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New York International Gift Fair: February 2010 - Part IV
Homebase: West Hollywood, CA DESIGNER: Derek Mosher Wholesale prices: $12.50-$14.50 Beautiful sheets are a great way to give a kid's bedroom some punch. But why spend the big bucks on a full set when it's the pillowcases that offer the greatest wow factor?
Outstanding piece: Kids can sleep like a rock star on these pillow cases from Derek Mosher and Tokidoki that mix Seventies colors with anime motifs. Tel: 347 325-0602 E-mail: Derek@snoozecitydesigns.com
Homebase: Sebastopol, CA DESIGNER: Marykate Fleming Wholesale prices for music boxes: $11.95-$16.50 Fleming's handpainted jewelry and keepsake boxes, decorated with ballerinas, mermaids and unicorns have the nostalgic, wistful quality little girls love.
Outstanding piece: I was transported back to my childhood when I opened the lid to the jewelry box and a tiny plastic ballerina twirled. Tel: 866 232-3500 E-mail: Info@mkandco.com
Homebase: East Hampton, NY DESIGNER: Allison Krongard Wholesale price for Monster Patrol: $14 Krongard keeps spinning out new ways to decorate children's walls. Whether the designs are elegant or playful, they're always commitment free: Put 'em up and when you need a change, peel 'em off.
Outstanding piece: Wallcandy collaborated with the Vega Project to produce The Monster Patrol kit. Each kit offers kids four 12" super heroes and all the gear the heroes need to keep the night free of bad guys. Tel: 888 527-0521 E-mail: info@wallcandyarts.com
Homebase: Van Nuys, CA DESIGNER: Peiling Hwang Wholesale price for the Little Cardmaker: $9 Using her own colorful illustrations, Hwang creates all manner of books, aprons, games and other keep-'em-busy essentials.
Outstanding piece: E-mail be damned. Children can make their own stationery with the Little Cardmaker. Inside the cute box are 16 cards, 100 stickers and 5 mini-markers - everything they need to put their own stamp on correspondence. Tel: 818 908-8838 E-mail: sales@thepiggystory.com
Homebase: Brooklyn, NY DESIGNERS: Hosung NY and the Jane Goodall Institute Wholesale price: $4.99 The Miyim design team has partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute and developed My Natural Wild Animal Plush Toys. The animals are organic plush and treated in the company's trademark PureWaterWash for a soft hand and delicate coloration. According to the company, "JGI [the Jane Goodall Institute] is also a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats and its initiatives include community-centered conservation efforts in Africa, and Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots, a global environmental and humanitarian program for youth from preschool to college."
Outstanding piece: The serious expression and ultra-soft feel of the Jane Goodall Plush Gorilla should spark a lifelong love for the natural world. Tel: 718 389-8233 ex: 302 E-mail: Petriehahn@hosungny.com
Homebase: Holland DESIGNER: Meike de Haas Sizes: Casa-Cabana 27" x 27" x 41", MobileHome 9" x 14" x 18"; Wholesale prices: Casa-Cabana $23, MobileHome $15 Modernist de Haas takes the essence of a childhood toy: a dollhouse for instance, and reduces it to its cleanest, most functional elements.
Outstanding pieces: Casa Cabana is a recyclable cardboard playhouse with windows and peepholes. It can be purchased with or without decoration so a child is free to play inside and out.
MobileHome is to a dollhouse what a Smart Car is to a Cadillac: With eight rooms, spy holes and an attic, it sets a little one's dolls up in modern style - and it folds flat in a box. Hip From Holland Tel: 617 671-5417 E-mail: Info@hipfromholland.com
Homebase: San Anselmo, CA DESIGNER: Kimochis design team Wholesale price for Kimochi: $12.50 Inside each one of these plush pillow toys is a "feeling" (Kimochis means "feeling" in Japanese): a tiny cloth toy with an obvious expression: happy, sad, angry, etc. Kids can pull out a "feeling" and get in touch with their own.
Outstanding piece: Kimochi Lovey Dove comes with her baby, Turtle Dove, tucked gently under a wing. Three "feelings" are included: Happy, Hopeful and Proud.
Tel: 415 454-4600 E-mail: Kimochime@kimochis.com
Homebase: Chiang Mai, Thailand DESIGNER: The Nook-Nook design team Wholesale prices: $7.48-$18.77 The reign of the crocheted animal is over. Long live Nook-Nook. Made in a family-run workshop in Thailand, these handcrafted felt and cotton critters possess personality and a rich, tactile feel.
Outstanding pieces: The deer and pigs are sweet, but then all the family units are adorable. Urban Oasis (Teddy Vandusen) Tel: 212 242-8686 E-mail: Info@nook-nook.com
Homebase: Westerly, RI DESIGNER: Kat Fenstermaker Wholesale price: $9 Ellen Hammen and Bret Hammen own Rep-Air, a collective that specializes in cool dolls, charms, clocks and room accessories. The couple are designers themselves - she makes the Futago Twins, Japanese inspired girl dolls that are transported by Shika Deer; his Recycled Robot banks made from repurposed metals have an edgy Keith Haring feeling.
Outstanding pieces: Scruffy Kat New Age folk art dolls from Kat Fenstermaker.
Ellen Hammen's Futago Twins are hand crafted from mostly Japanese textiles and are one-of-a-kind (available in two sizes: Large 20" and Small 12").
Bret Hammen's Recycled Robot banks that blend 21st Century imagery are right on the money. Tel: 401 596-3688 E-mail: Rep-air@sbcglobal.net
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