One of the major accessories every new parent needs is a good diaper bag. If you remember, when we had Arri we splurged a little for a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag. It wasn’t cheap, but looking back I think it was totally worth it. I am a huge fan of Petunia Pickle Bottom, and think that most of their bag designs are pretty nice, but they have completely outdone themselves with their new Journey Packs. This beautiful bag is made of felt, and has a classic style that will always look great. Looking at it makes me think that it’s hands down the best looking diaper bag I’ve ever seen. The only downsides are the size (it looks a little small) and the price (which isn’t small). Available in Gray, Olive Green, Black felt, and leather.
Available from Design Public for $140.

I have always like the idea of making my own one of a kind t shirts, but the thought of learning to silkscreen seemed too intimidating, and the iron on things just didn’t seem quality enough. Now there is a new option for creating custom t-shirts, SKREENED. Sure, there are lots of online design-your-own t-shirt shops. What makes SKREENED different is the equipment they use to print your shirts. It’s basically a highly modified ink jet printer, which allows them to do one of a kinds at a much lower cost. They also use all American Apparel shirts, so you know your getting a quality product. Best of all the prices are great. A custom organic shirt will run you under $17. Very nice!
Design your own, or choose from some great designs at SKREENED.

I received a lot of great gifts this year, but perhaps the one that captures the Christmas spirit the best was this shirt from Rosaloves.com. If you haven’t heard of Rosa Loves before, you should definitely check it out. Not only do they have some great designs printed on American Apparel t-shirts, but by buying a shirt from them, you are actually doing some good. The idea behind Rosa Loves is that everyone has a story. They find someone who is in need for whatever reason, design a shirt for them, and then donate all the proceeds of that shirt to support and help them. So in a way it really is a gift that keeps on giving.
Fitted Tee’s are $25 and proceeds always go to a good cause.

As winter is starting to settle in here in Utah (we had our first real snow yesterday) makes me want to get some warm clothes on and snuggle up on our new couch. For Arrington we bought this great one piece with a hoodie at Old Navy. We originally bought it for pajamas, but they are so great that we use them for everything. Old Navy of course has great prices, this one piece was $12.

Available from Old Navy for $12

We are getting ready to visit some friends in New York, and I think we will be spending a lot of time walking around outside, so we are looking for a affordable warm coat for our kid. Any tips?

I saw this over at Baby Gadget this morning and thought that it was too cute not to post. This Coverall hat is from Oeuf, the maker of beautiful Cribs and bouncers. I didn’t even know that they made clothes, but it turns out that they have a pretty good sized line of baby and toddler clothes. My favorite of course are their knits which are made of 100% baby alpaca (which makes it super soft, warm and hypoallergenic) and are very well designed. This hat looks like it would actually stay on your little squirmer and keep them protected from the elements.

Available from Oeuf for $37

On sale at Cocoa Crayon for $27

I don’t usually venture into the realm of fashion, but these pendants are just too cute and too affordable to pass up. Made by a mother daughter team out of Madison Wisconsin, these pendants are made from origami and other fun papers which are applied, decoupage style, to 1/8 inch masonite. They then receive a layer of sealer on the front and sides for extra protection. They have a wide variety of prints available, and they are all very affordable.
Available from the Madison Craft Studio Etsy page. Prices range from $3.50 - $6.50

This last week was the outdoor retailer show here in Salt Lake. I always try and get down there to see if there are any interesting new products coming out this year. I was hoping to run into Terra Plana so I could get a peak at their Dopie Sandal, and as luck would have it, I did.

Not only did I get to see this unique sandal in real life, but I also got to talk with the brain child behind the sandal Matthew Harrison. He was a little jet lagged as he had just barely gotten in from London, but it was still a great conversation. Matthew explained that in designing the sandal he was trying to simplify the concept of a shoe as much as possible. The result is the Dopie. For my full review, read on…

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In this day and age, it seems like everyone is just out to make a buck. People design a product with the question in mind “What’s the most I can charge for this?” Thats why its refreshing to meet a group of people like the guys over at tenbills.com who are asking “What’s the least we can charge for a fresh looking original t-shirt?” The answer of course is $10! They were nice enough to send me a couple of shirts, and I have to say I am very impressed. The designs are great, and the shirts are a quality cotton/poly blend that fit just the way I like.

Check out all the other great shirts at tenbills.com all for just $10.

I think that I have mentioned before that my wife and I are not going to find out the sex of our baby before it’s born. I always thought that the hard part would just be not knowing if I would have a son or a daughter. I now know that the hardest part is shopping for the kid when you don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. The big things like strollers, cribs, carseats aren’t too hard, but infant clothes have been a nightmare. It seems that no one makes infant size clothes in any color but pink or blue, with the occasional white, yellow or green. What ever happened to the rest of the colors? Thankfully Speesees not only brings fashion to the newborn world, but they also manage to do it with organic cotton manufactured under fair trade practices and principles. The prices may be a little higher than your normal baby clothes, but you are getting so much more. The sweet Pumpkin “Seehors” onesie sells for $24.

Available from Speesees for $24.

A super special thanks to all the readers here at GRM for helping me with my watch dilemma. Some time ago my old Nixon watch stopped working, and I solicited any ideas of cool affordable watches. Tokyo Flash came up in the discussions on the forums, and I immediately fell in love with the 12-5-9 shown here. Yesterday it arrived from Japan, just 4 days after I ordered it. It came in a sweet black pleather box, wrapped around a white pleather pillow. The quality looks top notch. It has a good weight to it that makes it feel like it should last for some time. The only thing that I was a little surprised by is that the watch doesn’t constantly show the time. you have to push the button, does a little flourish of blinking lights, and about three seconds later it shows the time briefly.

Available from Tokyo Flash for $110.

Original post here.

Check out the forum discussion for lots of other great watch ideas, plus a discount code to Tokyo Flash.