dandelion KIDS was invited to participate in the ‘Making Magic Fund’ by Suzanne of Green Planet Parties and Mommy Foot Print.

What is it? It’s a collaboration of  many small businesses who want to give back. We are  joining together with The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund Adopt a school to help children. Between December 5-11th if you shop at these stores online – proceeds will be donated to help schools, which help children, helps families and helps our future.

The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund launched a special fundraising project called Adopt-a-School. This project identifies schools and their specific needs throughout Metro Vancouver. The site tells you the individual needs within each school so everyone can  identify something to donate (sports equipment, winter coats in particular sizes, mitten, socks, etc.) The most needed item identified by all the schools of course is money so they can assess and fix their most outstanding needs. The amazing thing about donating the money via Adopt-a-School is they will match all donations so the money is being doubled, hence why we are all donating 10% of our  online sales.  Let the giving begin!

Here is the list of Stores participating:

Apricot Culotte:  an e-boutique specialized in previously loved baby clothes that we bring in from France. We also carry end of season brand new designer baby clothes including some very nice French organic brands.

Bamboobino: is an adorable line of children’s clothes and accessories made from soft, eco-friendly bamboo.

Bumblebee Toys: offers a unique collection of natural toys, crafts and playthings to inspire the imagination and nourish the senses.

dandelion KIDS: modern kids shop that stocks hip baby clothes, stylish duds for boys and girls plus cool, unique gifts for the next baby shower or kids birthday party.

Fill Your Own: offers an array of carbon-neutral, non-toxic and reusable products ideal for both kids and adults.

Giving Gifts – fair trade, eco friendly and fun gifts for babies, kids, adults and pets.

Green Planet Parties: where it’s possible to shop for eco-friendly party supplies in one place! Supporting locally manufactured decorations & goodies!

Kippo Kids: proud to offer you a quality mix of products that include a good selection of eco-friendly, handmade, organic, and Made in Canada items.

Maxwell Designs: leading Canadian designer of beautiful purses, the best diaper bags in Canada, and many accessories.

My Little Green Shop: is a hip e-boutique that provides a wide range of safe, non-toxic products for babies, children and mamas. We are careful that the products we carry meet our standards of what’s safe and eco-friendly.

Onyx Containers: food storage containers that are of the highest quality, manufactured in responsible conditions and available at affordable prices.

Puddlegear: toddler and baby raingear- children can play outside feeling warm, unrestricted and dry in their PVC and Phthalate free rainwear – certified by oko – tex.

Today I Ate A Rainbow: passionate about creating tools to help parents and caregivers raise healthy kids!

Just in time for Movember! Now your little ones can sport a little moustache too! This teething toy is ADORABLE! What a wonderfully innovative shape for a baby teething toy. Safe, modern, organic baby play.

This Teething Toy is handmade in Ohio, USA and are made of locally sourced hardwoods and, if not left unfinished, are finished only with certified organic flax seed oil. The workshop usually contains cups of tea, laughing children, and disco music, so each product is infused with love and bliss!
Age: 0 Months+
Size: 13cm H x 4cm W

Ladies! Now that Halloween is almost over, let’s have some fun just for us before the other Holidays begin.

dandelion KIDS is delighted to be invited to share an evening with the lovely ladies of Vive Clothing in Port Moody. Every year, Vive hosts a Spa & Shop night and this year, we will be showing off  Desigual children’s clothing. We adore this funky, colourful brand and if you like the kids stuff, Vive has the adult collection for you to try on! Oh, and since it is also our Birthday Sale that weekend, the Desigual kids collection is 25% off!

Great deals, beautiful clothing, delicious wine, manicures, prizes and yes… chocolate! This is a night not to be missed! Grab a gal or two and RSVP for Saturday Nov 5th from 6-9! See you there.

Visit the Vive Clothing website here, or check them out on Facebook.

Coast Modern is a documentary project about the history of residential modernist architecture on the West Coast of North America, and how our laid back culture informed the movement.

For anyone with an interest in Modernism, or a chance to mix with some of the local luminaries of the modernist architecture set, here’s your opportunity to do it with oysters on the half shell and fine local wine and beer!

Tickets are $10, including a free drink. If any of you design oriented types are interested in snapping up a limited poster, you can snap up a ticket + poster for $100.  Our favourite is the blue handmade limited edition Byron O’Neill silkscreen print, but the pink one is pretty awesome too!

Buy Tickets Here: http://coastmodernfundraiser.eventbrite.com

Invite your friends on Facebook.

BellyMan offers dads the chance to wear their paternity proudly but subtly. Authentic, unique, with universal appeal and sure to spark loads of conversations. Created by a Chicago couple with babies and business on the brains. As parents to two trendsetting toddlers, they understand and appreciate the role that both parents play — from the time they conceive, onward. Noticing a vacancy in attire for expectant men, they birthed BellyMan.

Check out their website: http://www.bellymanclothing.com/

National Parks Project – Trailer from Ryan J. Noth on Vimeo.

In honour of the 100 year anniversary of Parks Canada (which, by the way, was the First National Parks Service in the World! Another reason we’re proud to be Canadian!) 13 short films have been created to capture Canada’s beauty and sound. Altogether 52 of Canada’s best musicians and filmmakers coast to coast worked on this project with each short film consisting of one film maker, three artists and one National Park. The creative quartets then spent 5 days in the parks exploring the sights, sounds of nature, collaborating on the music and images. The National Parks Project spans across Canada including each Province and Territory. A memorizing, breathtaking, and inspiring way to see the country we are lucky enough to call home.

Maria’s friend, Scott Smith, along with singer-songwriters Sarah Harmer, Bry Webb and Jim Guthrie were gifted the opportunity to capture the breathtaking beauty of Gwaii Haanas – National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.

After an initial sold-out screening at the Vancity Theatre, these films will be shown again as part of DOXA Docuentary Film Festival this Sunday, May 15 at the Pacific Cinematheque at 4 pm. An afternoon event not to be missed and the only time we are able see these beauties on the big screen!

For more info, please visit http://nationalparksproject.ca for all the info and bio’s.  The films will be available online as of May 19, 2011.

Olives, trees, pickles, peas . . . What do they have in common? All of them are green! In her debut picture book, Laurie Rosenwald-a New York-based designer explores the world of color through humorous poetry and dynamic collages. Pink flamingos aspire to be ballerinas, yellow taxis screech to a halt at red stop signs, and black cats relax with the morning crossword puzzle.

More than just an introduction to basic colors, this book shows how colors interact and enrich our everyday lives. Clever rhyming text and bold, graphic illustrations are sure to make this book a favorite read-aloud.

About Wednesday Morning Story Time: We will be reading a different book from our vast (and growing!) selection of amazing childrens’  books on Wednesdays at 10:30 am at our Port Moody location. Try to swing by Wednesday mornings… and we’ll read to your child while you can enjoy the book, browse, shop or just daydream. If you like the book we’ve read, you will be able purchase it at a special price on the day of the reading.

Please RSVP with a phone call or email so we have an idea of how many pillows to put out.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday mornings!

Thanks to BierCraft Tap and Tapas (formerly known as Stella’s), we can eat, drink and be merry and NOT drive home or worry about hailing a cab or taking public transit.

The new drinking laws and that darn HST has taken a bite out of our favourite restaurants. BierCraft has found a way to fight back and keep their customers happy. They have launched the one and only first of its kind Free Courtesy Shuttle here in Vancouver (let’s hope they’ve started a trend!). They will provide a ride home within 30 city blocks. The only downfall to this plan is that it’s only available for the moment at their Commercial Drive location from 5 pm till closing…so no boozy lunches.

Lets raise our glasses to BierCraft Tap and Tapas for their ingenious idea and for getting us home safely.

Amen!

Warmest wishes for the holiday season from Maria, Stefanie, Elin, Helene, Lauren, Reagan, Sasha and Shalyn at dandelion KIDS.

Many thanks to egg press for this lovely wintery image. We just love their sense of style.