There is almost nothing cuter than a baby in a pilot cap. We ended up with one that came in a gift set, and the first time we tried it on Little Capucine, we could hear grandmother’s hearts melting everywhere. Guaranteed Cutest. Thing. Ever.

After we got the first one, I got addicted and started hunting up some more on Etsy. There are some really precious ones there this week.

Hand-knitted silk in several sizes (described as ‘waldorf style’, which I don’t understand - anybody else know?). $34.50 for the big-kid size at Shelley Caskey’s Etsy shop:

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With a tiny house, we know if we have more than one baby, they’ll be sharing space for sure. I always have an eye out for examples of appealing shared rooms and stash them in case I need them some day.

A two-child room with interesting colors and baroque beds. I like the indoor/outdoor rug idea (and the $5000 Serge Mouille light!):

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I recently discovered the Lucky Wang children’s clothing brand - owned by the same mom who runs Nonchalant Mom - and I especially love their little jackets. These two are on sale, and I want both. I’m trying to resist, but wouldn’t the red one look great just hanging on a wall? Little Capucine doesn’t really wear jackets much yet so I’m trying to resist temptation, but if you get either one - send photos!

The fleece-lined cotton Shanghai Rose jacket, on sale for $36:

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I think these sweet doves are a nice twist on hanging a guardian angel overhead, and a little extra serenity in a child’s room is always a good thing in my book ($20 at Bitters Co.).

We bought this white dress by the Dutch children’s clothing company Imps & Elfs on an impulse, not knowing anything about the brand and sizing or quality. We found it on sale, but even so I bought it a size too large so it will fit for a long, long time, because it still wasn’t cheap! We didn’t have anything girley for Little Capucine when she arrived, not knowing if it was a boy or girl, so I lost my head a little when I saw it at Nonchalant Mom:

Now that we have it, she’s wearing it all the time (over pants and a onesie, it’s very summer-weight on it’s own). This is our review; we’re giving it a thumbs-up. The quality is excellent, and the details are lovely.

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This photo, from last season’s Zara Home kid collection (not available in the US), is one of the inspiration images I go back to a lot. (Click on it to see the full-size version.) It helps me remember my goal of creating a serene space for Little Capucine. My guiding words are ’serene’ and ‘happy’ - the happy part is easy, with all the color out there for kids. The ’serene’ part is the challenging one, so pictures like this are a big help! I like the colors in this room mostly - white, flax-grey, and wood. I try to stick with those myself, but color is so tempting!

A wardrobe and a room this size sure would be nice to have, too - it’s hard to get this bare feeling in a little room. I noticed they are using the same wardrobe and chair as props this season, so I guess the stylists at Zara loved them too!

I’ve found some wonderful handmade baby clothes on Etsy, in simple naïve shapes that aren’t common with big brands. Often, the prices on Etsy are much less than I expect for the quality, with the plus of feeling like I’m supporting another mom’s work. Today I’m into the cotton/linen pants at Little Seedlings shop on Etsy ($24 a pair), especially the go-with-everything beige:

PS: If you’re wondering about linen, it washes great, wears like iron, and gets super soft pretty quick - no careful handling required. I’m always looking for baby clothes with linen in them!

We wanted a simple and soothing (as opposed to stimulating) mobile with a real music box, made in natural materials, for Little Capucine’s crib. It turns out wooden crib mobiles are pretty rare, we were only able to find a couple intended for crib use (as opposed to ceiling mobiles). From the ones we found, we ultimately bought one by Kaloo, a French stuffed-animal company that is widely available in the US. This is our review of the Liliblue mobile we bought; we’re giving it a thumbs-up.

The mobile in use in our baby room:

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These hooks are too precious, and since I can’t decide if the tips of the wings are a safety hazard or not; you decide!

The small size comes in pink or silver, but the big white ones are what caught my eye - maybe because of that refinished door, like the one Papa Capucine is slaving over (about £8.25 at Rockette St. George in the UK, US shipping is £6.50):

Found via babygadget.

Welcome to our blog! Little Capucine is our daughter, and this blog is dedicated to the products and inspiration we put together for life with her.

When we first started assembling the basics, we were dismayed to realize that most purchases required a lot of research on consumer sites and parent boards before we could single in on the product to buy, and then we had to find a place selling the actual product we’d chosen. All our shopping was online because our little beach town doesn’t have stores that sell baby products (honestly). It was a lot of very dull internet hours - but the upside is that we could share what we winnowed out of the wide world of baby products in a blog!

The searching was lengthy mostly because our preference is for natural products, and as few of them as possible. We’re (slowly) fixing up our tiny storage-less bungalow, and along the way we’ve had to learn the ecology of living with less, especially when we’re shuttling belongings from one ‘construction zone’ to the next as projects are completed! Our pending baby increased our sensitivity to chemicals in clothes, food and furniture a lot, so ‘healthy’ became a top criteria. (Formaldehyde in baby mattresses? What? How can that be good?)

About the store: You’ll notice a link to our store in the header. Some of the products we find are on Amazon, so like a lot of bloggers, we put together an Amazon storefront with the good stuff we found there. We get a few cents when you purchase products there, and you don’t have to wade through all the random stuff on the full Amazon site. We don’t blog about anything we’re not genuinely into, and we’ll always point out when a link is to our store. This is not a pay-for-posting blog! If you enjoy this blog, buying from the store helps us pay for running it, and you get a big thanks from us for the support!

Hope you enjoy our finds and get inspired to find the best for your own little ones!

- Mama and Papa Capucine