I have been keeping my eye open for cute baby announcements that I can order online. When Baby Girl was born, I found a fabulous place that was easy to use, had cheap shipping to Canada and had a wonderful selection of reasonably priced, tasteful announcments.
But of course they have gone out of business.
I find the announcements this time around to be sadly lacking. There is a lovely chocolate brown and turquoise one with the simple cut-out of a teddy bear. But the cost would foot the bill for a semester of Baby Girl's pre-school, so those are out. Most of the other announcements are so gender-specific. The girls' ones are all pink and tiny dresses and little lambs. And the boys' ones all seem to be fake copies of Sports Illustrated which feature your child's photo on the cover.
While I am the first to fork over a fistful of cash for the little ballerina costumes at Gymboree for Baby Girl, it always amazes me how gender specific everything is for babies. Baby Gap and Gymboree are literally split down the centre and there is no confusing who the pink and lavendar and kittens section is for, and who the intended wearers of the grey and navy, racecar-emblazoned sweaters are supposed to be. And now that I am sifting through Baby Girl's clothing to see what I have for Baby Boy, I can see just how much of the even-fairly neutral stuff that I bought for her, screams Girl Girl Girl!
And while I am cool with dressing Baby Boy in pink sleepers and undershirts, I am not so sure about sending him out into the world in a t-shirt with a ribbon at the neck, a scalloped hem and little puffed sleeves.
We'd be happy to work with folks for birth announcements or custom invitations!
Posted by: nightshade creations | January 02, 2006 at 06:25 PM
My husband, by the way, had said to me that we'd dress our boy in girl clothes (if the second became a boy, which she didn't). I said, "NO WAY! What if he would take his first steps--wearing pink flowers? And then I couldn't take the picture!" To which he replied, "Oh, just edit the picture black and white." Let's just say I'm glad we had a girl :)
Posted by: Running2Ks | June 24, 2005 at 10:02 AM
I once dressed my son in some green pjs, hand-me-downs from his big sis. My husband would have nothing to do with it. I mean, they were GREEN for goodness sakes! Lime green, but still green! And he was going to bed anyway. What, was my hubby afraid that we'd have to evac the house for some reason and the firemen would laugh at our son's lime green pjs?
With my daughter we didn't know she was going to be a girl, so everything was in primary colors. I naively thought that was neutral but it really wasn't. Of course the pink and frills soon crept in to make everything 'girly girl'.
Posted by: manababie | June 23, 2005 at 10:55 PM
I like home businesses - here's an internet acquaintance's:
http://www.thefancifulfrog.com/
Posted by: Sandy | June 22, 2005 at 03:28 PM
Hey! And the Hersey's factory is like 10 minutes from my house, so it would give you a visit to come to Ottawa.. either than or I can bring them down on my trip in July.. you gotta love somewhere where you can by a crate full of White Chocolate Oreo cookie chocolate bars.
Posted by: Sasha (Life, or something like it) | June 22, 2005 at 12:08 PM
When I dressed my first daughter, it was all boy clothes. I wanted gender neutral--in case later kids turned out differently. Despite my best efforts, the child decided she likes girly clothes. Thank goodness the young one is a girl too. You may have to borrow clothing from friends, I suppose. Also, I am a huge fan of chocolate bar announcements. If you happen to desire, you can print the labels yourself and make your own. http://wrappedhersheys.com/default.asp
Posted by: Running2Ks | June 22, 2005 at 10:33 AM
Well, thankfully I have an in-house designer.
Nonetheless, we ordered ours from Hatch Show Print in Nashville, because that was a dream of Steve's. That's certainly not for everyone. But it's possible to go custom - there's a cute place on King Street whose name I'll get for you, or there's always this great graphic designer I know whose wife is hopelessly addicted to your blog.
Posted by: mgood | June 22, 2005 at 09:25 AM
I had the same issue when I was looking for birth announcements last year for my baby girl. I could not do vellum with a pink ribbon and a girly pattern (not that there is anything wrong with that, of course) I finally stumbled on this site:
http://www.2peas1pod.com/index.htm
We loved the mod look of the designs and colors and the owner was very responsive as we worked to select the right photo. Just a thought.
Posted by: Maureen | June 22, 2005 at 12:15 AM