Calling All Superheroes

Last weekend not-so Tiny G turned four. FOUR! And like most four-year-old boys he is obsessed with all things superheroes. Which is how I found myself up at 2am hand-painting these damn peg dolls for every kid in his preschool class. Spiderman was very nearly my waterloo. I admit, the 6-hour process was somewhat addictive in a One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sort of way, first drawing in pencil each superhero’s details on the wooden pegs, then painting one color at a time and letting dry before adding the next detail.

Tiny G nearly lost his mind when he saw them the next morning. For the gift bags, I found these little natural cotton muslin drawstring bags and decorated them with a handmade Spiderman rubber stamp that I ordered from Etsy. When it comes to kids birthday parties, Etsy.com—filled with people far more creative than I—is truly a girl’s best friend.

Tiny G handed out a superhero goodie bag to each of his preschool classmates yesterday. Etsy was also the source for these awesome cupcake toppers that can be personalized (however, you’ll have to speak to my sister about baking you some of these AMAZING chocolate cupcakes):

Since he turned four while we were in Vermont, we had his actual party back east last week with his cousins. Each cousin got a personalized superhero cape.

Even Tiny G’s brand new baby brother got in on the action. Because there is nothing babies love more than a cape.

I made this dreadful chocolate cake impaled with a spiderman action figure. I’m having PTSD just thinking about how much red food coloring I used in the frosting.

The highlight of the party had to be this awesome Spiderman piñata—another Etsy find. I filled it with noisemakers and packets of Annie’s organic gummy bunnies mostly as a PR stunt to atone for the toxicity of the birthday cake.

After the party’s over, piñatas also double as excellent scarecrows. Here’s to my super boy turning 4!

Brass Tacks for Boys

Last winter while pregnant with our second son, I started to think about where we were going to put the little guy. Would we turn our guest room into the baby’s? Or have him bunk up with his big brother? My husband is the youngest of three boys, and ultimately made the call. Share a room. He grew up in New York. He and his middle brother, Tim, shared a bedroom in which they would invent games, do their homework together, throw a ball back and forth. Hearing him talk about it, I wanted our boys to make their own memories in a shared room. Practically speaking, this meant finding twin beds, which is easier said than done. I knew I wanted a sort of early 20th century iron bed frame. I love these Hamilton Steel Bed Frames from Schoolhouse Electric in Oregon, but at $1,250 each they were a little out of my budget:

And then I made the eBay score of the century—two brass beds from 1901 for less than the price of one of the above. These beds had been living in the Reno garage of a Berkeley professor’s parents. The parents had purchased them from the Tahoe Tavern (below)—Lake Tahoe’s first grand hotel, which burned down in the 1960s—and their boys grew up sleeping in these solid brass beds.

The frames are so heavy you can barely lift them—so much more substantial and enduring than anything you could buy new. I love the history behind them, and I bet they last another 110 odd years. They look great with vintage Superman sheets (another eBay score!) and a summer-weight cotton Ticking Stripe Blanket in Breton red from Brahms Mount. We picked up an eco-friendly Sultan Heggedal mattress and box spring from Ikea, and I covered the box spring with a fitted percale sheet with yellow stars from Garnet Hill for my little superhero instead of a dust ruffle for a less fussy look.

One day we’ll have both beds set up, but for now we just have the one along with a crib featuring more red stripes and this Roberta Roller Rabbit baby blanket for my littlest monkey!