Leigh’s first birthday is this week, and I wanted to get her something really special. Since her older sister steals all of her toys, I decided I would buy her one very special gift and make sure it stays hers. The one perfect gift? A handmade, natural and organic doll from Bamboletta. The bonus? I think it looks like her. Green eyes, crazy brown hair, and deliciously cute. — Beth J.

We noticed Whorange recently and liked what we saw — especially when we saw her amazing round-up of Mother’s Day gifts. Tula of Whorange is allowing us to share them here, so enjoy!

With mother’s day around the corner, I’d like to tip my tiara to the moms of the world. I’ve throw together some groovy gift guides for these special ladies, whether they be darling mums, moms-to-be, earth mamas, or ladies that we’re forced to call “mommie dearest.” Yep, I’ve got them all in my life. –Tula

Above: 1. Sunshine Tea Set (48.00); 2. Perch bird feeder (84.00); 3. Clean Soles Soaps (24.00); 4. Perch campy planters (72.00); 5. Aalto vase (55.00); 6. Byzantine Peacock earrings (65.00); 7. Polly George Ceramics Butterfly Collection vase (145.00) (via productdose); 8. Charley Harper serving platter (35.00).

Above: 1. Recycled Glass Teardrop Bottle by Esque (478.00); 2. Organically grown bamboo Curvy Servers (12.00); 3. Organic Citrus Lip Balm by Eminence (24.00); 4. Organic Cranberry Pomegranate Sugar Scrub by Eminence (48.00); 5. Eco-friendly Amenity Branch Pillow (65.00); 6. Eco-friendly Cella puzzle (198.00); 7. Reusable Envirosax bags (34.95); 8. Organically grown bamboo Bambu medium bowls (17.00).

But wait, there’s more! Visit Whorange and see her entire Mother’s Day Gift Guide, including choices for the Mom-to-Be and the dreaded Mommie Dearest! See the entire guide here.

Los Angeles-based Molla Space is one of my favorite sources for fun and unique Asian-designed accessories. This felt Printing Vase by Furnish , $30, dresses up an empty wine or water bottle to make any bouquet that much greener. It’s offered in a lattice or blossom pattern, white or black, plus the cover reverses to plain so you get double the design for your dollars. Have a cherished champagne bottle taking up valuable shelf space? Dust it off and add more sentiment to your floral display. Or buy a new bottle of bubbly for mom and present it in this earth-friendly vase alternative. –Ingrid S.

More Mother’s Day inspiration? Look here:
10% Off Fullbloomtea.com
Love Posters from MadeByGirl
The Conran Shop Goes Green

We discovered fullbloomtea.com last year around Mother’s Day, and are proud to have them on board as a sponsor this week. To celebrate our love of teas (and mom’s love of teas) they’re offering Shelterrific readers a 10% discount. Just enter the code Shelter10 at checkout. (Btw, another great use for the teas — party favors. Allison R. passed them out her b-day party last summer and they were a big hit. Enjoy!)

I used to love shopping for stationery… But I swear the cash registers at Target and Trader Joe’s are the only places I check out in person anymore, mostly due to my 3-foot shopping companion, whose idea of fun is removing absolutely every product from the shelves. Trust me, this type of behavior is not conducive to picking out a belated birthday card. Then a few months ago, my favorite stationery designer Cheree Berry told me about Redstamp.com, an online boutique that truly mimics the go-to neighborhood stationery shop—where the owners source all the best current designers (Cheree, of course, plus Thomas Paul, Snow & Graham, Egg Press, Russell + Hazel, Night Owl Paper Goods and dozens more), and will actually talk to you in person if you have pressing questions (no 1-800 number here).

As busy moms and business women, the owners Erin and Renee understand that service is as important as style, and that’s where Redstamp soars in my book. You just can’t top their “send for you” service, where an anonymous someone with impeccable penmanship will hand-write, hand-address, and mail your cards for you. Definitely worth an extra $5 if that belated birthday card is at risk of hitting way-beyond-belated status. — Megan K.

We’re always on the lookout for new ideas for Mother’s Day gifts, and this new series of LOVE Candy posters from MadeByGirl could fit the bill nicely. Available in Lemon, Pretty Lavender, Cotton Candy and Sky Blue, the posters are 16 x 24 inches and $25 each at MadeByGirl’s Etsy shop. We really like the ABC Love poster, too! Look for more Mother’s Day gift ideas coming up.

Not that we need to give you a reason to buy luscious gourmet chocolates, but Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and the kind folks over at coco-luxe.com are offering Shelterrific readers a 15% discount off their adorable truffles until the end of May. Each one is flavored to remind us of a childhood favorite dessert and features a cute little drawing like gingerbread men or mint leaves or banana splits to match. Comfort food in a chocolate — heaven! To get the discount, enter SHELTER during checkout for the discount. Click here to go to the Coco-Luxe site.

Leah lauded Stumptown Coffee Roasters in posts about her recent trip to Portland, and I can vouch for the altogether tastiness of this coffee. The one Stumptown location in Seattle is about 20 minutes from our house by car, and though there are probably 100 places that are closer (this is Seattle, after all) we make special trips to pick up Rwanda Musasa coffee to make at home. You can order Stumptown online to enjoy at home, no matter where you live. It’s smooth, it’s free trade, and we love it — so much so, we sent bags of it to friends at Christmas. Cheap? No. Good? Oh, yeah. –Mary T.

We love our big living room windows, but we wanted to be able to block the sometimes-blinding setting sun. However, we also wanted to hang the curtains wide enough to maximize our view. Just one problem: our windows are 118″wide, and the longest readily available curtain rods we could find only went to 120″. Lucky for me, I have an observant (and handy) husband. He’d seen metal conduit used as curtain rods, so we decided to investigate that section of the hardware store. Turned out that 10′lengths of 3/4″metal conduit could be had for just $3.99 each. With the help of a hacksaw, a few conduit hangers, and less than an hour of work, we now have a 152.5″curtain rod. It’s a bit industrial, but that’s perfect for us. –Mary T. Read on for photos and instructions! (more…)

Gary Steinborn’s Venice Clay is perhaps best known for the Buddha Cat, but it was his small and simple Venice Clay dog sculpture that first caught my eye. Equal parts cool, modern, and adorable, Venice Clay’s dogs and cats have a matte glaze in a variety of rich colors. Combined with their small size, it makes the sculptures both pleasing to look at and inviting to touch — I find myself staring at a friend’s dog sculpture every time I’m in her kitchen. With prices from $18-$45, I’m putting these on my gift list for the dog and cat lovers in my life (myself included). –Mary T.