vintage toys

Amber (kindly left a comment in the last post) reminded me of one of my own childhood Christmas memories in the not so (well, maybe so) distant past. Remember that year in the early 80s when it seemed like every child in the world had to have a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas? Honestly, I was a kid, so I probably can’t really remember the true magnitude of the frenzy. I just remember that I HAD TO HAVE ONE.

Now, 25 years later, I can appreciate what my mom went through to get me AND my sister a doll. (Mom likes to remind us.) And I will say that I have misty, water-colored memories of that Christmas — the year I woke up and saw that golden-haired doll with the pigtails and pink lace dress waiting for me. I guess it says a lot that I still remember that doll so vividly and even remember her name: Gussie Annette. You done good, Mom!

In honor of their 25th birthday, Cabbage Patch Kids re-released their dolls this holiday season with the exact same hair, facial expressions and clothing they had in 1983. Hope they didn’t recycle the names too! (Sorry, Gussie.)

To celebrate the holidays with all of you, The Baby Gardner is happy to announce our holiday-edition of FREE Vintage Friday! This Personalized Nautical Soft Block Set with Drawstring Bag ($40 value) is a perfect gift for baby. Each block makes a different noise: rattle, bell, and squeaker. Vintage-inspired cotton prints including anchors, sailors, geometrics and ticking stripes are featured on each block. Blocks are housed neatly inside the coordinating drawstring bag. This giveaway set will be personalized with the word ‘baby’.

Win it! Just leave a comment on this post briefly describing your most memorable Christmas moment as a child. Giveaway ends Monday, 12/22 at 11pm GMT. Winner will be announced on Tuesday and chosen at random. Good luck!

Want one of your own? This set is available exclusively at The Baby Gardner and can be personalized with your own little one’s name!

Well, as promised, here are some pics from my son’s room. Aidan just turned 3 so we’ve been going through that transition from a nursery to a little boy’s room. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the great thing about vintage-inspired nurseries is they really are timeless (what an oxymoron!). They can transition easily as your little one grows.

In Aidan’s room, there’s very little I’ve changed other than replacing the crib with a bed and tackling the mountain of toys that seem to be taking over. The paint color is the same. The color palette is the same. The random vintage touches have stayed the same.

In his nursery I wanted to go with more of a 40s-50s vintage touch as opposed to the Victorian vintage I used in Gracie’s room. I had a bunch of vintage ’stuff’ that I really loved and had gathered here and there. None of it really had a single ‘theme’ like cowboys or fire engines, it was purely ‘vintage’ in a totally random sort of way — and I loved it for being so.

So I knew that in order to get all of my chotchkies to work together, I had to make the colors in his room work. I painted the walls a light apple green and chose a quilt with blue gingham, white and apple green stripes. On the windows, I sewed long curtain panels using a light denim and used a wide apple green and white pinstripe ribbon to make the tab tops. That was my foundation and then the fun really began!

Aidan’s vintage plush toy collection, a wooden truck, a red wool pillow with a vintage graphic, a vintage pop gun, a bisque cowboy, the three bears… totally random but totally works. Color is the key!