Eco-tastic ideas!

We just got back from a really amazing trade show featuring everything "kids".  We saw so many cool new things that I can't wait to tell you about.  Eco-tastic was definitely the theme this year and it was exciting to see all the new companies who are coming up with North American-made, eco-friendly options for our kids to live creatively.

eco-paint -made with organic fruit, vegetable and plant extracts

eco-kids are a small family company in Maine.  Kip, one of the owners told us all about the eco-kids concept, manufacturing, ingredients and packaging  - from start to finish an eco-tastic line of art materials!  In their words: "eco-kids is dedicated to offering art supplies for creative play the natural way, using only the most natural ingredients and eco-friendly packaging."

From treeless paper (made from discarded stalks of banana trees), to rice
flour based-paints (Gluten-free!) to eco-chalk using kaolin clay (locally sourced and produced!) - this company thinks of everything.  I'm looking forward to receiving their eco-ornaments and making them with the kids!

The Learning Tower is not a new product from Little Partners - we first saw this in 2008 and thought it was a great idea then.  They've taken it a step further and closer to our favourite direction now though:  creativity!

This unique children's "stool" is so much more!  While providing a safe and stable environment for kids to "help" in the kitchen, it also gives you a height adjustable platform that grows with your child.

Art Easel feature

But wait there's more! (I used to love those commercials!)  Attach the art easel and have a two-sided and magnetic surface to create or add the Puppet Show theatre kit to make a whole world of make-believe.  Sturdy and solid, this wooden platform comes in so many colours it's unbelievable.   I thought the flexibility of being able to mount the easel on the wall or on the platform sides was great too.

Oh, and Lifetime Warranty.....uh yeah...lifetime.  Loved that.

Turtle Monkey Bug!  Oh My GOSH!  As I saw them from across a crowded trade show floor...well, perhaps that's a bit dramatic, but I was in luv.  Members of the Handmade Toy Alliance who use only premium materials and focus on eco-friendly muslins and recycled fibre fills, Turtle Monkey Bug specialize in hand made dolls, stick-ponies and art journals.

I wish I had been allowed to take a picture of the Sapphire Blue thick cordouroy Pony with the flowing mane. (show rule, not theirs)  Truly, it was he who caught and held my attention from across the crowded floor.  The craftsmanship in these creations is outstanding.  Meeting Brandon and Heather, the creators of these magical toys, was a delight. 

They started their home-based business in 2007 in Portland, Oregon and had always put their talents together (he a painter, she a sewer) to create functional art, with a vision of providing beautiful, well-made, one-of-a-kind art/toys of heirloom quality to be passed on to the next generation, and even the next after that.

I was most inspired though, by a company who sells baby cribs and bedding called Q Collection Junior.  Honestly, I didn't really pay much attention to their products at the show...it was their display that I adored.  Check this out:

That is their backdrop.  Nice, right?  Creative, for sure.... especially when you realize:

IT'S LOOPS OF PAPER!!

It was fabulous.  Someone spent the time to design and create this masterpiece of a recycled paper tree and figured out a way to make it larger than life for a trade show!  That's an inspiring thing!  Of course, while I was doing my research for my blog, I looked through the literature I picked up about them.  Great company!  No plastic packaing, environmentally and socially responsible (yes!) manufacturing.  Hmm!

 So, these are some fresh new companies I wanted to share with you who are living creatively every day!  There were so many more there who probably deserved at least a mention, but we didn't get to see everyone.  These were the ones who struck me most and I hope they've inspired you to think outside the box and take a chance.

Until next time:  Inspire...imagine...invent!