Shout Out: Manzanita Kids

Check out this little birthday ham! Have I officially introduced you to my one and only nephew, Benjamin? Well, consider yourself acquainted. I'm using this post to show off his cute 1st birthday photos and talk about the amazing company on Etsy from which I found the perfect gift.


A few months back I was browsing Etsy (as I do everyday) for one thing or another when I stumbled across this amazingly cute hand-crafted wooden constellation themed star stacker by Manzanita Kids. In chatting about the gift, I learned the family behind these awesome kids toys is actually making their Etsy shop a full time venture since David (the husband/dad) was laid off soon after their son was born. In his words, it turned out to have been one of those “everything happens for a reason” moments in that David is now able to follow his dream of running his own business. What an amazing story and definitely makes me feel great about supporting their business.


Not only did the star stacker happen to be Benjamin's favorite toy from his birthday celebration (I'm biased), I was able to more formally interview the Minnery family for the Etsy Quit Your Day Job series which published last week. Find the feature with David and Adrienne right here to learn even more of the story behind this family and their uniquely sustainable toys.


When it finally came to cake time, little Benjamin was given free range to just go for it — as it should be. I have no words for this expression on his face, ha, Tim nailed these photos.

We'd love to know what products for kids you're loving these days; the holidays are soon approaching and we've got more than a handful of little ones on the list this year.

P.S. Today is my mother's birthday too - Happy Birthday, Mom!