Eco-friendly baby/family products MADE in USA

(above photo taken from Origin website)

Review of a stainless steel baby spoon,  mostly made in Waukesha, WI (with components made in MN)!! As most of you know, finding anything stainless steel AND made, not just designed, in the USA is very, very tough. It’s one area that I will compromise my made in USA mission as I do feel stainless is a great option when glass (my 1^st choice) isn’t an option AND the vendor conducts 3^rd party testing to make sure the stainless is the real deal (free of heavy metals). So of course I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to pass along the great news that there finally is a made in USA option for this one category at least! Most of us take the 1^st utensils our babe’s will eat from very seriously! I was sent this to review before it’s even available to purchase, but that date is coming up very soon: http://www.originutensils.com/products/the-origin-baby-spoon?variant=12933245319

About this spoon: “BPS, BPA, phthalates…it seems like every month there’s something else to avoid. How do you know what you’re using is safe? The fact is that when it comes to food contact, some materials are just better than others. Plastic and silicone may be fine when new, but after normal washing and use, dishwasher heat cycles and scratches, are they still hygienic? Is the material breaking down and becoming part of the meal?  Is today’s “safe” plastic tomorrow’s material to avoid? The Origin Baby Spoon is made of food-grade, 316 (18/10) stainless steel. This material is time tested and universally recognized as safe for food contact and preparation.  It’s not just BPA free, its everything free – and it won’t add little bits of plastic to your baby’s meal or emerge from the dishwasher looking strange.”

(above photo taken from Origin website)

There is some great info in this link as to why the spoon was designed as it was: http://www.originutensils.com/pages/design

No, this spoon is not cheap at $33, but I assure you, they did not randomly choose that amount. That is the cost of bringing a stainless steel spoon made in the USA to market, and that is why you don’t see many such offerings. I know may not be able to swallow that price tag, but I do know that many of you can, and will, to show your support with your purchase of this product. We vote with our dollars, and if enough people can vote to show support for products like this, we will see more of them. 1^st baby spoons turn into an heirloom item for many families. Will a plastic spoon be handed down from generation to generation? No. But this one surely can, and will be!

I will remind y’all when this has officially launched in the coming weeks, and hope this company meets great success so they can bring more products to the market!!

http://www.originutensils.com/

Here’s the message I received from Melody, the Mama behind the book: “Thank you for providing a website dedicated to safe products for children made in the USA.  When my son was born I was very disappointed that almost all of the board books we purchased were manufactured and printed in China.  Thankfully one day while playing with my son, I had an ‘ah-ha’ moment and was inspired to write a board book and have it manufactured and printed in the USA.” That’s one thing I love about the people who bring a made in USA product into a reality. They had an ‘ah-ha’ moment one day, and they made that moment into a reality, for the benefit of all of us who hold similar values!

You can see the pdf of the covers here: cover

About the book: “Just B was created with those short attention spans in mind. The illustrations are bright, simple, and each page displays one object a baby may recognize on a daily basis, all that begin with the letter “B”. It’s a perfect first book to add to your baby’s library. Just B is printed in the United States by Pint Size Productions in Sanborn, New York. Every product complies with the CPSIA and ASTM safety testing requirements to ensure everything is safe in those adorable little hands.”

I agree, it is a perfect book for the youngest kiddos who are just beginning to be able to identify the world around them. It has very bright, bold pages with familiar objects for most babe’s. My 3 year old really enjoys being able to name objects, she really likes this book a lot! And of course, I absolutely love knowing that hard work & determination led to it being printed in NY, not China.

About Melody: “One day while playing with different consonants with my 6 month old son, I noticed many items he interacted with the first few months of life began with the letter “B”. I believed “B” was a great consonant to work with because it was easy for many babies to pronounce. It was then that I thought a great first book for babies would be one with illustrations of all the “B” items. Since then, one of my son’s favorite things to say is “Bah Bah Bah”. Enjoy and have fun making connections in the never ending learning process with your little ones. I am a mom to my amazing son, Garrison; wife to my wonderful husband, Rick; an avid yogi and planet earth lover. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology and am presently writing my second children’s book inspired by my family and love of nature.”

I hope you’ll agree that supporting small businesses dedicated to keeping production of their product here in the USA is worth your vote with a purchase. This would be a great gift for a new Mom if you kiddos are past this stage of life. Thank you!

It’s available on Amazon for $7.95: http://amzn.to/1XVpeOs

And here’s her Fb page, where her most recent post was giving a shout out to me after she found my site! https://www.facebook.com/Just-B-Babys-First-Book-of-Objects-429542997166943/

It’s been a couple of years since I 1^st did a review of Bannor Toys: Inspired Toys for Inspired Kids from my neighbors to the East in Iowa. At that time they had a pretty small, basic line, they were just getting started & sent me a couple of cars to review which you can read about below. Recently Stacy Bannor reached out to me to see if I’d like to update my review which of course I was thrilled to take her up on. She gave me a very generous gift certificate so I could pick out my own goodies which is always fun! They have added a LOT in the last couple of years, you can find these categories: rattles, plush gift sets, wooden toys, teethers, puzzles, matching games, learning tiles, blocks & Easter toys. I just love the assortment & of course that they’re wooden, battery-free, leaving your child to use their imagination to no end!

Since it was just a couple weeks before my Son’s 5^th Birthday as well as Easter I headed for their Easter category 1st. I picked out 4 personalized bunny wands for my kiddos as well as my niece & nephew. They’re adorable & my kiddos needed some wands to go with their superhero capes they love to chase each other around in. The Easter matching toy is a fun game for my 3 year old, it has several different Eastery designs to match up. To make it more challenging you can flip them upside down to make it into a memory game.

PUZZLES are one of my absolute all-time favorite toys. We have a variety of them & I was so happy to pick up a few more to add to our collection. I love that these are 2-sided, so you get 2 puzzles in 1! We have the fairy tale as well as the monkey & lion, for $14 ea, I think these are steals!  Thankfully there’s a tile included to show you what they’re supposed to look like, as I was struggling myself, since they’re 2-sided they really aren’t easy, which is great for your kiddo who is a bit older. They’re fun, challenging, entertaining, all you want in a toy! I got the alphabet learning tiles which are perfect for my year old working on learning her alphabet. Each tile has the letter in upper & lower case one one side, and the flip has a photo of an object beginning with that letter, these are $28. I got the sight words matching game for my Son as well as my Niece. I’m working on reading skills with my 5 year old, these are great- $26. Half of the round tiles have photos, the other half words so you work to match them up. We have a basket full of our cloth bags from Bannor Toys with these puzzles & matching games inside, and we grab one, sit down & work on them together.

Single tile next to & above puzzles shows what’s on the flip side. I couldn’t find the Easter matching game when I took the above photo, of course just as soon as I packed the above up, I found the Easter matching tiles, they are below:

I’ve followed Bannor Toys Facebook page for a couple of years now, and have witnessed both their family & their business grow. Especially at Holiday time, a crazy time of year for all retailers, you really get an impression of what it’s like to be a small, truly family-run business. You’ll see pics of their kiddos at work with them, playing in a play area of the shop while Mom and/or Dad sand down or cut some toys. You’ll see posts from midnight by Stacy, after her kiddos are in bed & she’s working on filling orders. There’s something very special to me about knowing where & whom my dollars are going to support. I work hard for my money, and I know they do too so I feel great about purchasing from them, and recommending them to you!

Here are some facts from their website:

Where are your Toys Made? 

All of our wooden toys are 100% made here in the United States.  Our workshop is in our hometown of Des Moines, Iowa.  All of our lumber is sourced from Iowa and the Midwest.  The few parts that we do not make ourselves such as wood rings are made by a company in Texas, Illinois, South Dakota, and Maine.

Are your Toys Really Organic?

Yes, our wood is natural, we do not stain it.  We use Maple, Cherry, and Walnut woods and their natural colors.  Our finish is an organic beeswax and flaxseed oil mixture that is all natural and nontoxic so it is the perfect finish for baby’s mouth.  The oil brings out the color and the beeswax provides durability.  Our glue and paint are organic as well made from a company in the United States.  They are 100% safe, lead free, no VOC’s, and non-toxic. Our teethers are left “naked”, there is no finish on them.

What about Shipping Costs? 

Shipping is based on the weight of your order, for both domestic and international orders. For a domestic order, fill your cart up with as many toys as you want, your shipping will never go above $6.99 (excludes the purchase of large/oversized items like the toy boxs).  There is free US shipping on orders of $75 or more.  Shipping outside of the US is charged at cost, we know shipping is expensive overseas, we try hard to keep it low and will refund you if there is an overage of more than $2 for international shipping.  We have international shipping set up to Canada, Australia, and the UK.  If you are anywhere else please email us so we can set up a custom listing with the correct shipping.

How is Bannor Toys Eco-Friendly or Green? 

When we say we are eco-conscious we mean it.  Our number one raw material is wood.  We order our lumber from a company that provides FSC certified wood which means the wood is responsibly harvested and replanted.  We also have a zero waste policy with our wood.  We use every bit that we can for our toys and we use the small left over scraps to heat the workshop in the winter.  We even use the saw dust in our compost pile.  That’s right, we have a huge compost pile and a large family garden with rain barrels growing right outside the west side of the workshop.  In addition to using wood to heat the shop, we have fully insulated the shop to cut down on utilities and we also installed an insulated shop door this year as well.  We use energy efficient lighting and other systems in the shop where possible as well.  Besides the wood, we use environmentally friendly finishes, adhesives, and supplies as well.

Please follow this link to see some photos of them and read a great letter from each of them. Really, truly, your money is going family-to-family when you purchase from them: http://bannortoys.com/pages/about-us.

I hope you’ll take a look at their website to view their lovely products, and there’s a tab to sign up for their newsletter where you’ll be the 1^st to learn of new products, sales, etc. I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts on this great family making toys in the Midwest of our great country. When I started my mission to find made in USA products 4 years ago, this was exactly what I had in mind!

My original review from wow, May 3 2013, 3 years ago to the very day, I had no idea!!!

Bannor Toys is  one of the toy companies on my Made in the USA safe toy list. One thing I really like about doing reviews is it gives me an opportunity to learn more about the business and the products they make. Here’s a little bit about their family-owned & operated business located in my neighboring state of Iowa.

Bannor Toys is a small family-owned company that believes in education and development through quality, safe, and fun toys. Where do they get their wood: “All of our products are made in Iowa.  All of our wood is bought from two local lumber yards.  Both of the companies we buy from offer FSC certified domestic hardwoods (maple, walnut, oak, cherry, etc.)  We do buy a small amount of exotic wood (purple heart, yellow heart, etc.) for our “Woods of the World” building blocks and a few other toys.  We buy our exotic wood from the same two local companies that we buy the domestic wood from.  Most of our exotic wood is grown in forests in Central and South America.  We have been assured it is harvested and replanted responsibly. None of our products are made in China, me and my wife personally build every single item we sell here in Des Moines, Iowa.  None of our wood comes from China, and 95% of the toys we build use domestic woods grown and responsibly harvested in the U.S. All of our wood is hand-picked one board at a time to ensure quality and all of our finishes and paints are non-toxic and safe to be handled by children. Every product is inspected for safety. We believe that wooden toys are not only beautiful in any home; they also stimulate a child’s imagination. Their fabric rattle balls are handmade with a variety of fabrics including vintage chenile, broadcloth, flannel, minky and other textures that babies and kids love.

As with several other small family-run businesses I’ve done reviews for, these generous entrepreneurs donate a portion of every, single purchase to children’s charities such as Toys for Tots, and the Make a Wish Foundation! I love the spirit of giving back that I’ve encountered!

They sent me the 2 super cute cars that you can see in the attached photo, which arrived in a very cute fabric bag that can be used for storage or travel. My toddler (who recently turned 2) has had lots of fun pushing these cars around the house, and now that Spring has arrived, they’ve made it outside to the driveway with us. They are ffinished with Bannor Toys own beeswax and flaxseed oil finish, which is 100% organic and 100% non-toxic and it looks beautiful. You are able to choose between walnut, maple or cherry wood. These cars are very well-made & durable, and I have no doubt they’ll be around for many years for my next child to play with, and then to pass on to another family when we’re done with them! I absolutely love simple toys such as these that do exactly what this business has set out to do: help stimulate development through quality, safe, and fun toys.

They don’t have a huge line, but as I always state: quality over quantity is what’s important, and there surely is something for every babe/toddler! Categories of offerings include: Wooden Toys (several different stackers, a balancer, driving set, building & alphabet blocks ranging from $28-$45), Cars & Trucks (several makes & models ranging from $12-$38 for a set of 4), Baby Rattles (several great wooden ones, and several soft balls, ranging $10-$23 for a set of 2 balls), Block Sets with several great options (ranging $15-$45), Baby Gift Sets (love this category, great for your registry $24-$50) and Maple Teethers in many cute shapes & sizes ($12).

Please visit their website & FB pages for more info and to browse these quality, hand-crafted products yourself:

Website: http://www.bannortoys.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/MyBannorToys?fref=ts