explanatory but just to be repetitive, it is a book of children's drawings that were thrown out for whatever reasons. She realized that these "rejects" were actually more interesting because of why they were rejected, like the picture above, the ponytail on the girl is "too big". We all have a pile of these in the house, what better way to cherish one of the pieces than to have it be a part of a book? If you would like to include your children's precious rejects which will now become prized artwork in her book, you can contact her by email. The jump page has full details and instructions on how all this works, or you can click here to download the pdf file of the same instruction sheet.

Little kids love to see their name on anything and everything. I had pink "business cards" with my name and home phone number printed on them before I was even old enough to know how to properly read or write. I remember just handing them out to everyone I came in contact with...not too safe now that I look back...eech! Anyway, these days it's much easier to see your name used in a fun way. I think it's great that you can personalize or monogram anything from clips to bathing towels to having a star named after a loved ones name! That's why I'm totally loving Name Your Design. They can add any name you like to a wide array of canvases. They have so many cute designs to pick from! Personally I love all that is candy and chocolate so I'm all over the gumball machine -- what a great way to decorate and liven-up your tot's room while giving your little one a fabulous keepsake as you teach them to appreciate art:)

I have been shopping for all the baby showers I have this summer and have found the perfect gift. This 4 piece baby set from Christofle will delight your most hard to gift friends and family. These are heirloom pieces that will be passed down for generations so even though they will not actually be used as intended (the egg cup is a little baffling), these will be beautiful and cherished forever. Or you can get onesies and cute dresses that will be outgrown and tossed in a few month. I even think the price is quite reasonable, a couple of Jacadi dresses and Le Petit Bateau onesies add up very quickly. At Vivre 4 piece set for $320.

Aristabrat Madame Butterfly Set ($299) and High Society Pacifier - Royalty ($175)

Talk about completely snobulous...Aristabrats adds an edgy, artistic side to precious keepsakes. The company adorns silver plated nail clippers, rattles, and pacifiers with Swarovski crystals. The Madame Butterfly Set ($299) above contains over 2,000 hand placed crystals. However, nail clippers, pacifiers, and rattles are sold individually. If that isn't enough for you, use pacifiers as an educational tool and start teaching your daughters about one of the 4 Cs - cut. Aristabrat's High Society Pacifiers ($175) are bejeweled with opulent princess, emerald, marquis, teardrop and baguette cuts. If your baby swallows a stone, just dock her allowance for the next 20 years. For now, we will let girls believe that Swarovskis are a girls best friend. Available at Aristabrat.

Hello!! Where have you been all my life? Well, at least for the last 2 and a half years of my life. I am the world's most disorganized person, all of my documents are in piles and is moved from kitchen counter to my desk to some box in some cabinet and maybe ends up in the trash, who knows. But now that I have kids, there are things I HAVE to keep safe and put in a place that I can actually find when I need it. I have been using an old folder and I don't even know where it is right now, I am scared to even look for it because I fear I cannot find it. I know I could have used any file system from Staples but special keepsake albums and boxes make them precious to me and I somehow find the ability to keep them in a good place. This is a great gift for new parents, they won't appreciate it immediately but once they are able to pull out their immunization card in an instant while running out to the doctor's office, they will thank you and thank you and thank you. I have a lot of new mommy friends so this takes care of my shopping for them. It comes with folders and charts to log in thank you cards, etc., I doubt I will get that organized but it's a nice feature for the type A moms. BabyBriefcase Document Organizerat Nordstrom for $29.95.

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Every baby must have a keepsake rattle. We got the signature Tiffany & Co. rattle. While it is classic, I think this Gold Loop Rattle from Areaware has at little more pizzazz. It is beautiful on the outside. Your babies can "goo" and "ga" at their reflection in the large ball. When admiring their face becomes tiring, they can use it as a teether. What can be better than engraving your precious keepsake with baby's first teeth marks? Once your baby's cries are no longer music to your ears, this rattle will be. The sixteen tone inside is hand-tuned. Who knew you could hand-tune a rattle?! Comes in silver ($90) or gold ($150). Available at Vivre.