Jan
27
2012

posted by

Andrea Gavin Becker

The Perfect Valentine's Day Gift: the words of a child

While it can seem impossible to find a Valentine’s Day gift that truly imparts the love, joy and gratitude you want to share with that special person, we think it can be easy and (almost) free.

Those brilliant, hilarious, poignant and priceless things children say can be turned into a gorgeous keepsake to be treasured forever using the B. Quote Gallery quote maker. Here's what I did:

First, I chose a quote by my nephew I know my sister is going to love. Then I entered it into the the Quote Maker which automatically turned it into beautiful art (ready for gifting to moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, babysitters and teachers).

Once I created my quote, I downloaded it to print. (You can also click on the envelope to email it, creating a personalized e-Valentine.) When it was printed, I added a few personal touches to turn it into a gorgeous valentine.

Here are a few step-by-step instructions to create heart art for Valentine's Day:

For each card, print a quote on matte card stock paper at your desired size. For the simplest of quotes, size them to fit in envelopes you have purchased at a stationery store or online. You can go super tiny or ultra big. Anything goes! Some of my favorite ideas are brown kraft envelopes or glassine envelopes you can find a photography supply stores.
Round the corners of the valentine with scissors, and then have your wee one sign the valentine if you like. Finally, decorate the envelope with hearts, doodles and love. One of my favorite things to do was to make hearts with a heart hole punch out of scraps of the quotes. I also found stickers and metallic pens added to the fun.
For a fold-over card, I simply printed 2 quotes and used glue tape to stick them together back to back. Fold over and voilà!
For that extra special someone, try printing several quotes and using tiny clothespins and baker's twine to make a string-a-long anyone would love.
Finally, if you want to go bigger, you can download the quote then send it to Shutterfly.com, Kodak.com, Mpix.com or Vistaprint.com to make a wonderful keepsake—a book, a bag, a calendar. You can use these quotes any way you would use a photo.

The most important thing to remember that it really truly is the thought that counts! Even a printout of a quote just folded in half would make anyone's day.

Happy Valentine's Day card making!

—Andrea

Jan
13
2012

posted by

Carly Hagins

Made by Hand and by Heart

Little ones learn the art of homemade gifts from a very early age. Fingerprint snowmen and peanut butter pinecone birdfeeders are de rigueur for grade school classrooms during the holidays. Even though many of the same school crafts have been in rotation since I was in kindergarten, I’m still filled with surprise and delight every single time I get to open one of these special creations. And I love catching glimpses of what other people receive from the children in their lives.

Homemade gifts have intrinsic value because of the thought, time, and love that goes into them. They take planning and execution. You can’t buy them in a store, and that is precisely the point.

You don’t have to be part of the preschool set to make something meaningful by hand. I was thrilled this Christmas to open a stunning ornament my mom made out of Pop-Arty beads. It’s beautiful and thoughtful and just right—the perfect memento from this year of my life.

The holidays have come and gone, but it’s not too late to gift your loved ones with something special. Here at Team B. we believe there’s reason to celebrate every day of the week. (Happy Monday! Happy Tuesday! Happy…you get the point :))

Our online quote maker makes it easy to share an invaluable gift—the wisdom of children. You can make beautiful art out of the insightful, wise, or just plain silly words of your wee one. Then it’s easy to share with relatives, friends, teachers, and even the mailman via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Better yet, print it out and make a card (glitter and puffy paint strongly recommended) to mail to a lucky recipient—or three.

Sending my very B.est wishes for a joyous and love-filled 2012!

—Carly

Nov
16
2011

posted by

Carly Hagins

B. is for Birthday

What do you think of when you think of birthdays?

The first thing that comes to my mind is yellow cake with chocolate frosting and vanilla ice cream. In a family full of creative bakers, this simple staple is the favorite (by far) for birthday celebrations.

Then of course there are the candles, the banners, the party hats, and party favors. Birthdays are special, a time to appreciate the past year and look forward to the next.

It was a blast celebrating B.’s first birthday last June by giving away 10,000 onesies. And we always consider it a humongous honor when our toys are invited to your little ones’ birthdays.

So we were blown away when Kayla, a supermom and friend of B., took it a step further. For her son Kason’s first birthday, she invited our patterns to her party hats and members of the Fish & Splish crew to Kason’s cake. We are beyond flattered to have been such a B.ig part of the party! And we're sending our warmest belated birthday wishes to Kason.

Are you planning a party? We’re already thinking ahead to New Year's…
—Carly

Sep
12
2011

posted by

Andrea Gavin Becker

The magic B.hind the curtain

All of us here at B. work hard to bring you toys that inspire and amaze you. From the toys themselves to the way we present them on the website, it takes a bunch of work and a team of photographers, creative directors, art directors, and even the Chief Toymaker to bring you these magical spinning toys on our website. How do we do it? Well, a one second spin of our toy can take half a day to create!

Our fabulous photographers, Tim Gilman, and Chris Caiati have a keen eye for all things B. On our latest shoot, Tim worked with us for 6 days to create 360 degrees of magic. His expertise in capturing our toys from different angles and his experience in rigging led to what you'll see on our website now. How does that Rain Rush look like it's floating? Tim can tell you! (Give it a whirl and see if you can figure it out yourself. Feel free to post your guesses here). Little spacey racers that look as if they are powered by magic? That's another trick of ours. And when the day turns to night and we are still working, we go with the flow and keep the lighting in the mood.

This video encapsulates what we do here at B. behind the scenes: we work hard, pouring our hearts and souls into everything we do. But we love what we do and we love it even more when we can bring a smile to your face (via your computer screen). Check out the video to see how it all happens and enjoy!

-Andrea

Aug
26
2011

posted by

Amy Flanagan

New season. New possibilities. And a new toy.

Could summer be over already? It's getting close. With nephews all over the country I know that school is already in session in so many places, but here in New England we are still saying goodbye to those last days of simple mornings, boogie boards and sandy sandwiches, buckets and bicycles, and staying outside way too late playing flashlight tag.

If anything eases the pain of saying goodbye to my favorite season, (and facing that my kids are, yes, another year older), it's new school supplies. I looooooooved new school supplies as a kid and I loooooooooooove them still today. The 64-pack of crayons with the sharpener built right in (how many colors can you name?), the brand new folders that aren't even falling apart at the seams yet, the perfectly shaped and perfectly pink erasers, and most of all the brand new spiral notebooks. Ahhh, those smooth, bright and blank pages. I remember as a kid marveling at the wonder of this spiral-bound potential. What would be written on those pages? Anything was possible.

Maybe that's why Take It Easel is one of my favorite new B. toys to just hit the Target shelves. This pop-up easel is double-sided––a chalkboard on one side and a whiteboard on the other. Write, erase. Draw, erase. Dream, erase. 100% potential over and over and over and over.

Plus, it packs up into a suitcase with a handy handle and stores all your art supplies inside. Potential anywhere. In a world where there are possibilities everywhere. Happy back-to-school time, everyone!

– Amy

P.S. How do you say goodbye to one season and hello to another?