I’m sure you’re seeing gift guide after gift guide right now. The thing is, I’ve wanted to have my own magazine ever since I can remember. Flipping through the pages of my mom’s magazines as a little girl I was amazed by each layout, color choice and font decision. I started making my own mood boards armed with scissors and glue and have kept pin boards of inspiration in elementary school and still pull one together every chance I get! These gift guides are always a way for me to express a passion of mine- curating and collecting in hopes of inspiring. 
This year I’m keeping it simple. There will be a simple hostess gift guide, a guide for the traveler, a guide for how to gift that granola girl (the one I unintentionally turned into) and a fool-proof gift guide for the lady (mother, sister, daughter or friend) in your life. At the end of the day, I don’t think these will be quite as special if there are a flood of them. Less is more sometimes, right? Although i’ve already curated items for gifting the new mom and new baby and it’s taking everything in me not to create another collage right this second.

Without further adieu, here are some thoughts on this years’ Boy gift guide.

(click on anything in the image above to shop!)

We got the kids a play kitchen last year and it has been their most used item since. I’m not sure how these kitchens are consistently nicer than my own, but here we are! I like the idea of styling it, of course, with some veggies in the sink, some baskets of play food in the oven and a big bow on the front! Here are some in varying prices because these bad boys can creep up to the price of an actual kitchen if you’re not careful, starting with this $79 Ikea version that many people turn into an awesome DIY:

This is the year Oshiolema gets a bike and after practicing on his cousin’s sparkly pink bike with purple streamers for months, it’s time this kid gets something a little more his speed. He’s requested a red power ranger bike–a red bike is the same thing, right? The white version of this is STUNNING. I wish so badly he’d be as hype about the color white as I am but for now, red rules his little world.

Building legos, blocks and those teeny plus things buys me the most time and the kids the most entertained play in our house so these high rise blocks have me so excited!

I saw the Animilium book in a store early this year and have saved it, along with the Botanica version, specifically for Christmas morning. Our kids are big readers and Oshiolema would spend his whole day flipping through books if he could so this one is sure to be a winner.

Superheroes are kind of running the show around here and Oshiolema is quite the expert in all of their powers and skills. He’s been really into the bow and arrow deal lately so this bow with felt arrows is just perfect. I foresee lots of “he hit me with an arrow!!!” in my future.

You guys, my kids want a dog so badly. Like reeeeally badly. But the answer is no. I feel pretty bad about denying something they desire with such a passion and that’s where Freckles comes in. I got Oshiolema Freckles for Christmas last year and he is legit our dog. He “sleeps” next to Oshiolema’s bed now but he used to live in the playroom and brings them so much joy it’s ridiculous. This dalmation is actual life-size and it’s make for a really sweet surprise next to the tree with a bow on Christmas morning.

(click on anything in the image above to shop!)

When Keogena was born I tried to keep things neutral as long as possible–especially since we didn’t find out the gender. She wore mostly white, oatmealy colors and grey and that worked for a long time…but now she is two. It’s all pink, all the time. “Mommyyy! Thats my fayyy-vwit color evuh!” She shouts that at every single shade of pink, yellow and purple all the live long day. Boots, toys, sneakers, bows and other accessories are a great way to introduce bright color with little commitment. These gifts were curated with my girl in mind.

A few things I wanted to talk about:

That tutu, guys. Oh my. My sister, my niece, Keogena and I are going to see the Nutcracker ballet this weekend and I’m giddy beyond belief! Keogena is getting more and more into princess things and everything with a skirt has been deemed a princess dress. This is a very sweet dress to transition from dress-up to the playground.

My kids have always worn Hunter boots and this is my favorite time of year to get them (always a little big so they last forever) because they’re often at their best price. Keogena would wear her boots every single day if I let her and they do just look so sweet with any outfit.

The Little People Big Dreams books are a favorite in our house. While they do prompt questions a little earlier than I was ready for in some cases (the Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks started a weeks-long dive into race at the ripe age of 2 for Oshiolema) but they are fascinating, beautiful and so important for little girls.

If you are going the kitchen route this Christmas, a basket of felt or wooden food is so precious. I’m trying to get rid of all our plastic pretend food since they do tend to actually put it in their mouths more often than not. This felt bread set is stunning and is the closest thing to sourdough and pumpernickel this paleo mama is gonna get.

Both my kids are very into my camera and these wooden cameras make it so that they always have their own pretend version and aren’t so tempted to scrub my lens.

If you’re still in need of more inspiration, you can see last year’s gift guide for the littles right here.