(Yay! We went to Ikea* and I bought baby sized coat hangers. Finally I can make like Alicia Paulson!)
Now before you think I have had time to sit down and do these myself, let me say that I am currently spending my free (ie. non-baby) time tidying (aka re-excavating) the house because after 8 weeks of Baby S it looks like a tornado has hit it. Also I am pretty rubbish at drawing (despite being a landscape architect).
But there was a Baby Exhibition in Dublin a couple of Saturdays ago so I thought I'd go along. (Er, not an exhibition of babies you understand, but something more like an Ideal Home Exhibition for baby and maternity stuff). It was a bit spur of the moment and I was mildly concerned that it would be a complete let down but I have to say I was quite surprised at the number and variety of stands (although they were, in the main, very main stream and what a cupcake seller is doing at a baby show is still an unanswered question).
I went because I've been trying to find nice toys for Baby S - specifically one of those wrap-round-the-car-seat-handle things, a mobile for his crib and a rattle. It's not that these aren't available elsewhere but I just haven't liked anything I've seen so far. Hmmm, I could be a fussy mother...
Unfortunately I didn't find anything I went for, but I did meet Dara Golden who hand paints lovely baby clothes. I am pretty particular about what Baby S wears (ok, I must be a fussy mother!) and I hate cartoon characters and baby-grows with "I love my mummy" printed on them (and don't get me started on naff maternity wear...), so Dara's work is right up my street. She paints straight onto the baby-grow, each item is a one-off and they are 100% cotton and fully machine washable. So what's not to like?
I'm a bit of a tree frog fan so I had to get this one...
and the shoal of fish was great too...
The colours are wonderfully vivid and every design is available in every size (up to about age 2, I think) but I bought 6-12 months so Baby S can wear them in the summer, when we go to see the out-laws, with some cotton trousers I'm planning to make.
[Added 19-04-11: I just heard from Dara that she does t-shirts up to adult XL size]
Dara is hoping to set up a website soon and I'm sure she'll get plenty of sales. You can contact her at daragolden[at]hotmail[dot]com if you would like to know where you can buy her clothes.
ps. Please be assured that I was entirely motivated to write this post by the loveliness of the clothes, and no large (or small) wads of cash were exchanged between Dara and me!
pps. Ikea was hilarious. We thought we'd be there for an hour or so, but we were there for five! We hmm-ed and haa-ed over furniture for Baby S for ages, piled a trolley high with flat pack baby wardrobes and chest of drawers, and then had a massive flip out at the final price and put everything back again. So all we had to show for our five hours was two packs of baby coat hangers and a couple of plates. We won't be doing that again in a hurry!
