idea{logg}

getting into the motherhood

It's a show so simple in concept you wish you'd thought of it yourself.

Get moms to write in about their wackiest real life experiences and have funny girls Chelsea Handler, Jenny McCarthy, and Leah Remini act out a weekly favorite.

The result, InTheMotherhood.com is *BRILLIANT!*

The show/website's ability to harness corporate sponsorships through Suave and Sprint is destined to be a huge trend in on line media - somewhat akin to soap company sponsorships of daytime dramas way back before Erica Kane married her 12th husband (shameless All My Children humor). 

In The Motherhood has attracted more than 1000 stories posted each week, and the site has become one of the top mom themed destinations on the web. 

The wickedly funny show has gone through two "seasons" and has attracted more than 21 million views.  Webisodes are between 5 and 6 minutes in length and are viewable on suave.com, sprint.com and the Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE) network, which allows mobile access to the content on select video-enabled Sprint phones.

Both Sprint and Suave have strong marketing efforts focused on moms.  

"In the Motherhood creates a unique platform to allow moms to share their stories with millions of other women. Our customers love the show, and our phones and services are the perfect fit to help mothers stay connected," said Anita Bajaj Newton, vice president, media and digital, Sprint in a recent press release.

“[Suave] is on a mission to help Mom remember the person she often forgets—herself, and to make herself and her beauty a priority again,” said Piyush Jain, Suave senior brand manager of her company's sponsorship of the show. 

MindShare Entertainment, a unit of the media services agency MindShare, developed the series about 20 months ago.  It’s a new world out there,” David Lang, the president of MindShare Entertainment, said. “It goes to show that great ideas and great creativity can come from anywhere.”

Mr. Lang said the online campaign was intended to reach busy mothers who use the Web to decompress and share stories. “The content is very honest and authentic for moms,” he said. “It’s not tied with a bow, it’s not saccharine sweet.” It shows grocery store tantrums, vacation mishaps, and other scenarios inspired by true stories submitted by Web users.

The show is now being developed for ABC, and I hope the broadcast version retains the edge and silliness of the net version, which strikes me as a vehicle more appropriate for HBO to sink their teeth into.  Certainly by making this into a network show it removes the interactivity that moms enjoy so much about the concept and transforms it into something else.  But lets wait and watch before kvetching!

For a taste, watch this episode below.  I have more episodes on my vodpod in the right hand column of this blog.

In The Motherhood Grocery Disaster - The funniest home videos are here

Orbit Baby is green

Our client Orbit Baby is featured on the Washington Post's Sprig.com today. 

The editors love the Orbit for a good number of reasons.  Here's one: 

They write, "Why  It's Good:  Orbit Baby's multitasking bassinet, complete with a sunshade extension (a.k.a. "paparazzi shield"), can be used as a Moses basket, on a stroller, or on a rocker. The rocker frame, which is included in the price, allows you to rotate the cradle a complete 360 degrees, so you can rock-a-bye baby to sleep any which way. The company also throws in a matching Cargo Pod, which snaps into the stroller attachment (available separately) for extra storage convenience. Other parent-friendly features include ergonomic carrier handles, a removable machine-washable mattress, and easy collapsibility."

To have a lot more to say, be sure to head over to Sprig.com, to read all about it.

Scout by Petunia is Heisted ... plus design loves DeNai

It's always the most authentic form of praise when a consumer goes out and picks a product from a sea of competing brands, purchases it with their own money, and then loves it enough to sing it's praises in print.

It's this kind of enthusiasm that guided Carrson at StyleHeist to blog about his new Scout Bag from Petunia the other day. 

Carrson writes, "...in the time between your beautiful baby becoming a pimply angst machine there is an awful lot of equipment to lug around and for the mothers there is a whole industry built around this need.

Dad, though, fares worse. Big spots, bright colours and butterflies are good for the ladies, but what about the style-conscious father who doesn’t want some day-glo tote bag putting a kink in his mack-daddy image?  Look no further than the Scout Journey Pack from the unusually titled Petunia Pickle Bottom." 

Be sure to read the entire post and enjoy the other cool entries on this style driven blog.

Another amazing blog that wrote about Petunia Pickle Bottom recently is SimplyGrove, which focuses on great interior design.  SimplyGrove is delighted with the shots of Petunia founder and head designer, DeNai Jones' new baby nursery.   

SimplyGrove writes, "This nursery designed for [DeNai's] son is the perfect balance of sophisticated and simple. The color pallet is so soft and natural."

The writers at MaternityandStyle were knocked out by the Rubicon Rucksack in Black from the Scout Collection this week as well.

Uber blogger Grace at DesignSponge wrote about DeNai's nursery with a full slate of images that got tons of great feedback and comments.

And Coochicoos made a great slideshow and published the link to DeNai's mood/idea board that served as inspiration for the design of her fabulous baby nursery.

some not so great baby gifts

Our friend Heather Maclean, author of The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide, appeared on the Early Show this morning to show some of the crazier baby items on the market.  Luckily non of our client's products were on the show with her, but I think you'll find this clip amusing.

Hand Picked Pumpkin offers the perfect Play Date

We are very intrigued with our client Hand Picked Pumpkin's take on play clothes, which as we all know are key to the ultimate play date.

The creations are designed by moms and dads themselves specifically with their own little pumpkin's favorite colors and themes in mind. 

This, coupled with the fact that the fabrics are specifically sourced to be super stretchy and always non-binding, makes these the ultimate play clothes. 

We imagine that the two below had a great conversation going about picking up those blocks and were trying to decide how to make best use of that water pail.  And we're sure they were enjoying the soft cotton and bright colors of those HPP clothes.

Brandon looks fantastic in his William Drawstring Pants that let him bend and stretch and toddle with ease.  Pants about $30, and William Long Sleeved Crew Tee about $28

William and his mom designed their adorable Hoodie together so he would always have something to keep him warm that matched everything in his wardrobe. For the outside shell he picked a striking Kiwi cotton interlock knit, with a coordinating Chocolate Brown for the reversible lining.  He then matched these colors with the Retro Mini Stripe for the hood and finished the look with a Retro Rodeo print pocket and accenting Kiwi snaps.  William's design was about $64 at www.handpickedpumpkin.com

Star Sighting: Nicole Richie and Joel Madden Orbit Los Angeles

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden ran some errands the other day - with their usual retinue of paparazzi in tow, who snapped pictures all along the way.

In this current series of shots the couple made great use of both the Orbit Bassinet Cradle and the Orbit Infant Car Seat.

As you can see, the Orbit system helps parents move around easily in almost any situation.   

...driving the economy one lolipop at a time...

Guess what's recession proof these days?  Markets that are driven by people who don't know what the word recession means (that alone should tell us something about attitude).   

Earlier in the week we saw how the infant and young kid's clothing market is on an up-tick.  And now, goodies with sugar as a main ingredient are the new *it* item. 

(Which kinda makes it ironic that the company United States Sugar just sold a 187,000 acres and two refineries in Florida to the Federal Government recently in a land conservation deal - but that's seriously beside the point).

In terms of market trends, Mars,   recently bought out Wrigley's in an $80/share cash deal.  This makes it the largest confectionery company in the world - the buyout was financed by uber business trend harbinger, and official richest man in the world, Warren Buffet in April.  “Those of you who know me, know that I have been a big fan of Wrigley’s business model for many years, and I love their products,” Mr. Buffett said in a statement. 

Globally, the confectionery market grew 44 percent from 2002 to 2007, and my guess is that will continue to rise in not only candy, but well-branded lines of baked goods.  (See Bethanny Bakes launch and the surge of Sprinkles Cupcakes popping up all over).

So what's the upshot of this?  Markets driven by young children are hot!  Places like Dylan's Candy Bar and Sprinkles are where the new *in* crowd hangs.   

For more insight, check out Peter Alexander's report from the Today Show.

In Search of the perfect Uni-Sex Diaper Bag

What's in a diaper bag?  Bottles, snacks, wipes, hand sanitizer, diapers of course. 

And then, are there those mom and dad items too like lipstick and cell phones like you'd find in a purse or a briefcase? Or is the diaper bag just the province of baby? 

More and more parents are opting for the latter these days - as babies are cared for throughout the day alternately by mom/dad, grandma/ grand-pop, and even a babysitter or two thrown in for good measure - they seem to need a bag all their own as they make their way between all the caring parties. 

But when mom and dad need to trade off what style of bag do they choose?  Not too girly, because dad might feel that's not his style when it's his turn to tote his bundle of joy with him downtown.  And for mom - she may not cotton to sporting a Rambo looking bag covered in a camouflage print as she skips out for a little shoe shopping.

As Heather Millstein, author of The Coterie blog suggested recently, the Scout Bags from our client Petunia Pickle Bottom have just the right edge for dad, and aren't too masculine for mom.  Pictured above in the Scout Journey Pack in Heathered Olive Felt, and below in the Rubicon Rucksack in Buffalo Brown Leather, we too think it's just the thing.

Heather confesses that she'd also love to get a Petunia Cake bag for herself in Pistachio or Lemon Chiffon, but she realizes that her husband Matt might not love it as well when it's his turn to change diapers during church and other parts of town. 

Star Sighting: Cash Warren and Jessica Alba in Orbit

Trust Baby Chic 101 to turn up the first pics of Cash Warren and Jessica Alba with our client Orbit Baby's Infant System in tow.

We're hedging our bets that Honor Marie is inside, snuggled safely and comfortably under her Orbit Paparazzi Shield, which in this case is definitely doing the trick.

For more be sure to visit BabyChic101.

on our event blog

Be sure to check out the cute images from the Bethenny Bakes product launch on our event blog today. 

We're adding many more ideas, features, and news on our event log that specifically focus on kid's parties, baby showers, kid product launches, and other family oriented events... so stay tuned!

Los Angeles Times shines spotlight on kid's clothing trends.

The Los Angeles Times ran a story over the weekend spotlighting trends in the kid's clothing industry.

Naturally, it being based in Los Angeles, the article had a decided celebrity slant.

The article, written by Emili Vesilind, details how some parents style their children based on the much photographed mini-duds of celebrity kids like Kingston Stefani and Suri Cruise.

Of hard sales numbers the paper reports:  "...while women's national apparel sales have followed the economy downward, kids' clothing sales have dipped less profoundly, according to retail research company NDP Group. And sales for infant-toddler clothes are the only clothing sector that's significantly up, from $14.7 million in March and April 2007 to $15.3 million in the same period this year".

It's a fun piece with a great slide show of kid's looks pulled from a variety of companies.   I was quite surprised to read that Suri Cruise actually had a pair of custom Christian Louboutin shoes made for her recently.

New Client: Hand Picked Pumpkin

We're super thrilled to welcome our new client Hand Picked Pumpkin on board!   The brand is a truly unique infant and kid's clothing collection.

We think of the line as authentic "baby couture" ... customers can choose from more than 35 fabrics to create anything from one piece to an entire wardrobe that's coordinated just the way they want them.

Not only is the name cute, but the clothes are super stylish and exceptionally functional.  Fabrics  are 100% cotton that easily stretches and flexes while children play and explore.

The collection is Eco Friendly:  Made right here in the USA by local seamstresses, the creation of Hand Picked Pumpkin clothes requires far less energy from start to finish than brands mass produced in other countries, and thereby leaves less of a carbon imprint.

Celeb fans of the super cute line include Angela Bassett, Brooke Shields, and Courtney Cox.

For a peek at the cute styles check out the slide show below:   

Bringing up baby with nature - DeNai Jones gets inspired

When DeNai Jones, head designer at Petunia Pickle Bottom, was expecting her second son recently, one of her prime goals was to create a unique nursery.

"I longed to make my second son Miller's nursery a place of tranquility," says Jones of her design process. "I love color, but this was going to be my one exception."

DeNai opted for soothing earth tones and natural imagery both she and her husband Braden would enjoy.

Here, DeNai Jones outlines her choices for this truly gorgeous baby nursery.

Inspiration and Color Choice:
I found inspiration in the design of my son's nursery from a few key pieces: our Misty Shanghai Boxy Backpack, this amazing wallpaper from Cole and Sons: Trees, and two pillows from Anthropologie. All of these pieces incorporated a shade of grey that I was hoping to use in the nursery and were the perfect elements to create a focus for my mood board. I love a nice monochromatic palette with a splash of color, much like the Misty Shanghai, and these pieces combined these two elements perfectly.

Furniture and Function:
The crib and changing table were the most daunting decisions for me. I love all the new modern and oh-so functional nursery furniture that can be found, but we own an older home so I wanted to find something that would strike the perfect balance of old and new. The Panel Crib by Newport Cottages served up just what I was looking for. As an added bonus-the wonderful people at Newport Cottages indulged me with a custom paint color to match the room's palette. Both pieces contain clean, modern lines, and the changing table converts to a dresser once you are done with diapers-an ideal attribute so that the piece can grow as Miller does.

Hands down my favorite piece is the Luca Glider Chair by Monte Designs. If I didn't have a busy little toddler running rampant I would sit and cuddle my newborn son in it all day-it's incredibly comfortable not to mention so stunning.
 

I love the Tamar Mogendorff mobile. Thanks to Grace over at Design Sponge for introducing Tamar and her incredible talent. The dolls/objects are made from linens, wool, Mohair wool, cotton, vintage fabrics, tweed, antique embroidery, pashmina and other fabrics. Each piece is handmade and the pictures on her website do not do them justice.

My intention when designing my son's nursery was to create a tranquil, organic, and textural experience.

The stump side table and owl night light rounded out what I wanted to achieve, and the cable rug I found at West Elm offers a nubby, wool weave with lots of texture to help soften and warm the room.

Two of the wall art pieces I used to finish the room were from Anthropologie. I liked the simplicity of the art and the organic nature of the two pieces. In addition, I always try to put in every room of our home some sentimental piece or photograph. The archival bird studies were purchased on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee. On a short day trip to Franklin we happened upon an amazing shop dedicated to archival sketches and studies of anything you could possibly imagine. I knew I would use these sketches at some point in my life and this was the perfect spot. Miller loves to look at these while I change his diaper.

Ultimately, the nursery is the most calming place in our home…so I believe I achieved what I set out to accomplish. Now with a two year old toddler and a newborn reeking havoc in our home, it's the place I like to kick up my heels and find tranquility.