Lately I've been thinking a lot about the toys my girls play with. There are so many issues these days with toys with the number one being safety, but also so important to me is quality and imagination. I have always been a dreamer and have had the biggest imagination, and I wish for my kids to have the same. I met a lady a few weeks ago and we were talking about wooden toys and handmade things. She said 'A wooden block can be a castle, a car, or a cruise ship, but a plastic cruise ship will never be anything more then a cruise ship'. I think she got the idea from a book she had read, but what she said was so true. And I am tired of cheap plastic toys that break and are tossed out and that use up a 100 batteries. (This great video called 'The Story of Stuff' is so informative if you want to know where stuff comes from and where it goes after you're done with it.) On there is a statistic that just blows my mind. It's the percentage of stuff that you buy today and you're still using 6 months from now. What do you think it is? 50%? 25? 10% It's actually 1%!!!! 1%!!!!!! So think about when you go to the store today, 99% of the stuff you put in your cart is going to be in the trash within 6 months! But it doesn't have to be that way. I am getting a little off track, but the point I am trying to make is that handmade toys are toys that you'll keep forever and that you'll hand down to your kids and your grand kids. And they are quality toys that some one made with their own hands. There is so much love and care put into them. And another amazing thing is that you're supporting that person and their craft. When someone buys a purse from me they are supporting myself and my family. And I am going to in turn use that money to create more bags and also support other people that make handmade things. This is a beautiful system. =) I truly think that everyone has a skill and can contribute something. Some can paint, sew, cook, do woodworking, entertain, farm.... I am big on self sustainability and supporting each other and not depending on big box stores... etc. I can even organize my thoughts right now because I get so excited about it and could talk for days about it. But that is another discussion and today we're talking about toys.
So I really hope this is all making sense and I haven't lost too many of you. There are so many easy tutorials out there that you can use to make your own toys or if you'd rather buy there are so many wonderful shops on Etsy and the internet that sell handmade toys. I am going to share a few of my favorites in a bit.. promise! In the mean time make sure you watch the Story of Stuff!!
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