Make your nursery an (extra) soft place to land with baby blankets whose hand-crafted quality matches their good looks. An added bonus (other than pairing perfectly with our babies)? They may be sweet, but they’re sophisticated enough to be used well past babyhood, for sweet dreams and warmth for years to come.
Clockwise from top left: Flock Together Muslin Quilt, $52; Baby Herringbone Cotton Blanket, $110.00; Heart Baby Blanket, $90.06; Pendleton Crib Blanket, $99.50; Rainy Day Mini Blanket, $74.97; Pom Pom Blanket, $26.09.
We love any excuse to add a little extra color to our nursery designs. And while larger details like floor-to-ceiling paint, jewel-toned furniture, and show-stopping wallpaper are always fun, it’s often the finishing touches that tie the space together. Case in point: crib sheets, which come in countless prints and patterns, and can be switched out regularly according to season, style, or mood. Below: 15 options we love, from geometric shapes to origami animals, pink flowers to kaleidoscopic polka dots.
1. Floral Crib Sheet, $52
This floral sheet was handmade by Meredith Wright, an Austin, Texas mom with a serious talent for sewing. Not only that: The quality and functionality of her expansive line, Babiease, is informed by a near-decade of experience as a baby nurse and newborn consultant.
Handmade from organic cotton, this sheet — from Nama Cotton of Haifa, Israel — features a charming selection of origami animals, from flamingoes to giraffes to fluffy-tailed foxes.
This 100% cotton sheet comes from Toronto-based Auggie, a brand founded in 2011 by sisters Gen and Christina Burgess on the premise that a child’s life should be “filled with coziness, comfort, and color.”
5.Gold Dots Crib Sheet, $14.99
For the bright new addition in your life, we love the Gold Dot Fitted Crib Sheet from Cloud Island. It’s brushed 100% cotton and metallic gold dots add a sophistacated pop to any nursery.
Also from Auggie, this bedding comes speckled with an array of tiny dots. We’re fans of the yellow-green “Fern” color—but for those hoping for something a bit more subdued, there’s gray and a duo of stunning blues, too.
7. Seaweed Denim Crib Sheet, $36
Brooklyn brand Lewis is a collaboration between friends Liz and Lizzy, who bring varied talents — in illustration and interior architecture, respectively — to the table. We can’t get enough of their organic cotton crib sheets, screen printed by hand in unique patterns that are sweet but never saccharine (sage green stingrays, bright blue onions, ballerina-pink palms, and more).
8.Triangle Print Crib Sheet, $21.99
This triangle-print sheet from Sweet Jojo Designs features a clean, sophisticated pattern that makes coordinating with neighboring decor a snap.
9. Black Forest Crib Sheet, $65-85
Elizabeth Ivie is the “owner, designer, curator, and seamstress” at Iviebaby, a shop specializing in gender-neutral nursery decor. This handmade sheet, available in your choice of two baby-friendly materials, features a forest full of happy trees.
This sheet’s smattering of purple half moons (courtesy of Kansas City’s Ampersand Design Studio) encourages soothing slumber.
13.Fox Crib Sheet, $24
You’d be hard-pressed not to love this flock of busy foxes — but rest assured, the Land of Nod print is available in toddler and children’s sizes, too.
14. Boheme Crib Sheet, $33.99
This vintage-inspired pattern from DwellStudio features French peacocks, towering flowers, and a hodgepodge of pacifying colors.
15. Zebra Crib Sheet,$38
A herd of coral-colored zebras congregates against a wash of serene baby blue on this cotton-sateen DwellStudio sheet. For animal lovers, it’s the stuff dreams are made of.
What better way to mark the beginning of spring than with an all new wallpaper pairing? Here, a few familiar Animal Print Shop faces—Flamingo, most notably, plus eight lovableLittle Darlings—show their colors against an eye-catching patterned paper called Speckle, from New York City company Chasing Paper. Its striking simplicity and playful, perfectly-imperfect dots are just the right match for Flamingo, whose most irresistible features— round eyes, tall legs, and two-tone-pink plumage—truly pop in the pairing.
Founded by printing industry veteran Elizabeth Rees, Chasing Paper has made a name for itself with affordable, removable wallpaper that blends striking design with fail-proof functionality. Those on the hunt for the perfect paper can choose from a wide range of colors (from sweet pastels to radiant brights) and patterns (including geometrics, florals, and lively animal prints)—or, browse a selection of collaborative designs. Best of all, when you’re ready for a change of scenery, you can peel your chosen paper off in a pinch and replace it with something new, making it a no-brainer for “serial movers, stylish mamas, renters, DIYers, and, of course, commitment-phobes.” “Our hope was to introduce a fun way to create a curated and personal moment in people’s homes without putting any holes in the walls,” says Elizabeth.
Stylish and fresh, Speckle caught our eye right away. Composed of freehand dots and available in eight punchy colors, it’s a playful pick for a child’s room or baby’s nursery, but still chic enough to show off in a living room, bathroom, dining room, or foyer. With Flamingo, it provided the perfect backdrop for a vintage rug, sturdy stool, and wooden credenza, all flea market or antique store finds. Meanwhile, vibrant greenery and a hanging light fixture from Ikea complete the picture, further setting the stage for our pink winged star to shine. And showing off it’s verstaility, Speckle is a perfect backdrop for a grouping of Little Darlings – we just love how it makes all their adorable faces pop.
If you read our blog, you know we love working with Matt Monroe of Monroe Workshop. Over that last several years, we’ve used his handmade furniture in many of our projects – a beautiful log bench in our Wolf Pup Room for Siblings, a custom live edge kids’ desk for our Cabin Inspired Kid’s Room featuring Baby Horse and Baby Horse Little Darling, an original, custom floating shelf/changing table for our Baby Wallaby Nursery, and our favorite Credenza sits below our majestic 30”x40”American Buffalo limited edition print in our Dining Room Makeover.
To say we have a working relationship with Monroe Workshop is accurate, but it doesn’t nearly describe how fond we are of Matt and his crew. Seriously, you couldn’t find a nicer guy who happens to be insanely skilled!
So, we’re thrilled to pull the spotlight away from his furniture for a moment to feature Monroe Workshop’s new series of Toys – a charming coterie of critters. The genesis of Monroe Workshop’s first two toys–his robot horse and robot monkey–was a clever way to minimize waste. Matt says:
“As a fan of wood, I hated to throw our scrap away–all the toys are made of furniture grade hardwood. So, I started making the toys to give as gifts to family and friends.”
Matt featured the robot monkey on instagram and the demand was immediate. He and his crew have been working like busy elves this year and have unveiled a charming new collection of animals to add their menagerie. Here are our favorites!
Cecily the Pig is giving our Pigleta run for her money. We love Cecily’s mismatched ears which Matt sources from a local shoe manufacturer’s scraps of Italian leather.
Matt gave Avinash the Elephant a huge dose of personality. Not dissimilar to our BabyElephant.
You can almost hear Jean Pierre the Longhorn Bull bellowing. His stare is just as intense as our Long Horn Steer Close-Up.
Ravi the Rhinoceros may be small, but he’s every bit the brute our Baby Rhino is.
We thinkGemma Lou the Giraffe would get along with our Baby Giraffe just fine.
The toys are named after family members. Well, all except for Gary the Robot Monkey. Matt says, “I just like the name Gary.”
All of the toys are made of domestic hardwoods in Monroe Workshop’s Los Angeles shop. They’re available at monroeworkshoptoys.com.
Matt says to keep an eye out for a barn and possibly a jungle-scape tree house for more play opportunities. We can’t wait!
For our latest wallpaper pairing, we returned to one of our favorites: Baby Deer. She was one of our first Animal Print Shop prints and even though she has lots of company now, our love for her hasn’t diminished. We’ve been chomping at the bit to use a Hygge & West wallpaper (BTW, Hygge is pronounced: Hoo-Ga) and knew we’d found the perfect compliment in their soft blue Petal Pusher pattern. Even better, Petal Pusher is a design by the uber talented Joy Cho of Oh Joy Studios.
Hygge & West was founded by childhood friends Christiana Coop and Aimee Lagos – loving the vibe of Danish design, they created their wallcovering company around it – Hygge is a Danish concept loosely translating to life’s small pleasures, be they cozy homes in winter or bedtime stories with your kids. The “West” in Hygge & West is western as in the United States. We love that their wallpapers are all hand silk screened AND Hygge & West works with so many talented designers. Oh Joy finds herself in amazing company next to Julia Rothman, Rifle Paper Co., Heath Ceramics, Justina Blakeney, and many others.
Petal Pusher pairs beautifully with Oeuf’s clean-lined, modern Rhea Crib. We especially appreciate the slight Danish taper of the legs. The sweet polka-dot crib sheet is from Etsy seller Holkuda who hand prints on the softest fabric ensuring restful sleep for the little slumberer. And our favorite detail is the pop of fuchsia from a custom Kantha baby blanket made by our good friend Heidi Merrick (we’re trying to convince her to make them for sale!). And if blue isn’t the direction your design is headed, Petal Pusher also comes in a range of other gorgeous colors, from gold to blush to black.
Finally, if you follow our blog, you know that we love ourselves a vintage nod. In this pairing, we used two: the brick pattern vintage Moroccan rug and a large white Gainey pot from the 60’s. We’d never seen a rug with such a vibrant, rich blue color, let alone in a brick pattern (if you’re in Los Angles, you can pick this rug up at Hannoun Rugs in Culver City). The Gainey pot is from Sharon’s own collection. Sadly, Gainey stopped making their signature ceramic pots in 2013, so if you spot one at a thrift store, don’t hesitate to buy it!
The finishing touch is a delicate mobile from Brooklyn’s Fort Makers. The designer, Noah Spencer, says he takes inspiration from human fascination with the universe. We love its delicate lines and gentle movement, and we think it is the perfect compliment to the pairing of Baby Deer and Petal Pusher. We also think Petal Pusher pairs beautifully with Baby Camel!
‘Tis the season, believe it or not, for our third annual gift guide for pets! On our list this year: Camp Cloon’s festive red-checked neckerchief, a handsome stoneware bowl, and a handful of items designed to do good. From cuddle toys that support fair-trade craftsmanship in rural Kenya to a fragrant shampoo that gives to canines in need, they’re gifts that prove that giving feels (and looks and smells) just as good as getting.
Ceramicist Heather Levine has a way with clay. And while no one could deny the beauty of her hand-crafted bowls, bottles, and egg-shaped birdhouses, our favorite pieces are her one-of-a-kind wall hangings, which manage to balance incredible artistry with unassuming grace. They’re ideal pick-me-ups for any room — case in point: our American Buffalo Close-Up, where a cascade of teardrops and triangles bedecked an otherwise naked beam.
Canada-based companyLuvmothermakes kids’ clothing that is exactly what most items for children are not: no frills (yet still perfectly suited to a pint-sized aesthetic), high quality (pieces are made using ethically-sourced, “traceable” materials), and made to last (according to its founders, Luvmother products retain a “built-in hand-me-down quality”). We love the clothing’s simple shapes, soft-to-the-touch textures, and muted color palette — in fact, we’d go so far as to say that if we could, we’d happily wear it ourselves.
For those of you whose pets receive the same holiday gift-giving consideration as people (we know you’re out there), we’ve rustled up ten ideas for cherished cats and dogs. Among them: a cleanser made with citrus and spearmint, asqueaky toy emblazoned with a mailman’s mug, and acollar charm containing ID info (to ensure a happy reunion should Fido ever go astray).
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DISCLAIMER: The products and interior designs featured on this blog are for your viewing enjoyment and inspiration. Please be advised, The Animal Print Shop disclaims any warranty or representative, express or implied, that any featured product or design is safe for children, toddlers, or infants. Parents and responsible adults should always exercise due care and precautions for safety when selecting products or installing designs intended for use by children, toddlers, or infants. You've been warned, now enjoy!
