The kind folks at KittyBabyLove were generous to offer our readers a 20% discount on all of their products until the end of the year. Hooray. This means that while your doing your virtual holiday shopping you can make a stop over at KittyBabyLove and stock up on their kitty egg crayons or any of their sweet kitty loot. We’re very excited to stock up on these crayons, considering each wax kitty’s life span is that of 7 or 8 crayons. KittyBabyLove hand make all of their products with love from their family to yours. We’re currently drooling over their wood block printed cards and their bowling set is ridiculously cute. To learn more about their kitty egg crayons, check out our review. Have fun shopping, tell your friends and remember to let them know cleeo & bea sent you at check out. The code is “cleeoandbea” for 20% off your order, no minimums, 1 use per customer, and expires at the end of this year.

It’s so difficult to find good looking Halloween décor. Occasionally, we find tattered vintage items at estate sales, but rarely. Maybe we’re just not looking in the right places, but when we do find something that suits our tastes, we scoop it up. We love this print by Portland (currently residing) artist, Stephan Britt. It reminds us of Halloweens past, circa 1960s or 70s. Britt’s style is delightful, fun and makes spooky just right for our kiddos. Epson Pro 3800 digital archival print on 8.5″ x 11″ Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm matte paper. Each print is signed and shipped in a protective plastic sleeve with backing. A welcome piece of Halloween art the kiddos will look forward to every year and with names like Otto, Ramses and Wolfgang; it’s hard to pass this print up. $25.00, here.

We’ve been on a mission to find non-toxic face paint pencils to complete our kiddos’ Halloween costumes. Face paints are great, but you just can’t get quite the detail needed for Howdy Doody freckles or kitty whiskers. Lyra’s theatrical pencils are high-quality face paint pencils encased in wood, so hands stay relatively clean when drawing. They’re completely non-toxic, so safe on kiddo’s skin and are easy to apply and remove (key), but you might do a test-patch if your tot has sensitive skin, just to be on the safe side. 6 colors, red to black, but what’s up with no brown? Still, we’re looking forward to having these around beyond halloween, too. Should be easy enough to find in your local kid/craft store, but just in case. $14.95, here.

Not only is Halloween at our doorstep, Dias de los meuertos, or Day of the Dead, is a couple of days later. We love to celebrate this holiday in our household, honoring family and friends we’ve lost. Some folks may think it’s a little morbid, but we think of it as a celebration of memories and stories about beloved friends and our Great Grandma Pearl. We don’t really observe such holidays in American culture, but it’s a great way to discuss the cycle of life with our kiddos. We have a book of recipes made famous by our great grandma, so what better way to celebrate her memory then by enjoying her yummy food. Another way of honoring loved ones lost is through creating meaningful art & craft projects with the tots. Papel picado, a traditional and popular art form in Mexico used  as decoration on any celebration day, is fun to make and can be made (with a little assistance) by the youngest of kiddos. We’ve made all kinds of designs from tissue with scissors and hung them on a string from our mantle. Very sweet. If you simply don’t have time, but would like to hang a papel picado in your home, look here, for some outstanding examples. $10.00- $16.00.

We’ve let it be known that most children’s music makes us a little bit nuts, so we’re pretty determined to find kids’ songs that don’t make us want to take a hammer to the iPod dock. This little find has had the opposite effect and we’re so glad. the Bottle Let Me Down songs for bumpy wagon rides, released by Chicago’s Bloodshot records in 2002, we didn’t have kids then, is a venerable collection of kids songs that’s easy on the ears. The collection is comprised of 26 classic and original songs by punk, country, soul, pop and bluegrass influenced artists with a penchant for reworking American music in an entirely original and refreshing way. We think these musicians are likely ones who have kiddos and have tired of the offerings in children’s music up to the point that they recorded these songs. Our family favorites include Freakwater’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Señor Don Gato” by Kelly Hogan (we’ve been looking for this song for years), and Cornell Hurd’s “Don’t Wipe Your Face On Your Shirt” is hilarious. A true gem. Thanks, Bloodshot. $10 download at fina or $8.99, here.

Our older tot absolutely loved this wooden alphabet and number abacus, by Educo,when she started learning her ABCs and 123s. She enjoyed memorizing the item that goes along with each letter. Like A is for Apple. I is for ice cream. Now, a year later, the abacus rarely gets played with. We’re not sure if she’ll cycle back into it or not. She still does like to spin the letters and numbers and it reminds us of playing the slots at a casino. We’re pretty sure our second kiddo will love it when they start to learn their letters, so we’re definitely holding on to it. And every adult who has noticed this abacus has commented on how cool it is, if that counts for anything. Two sides for learning and abacus also includes numbers from 1-10 with the spelling of each number on one side of the block. Made from durable maple wood. Measures approximately 10.25” x 4.75” x 12.5”. Excellent value on a developmental, eco-friendly toy that will last for a long time. $24.95, here.

This little handmade feller by everyeskimo, is one dapper dude. We rather like his hand-plugged yarnhawk. And his felt horn/ears are pretty adorable, too. Handmade plush goodies are some of our favorites and we just never seem to have enough of them, so we’ve added Gordon to our family. He’s a sweetie, kids love him and he loves cherry cola, which makes us laugh. Measures 7″ tall, not sure what Gordon’s internal make-up is, so can’t say he’s an eco-friend. No chewing, please. Good looking, durable and makes a great buddy. Excellent value. A cleeo & bea favorite etsy seller. $16.00, here.

Hooray for Made in Nature. We love dried fruit and so do our kiddos, but unfortunately their stomachs start to gurgle heavily when they eat sulfured foods and we can usually count on quite a bit of gas, but since we’ve switched to these dried fruit snacks, we’ve had very little problem. Made in Nature’s fruit are tree ripened, USDA certified organic and dried naturally. They’re dried fruit, but not too chewy and actually quite juicy, which we really like. Sometimes, if we’re not careful, we can polish off a whole bag. Perfect snack for first time eaters of finger foods, just cut them into small pieces. Great tasting, too. Prices vary. Packaging not recyclable. We found them at our local grocer, but they’re available in bulk, here.

It’s time for another giveaway and this time we couldn’t be happier to partner with Portland’s own Black Wagon to giveaway a beautiful Charlie Harper Memory Game. We love Black Wagon for their commitment to providing lighthearted, irreverent, innovative, and earth-friendly products for our kiddos. Their philosophy reflects their (and our) efforts to live sustainably and support local and independent designers around the country. Black Wagon’s in store and online selection is handpicked and filled with classic and fashion-forward accessories, clothes, toys, books, bedding, and décor from Portland local labels like Little Lark and Lucky Wang, to well-known national brands like Appaman, Glug and Trumpette. We’re big fans of Charlie Harper, too, and this little memory game is gorgeous. For more information, check out our review. Deadline for this giveaway is November 6th and is open to facebook fans, twitter followers and emails subscribers. If you’d like the chance to win, comment here, on facebook or tweet about this giveaway. Good luck.

We love books about nature and so do our kiddos. Janice May Udry’s classic “A Tree Is Nice” is on our list of favorites for a few reasons. Not only is it wholesome and sweet, it teaches our tots that trees are beautiful and quite useful in their living state. Marc Simont’s illustrations are fantastic, too. Originally published in 1956 and a Caldecott winner in 1957, “A Tree Is Nice” is just the kind of message we like to convey to our kiddos about caring for the earth. It encourages them (and us) to slow down, appreciate simple beauty and remember not to take it for granted. We particularly like that Urdy mentions babies and cows can nap in the shade of a tree. Too cute. Used and new from $4.95, here.

Help. We’re addicted to ETSY. We spend hours perusing the handmade loveliness of artists, print makers and other amazing crafters. We recently found this print by Helen Dardik of Orange studio and fell in love. Her designs, mostly giclee prints of original illustrations are trés fabulous, appeal to our love for all things vintage and we can’t wait to add one to our kiddos burgeoning art collection. We love all of her pieces, but “daddy love” is our current favorite. Printed on Epson velvet fine art stock (100% cotton rag), using Epson Ultrachrome pigment inks. Each print is signed, numbered, & dated on the back. Would make a great addition to any rumpus or kid room. Lovely and the price is right. 8.5″ x 11″. $25.00, here.

Our older kiddo is just starting to really understand how to play games and loves this african savanna animal bingo game by cluster design. She wants to play it all the time and frankly, even though we enjoy it too, we’re getting a little sick of playing it. Our tot loves to identify the brightly colored animals and call them out, it’s a blast. Just a couple of things to note if you have kiddos under 3 who might have access to the game. The bingo board and cards’ laminated edges are a bit sharp and the bingo chips are pretty small, so no chewing please. In the directions there is a suggestion to use goldfish crackers, or something like that, as chips if you’re worried about the small size. Great idea. Good looking and modern take on a classic. 22 illustrated calling cards. Up to 24 players. $34.99, here.

Our neighbors have this little walker by Plan Toys. It’s adorable, we have to say. The woodpeckers peck the wood with their beaks at each turn of the wheel making a click clack sound as kiddo walks. The faster the walker the louder and more rapid the peck. Our only concern, and the main reason we haven’t bought this walker yet, is because it’s a bit pricey. It’s pretty brilliant, completely green, will assist the pre-walker and encourage the development of gross motor skills though, so could be worth every penny. The only only other drawback is that there’s no basket for carrying buddies around in, like some of the other walkers we’ve seen. We do love it though, and have put this one on our wish list, since we have a little pre-walker of our own. Neighbors love it and claim their little boy uses it constantly. Eco-friend to the max. 100% repurposed, replenishable rubber wood. Measures:9.8″ x 13.5″ x 17.3″. $84.99, here.

Gertie balls are out of sight. Yep, out of sight. We loved these balls long before we had our own wee ones and often bought them as gifts for our friends’ kiddos. Gertie’s are sticky, not really sticky, but they have an interesting surface, making them easy for tots to grasp and catch. They’re also inflatable with a straw, so parents can control their squishiness and level of graspability. Made from non-toxic, latex-free PVC, Gertie balls aren’t tip-top in the eco-friend department, but they’re kid safe and make game-play a breeze for the most wee of wee ones. They’re durable too, have survived a few dog chews and are an excellent value. Available in several styles and colors, from nobby to animal friend Gerties. Original measures 9″ in diameter. $8.00, here.

We’re really starting to feel the pressure of cold and flu season, ugh. We’re not usually ones to get too affected by the hype either, but with this new strain of flu making it’s way around the country, we’re freaking out a little. We want to keep our kiddos safe, germ-free and healthy, so we’re starting at square one, with clean hands. Never having used a hand sanitizer, we weren’t really sure what to look for, but we did know we wanted something herbal and kid safe. Burt’s Bees sanitizer does the trick. Made from corn based alcohol, aloe vera and witch hazel, this moisturizing spray eliminates 99.9% of germs while moisturizing hands. It smells great too, not usual for most hand sanitizers and doesn’t leave any weird or sticky residue. Perfect. Great for toddlers and the 3 and up crowd, but not so sure for little taste testers. No junk. Excellent value. $5.00, here.