Shopping Handmade: Goodies for baby Rudra

I love shopping, as you can all guess, but not only shopping for myself, I love buying things for others, for b-day presents, or any other celebration, or for no official reason!

One thing I've discovered with Gaurav's lil nephew, Rudra, is that now that I'm older and have the money (and have discovered Etsy) I love buying handmade baby items! Gaurav jokes about how he'll have to drag me off the computer if we have kids in the future or I'll buy the whole baby section on Etsy!

After buying from a few Etsy sellers that offer their fantastic baby stuff, I really got upset about the CPSIA law that was going to be passed this past February, but got delayed for a year. I want to buy handmade baby stuff for my friends, family (and myself, in the future), and I don't want a law that should focus on plastic toys manufactured under dubious conditions by multinationals, hurt those artisans and crafters that work from their home, with a lot of care and dedication. But, I can't do much since I'm not in the US, except support the campaign for the amendment of the law.

When planning my visit to India this past February, I decided that I wanted to take a few things for baby Rudra, since I had been looking around Etsy when I were to buy something for when he was born, and I felt I wanted to get some more things. I started reviewing my favourites and also checking the Gift Guides, and settled for a few different things.

First of all, I contacted Amber from RockerByeBaby for a custom blanket in a similar fabric to the bib & burpcloth set I had got from her previously. We worked in a combined blanket of solid colour and Japanese panda print, with a glorious orange silky fleece layer, that it's the softers and silkiest thing everrrr! Amber is not only a rocking punk mama of two and owner & designer of the most amazing baby gear, from custom crib sets, to blankets, bibs, changing pads, and even travel pillows for the wee ones! but she also runs a blog with amazing weekly giveaways that you need to check!

The blanket is so absolutely soft and silky, that not only baby Rudra is in love with it, but also my sis-in-law is, as soon as she opened it, and felt the texture she was "I want one of these for myself too!". It's become the favourite blankie for taking Rudra out in the cool evenings! You can see it here in the stroller with their Dolly diaper bag, ready to come with us for dinner! And no, the baby was not under the bag or the blanket, he was getting ready for dinner out!

I was looking for some more usual prints for more bib & burp cloths sets, cause even if I love RockerByeBaby's sets, her prints are a pit punk-ish for my sis-in-law's tastes! After doing a few searches, I found a pair of suitable candidates, and decided to go for both!

First of, I found Teachermom's shop via the gift guides, where her Toss and Play Crazy ball was featured. After checking her profile, shop policies and feedback, I decided to get one of her sets. I showed Gaurav the two options I was thinking of, and he chose a fun Alexander Henry print. I was very lucky, cause I got a fantastic 4 piece set on sale, so I got a bib, burp cloth, a travel changing pad and a wipee & diaper bag for only $15! I got a fantastic set for half the price, so it was a total score!

My sis-in-law loved it! But the funny thing is that they ended up using the travel changing pad as a light blanket, for the warmer days!

I found Quiltish also on the Etsy baby gift guide, and fell in love with her cute fabrics, so after my usual reading around (profile, shop policies and feedback) I purchased a bib and burp cloth set with a really cute cars print! Allisa was really nice overall, with a fantastic communication, and her set was very much loved by everyone!

My last purchase was from The Groovy Mommy, and I found her through the Etsy search, looking for baby items, once again, not a very specific search. I saw her whole shop, did my informative reading, and decided to go for something different, her hooded towel & washie set! What makes her set even more special, it's a monogramed set! It was custom made in a pair of days, and it was here in a week. It was a real hit with my sis-in-law, cause it was monogramed with Rudra's nickname: RD. It has been used as a towel and as a blanket, and even as play thing!

If you're thinking of getting any sort of baby items, for family or friends, either for b-days or baby showers... you can choose any of these very talented ladies, or look for any other amazing ladies in Etsy!