apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you gave out an involuntary squeal when you saw this photo, you're not alone. These adorable handmade pouches, which are custom-made with your own font and ribbon color choices, are definitely squeal-worthy. And just imagine all the cute little toys and goodies you can use them to hide!

This is such a fun, simple idea. The beauty is all in the execution. For her tenth birthday, Valeria invited her closest friends to come over and help her celebrate by making the birthday cake... or in this case, cakes!

Okay, it might seem a little early to be thinking about holiday cards, but you know how it is. By the time you order your cards, have them delivered, write and address them, then put them in the mail... well, we think the math is just about right. If you liked the Speckles & Weeds gift cards we featured several months back, then you'll love their new holiday designs.

The Times' annual list of best kids' books is something we look forward to every fall. Without fail, we find ourselves using this list to guide our holiday gift-giving decisions. This year's picks did not disappoint, featuring stories for everyone from preschoolers to tweens, with illustration styles that vary from boldly graphic to dreamy watercolors.

"People tell you that you need all this stuff for a baby," says Kelly Breslin. "All you really need is diapers, a place to change him and boobs." It's a good thing, because Breslin and her partner Ryan Conder live with their 9-month-old son Thurston AND their dog in a 1950s house that, by any definition, would be considered tiny. How do they do it, and with impressive low-key style? Keep reading to find out.

We have a soft spot for multipurpose kids' furniture, and this piece has crawled right into that soft spot and built itself a cozy little nest. From one angle, it's a nifty train table. From another, it's chalkboard surface makes it an awesome art space. Turned over, it makes a fun stage. And when it's time to take a quick five, you can use it as either a bench or a cave-like retreat.

Did we call it or did we call it? Back in January, we predicted that people would start digging even deeper for unusual vintage classroom artwork, beyond alphabet friezes and numbers posters. The fresh bounty of esoteric classroom charts newly available at Three Potato Four proves this prediction right.

It seems like every preschooler we know has some version of the balance bike, and for good reason. These pedal-less bikes are a safe way for kids to teach themselves to balance and self-correct at their own speed. We've posted about balance bikes before, but the much-acclaimed Early Rider, formerly available only in Europe, is a great new entry in the Stateside arena, with a couple of features that differentiate it from the rest of the crowd.

For us, toy storage has to fulfill three goals. It has to make toys easily accessible, without requiring endless (and messy) rooting in the bottom of cavernous toyboxes. It has to be easy enough to use that it motivates kids to pick up after themselves. And it has to be attractive enough that we can picture it eventually serving non-kid functions elsewhere in the house. Oeuf's Toy Store storage unit hits all three marks.

Er, in other words, "high chair". Maybe it's because we're nutty about camping (and have a possibly overdeveloped sense of camp), but this highchair is totally doing it for us. It's like Trailer Park Boys by way of Paris! What do you think?

How's this for an adorable way to keep melted wax puddles off your birthday cakes? Not only are these hand-painted wooden candle holders as cute as all get-out, they've been sealed with several layers of non-toxic finish, so they can be wiped off and reused time after time.

Ohdeedoh reader Kirsten (of Kirsten*Can) showed us her adorable homemade mobile a couple of weeks ago, and now she's sharing photos of her children's recently renovated playroom. The flooring needed to be pulled up and replaced, so Kirsten and her husband Aaron seized the opportunity to give the room a fresh, fun new look, featuring one of our favorite color combos: red and light blue.

This just goes to illustrate that great thinkers think alike: When Ohdeedoh reader Mandi saw our recent post about using vintage Cosco toddler seats to create a cute snacking area, she emailed us photos of her own little snacking station... which also uses two Cosco kiddie seats!

Handwashing season is upon us, and what better way to get kids enthused about hygiene than with these cute and ever-so-slightly creepy handsoaps? What do you think? Adorable? Or a bit too reminiscent of disembodied doll limbs?