The Quilts Zone Blog

The gorgeous Princess Tiana is the protagonist of Disney’s upcoming 2009 film The Princess and the Frog. The film has a limited release date in the USA (in NY and LA only) of the 25th November and will be released in US theaters on December 11th.   This film will mark the return of Disney to traditional hand drawn animation and will bring to fans the 9th Disney Princess. The latest member of Disney’s Royal Family, Princess Tiana, is the first Disney Princess to come along in a long 11 years – with the last Disney Princess being 1998’s Mulan.

The Princess and the frog storyline centers on young Tiana, a girl living in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age and a prince named Naveen who has been transformed into a frog by the evil voodoo magician Dr. Facilier. The story will feature a trumpet playing alligator, a love sick Cajun firefly and a host of other charming characters at every turn.

At the recent US  Toy Fair, a preview was given of the Disney merchandise that will accompany the movie.  With vibrant and regal colors like purple, green, gold and blue, the toys will evoke life in New Orleans and the bayou, where the film is set. The extensive Disney collection includes dolls, playsets, role-play items and costumes as well as colorful accessories.

The Princess and the Frog Tiana doll ($25) from Mattel, will probably be the most popular toy from the line. Just as in the story, beautiful Princess Tiana wears her sparkly blue ball gown and comes with her frog Prince Naveen. The fiber-optic gown lights up and the doll and frog interact! In addition to the signature Princess Tiana doll, Prince Naveen and Princess Tiana will be available in wedding attire.

Websites about the gorgeous Princess Tiana and the movie have already begun to appear. Of note are those that  applaud Disney’s choice to feature a princess of color  and  other sites that offer coloring pages, printables and paper crafts that feature  Disney’s latest Princess.

Little girls  of all ages will enjoy the many, free, printable coloring images of  Princess Tiana (plus party invitations, various paper crafts and party room decorations)  available from Princess Tiana Coloring Pages a site that has many Princess Tiana coloring

As we await the movie’s release, Anika Noni Rose, the voice of Tiana gives us a glimpse into the princess’ character. Tiana is a “diamond in the rough” who will have to learn some lessons before she reaches true princess status. She is a motivated, determined and independent young woman. She wants to do things her way, without anyone’s help. “She’s a strong woman who doesn’t need anyone to do things for her,” says Anika Noni Rose. “She wants to do things for herself…”

Putting a nursery together is one of the best parts of bringing a new baby into your home. You baby will be spending a lot of time in this room, so take care to make sure it is a relaxing and yet visually stimulating space. As well as buying curtains and painting the walls, you must naturally make the crib up with baby bedding. Choose primary colors or soft pastels for the wall.

If you want the baby’s room to be a gender-specific color, it is best to paint after the child is born. Painting woodwork white or a contrasting color can look very pleasant. If the walls have been painted a specific color, the flooring will probably be neutral.

A nursery’s key feature is the crib bedding. You can help add to the gender of the room by supplementing it with baby girl crib bedding. You can choose a more light-hearted print for your baby bedding, such as a character from TV, a mild pattern, or just a solid color.

You should make sure that the bedding and wall color work together by contrasting with each other or looking the same. Match the color of the bedding with the room by re-painting or choosing colors that match.

Other aspects of the nursery can match your baby’s bedding: you might be able to find curtains with the exact design of the sheets, tying the room together. If you have selected bedding with a TV or movie character as a theme, coordinating items, such as lamps and garbage cans, may also be available. You can arrange to hang the pictures on the walls and decorate the furnitures, after selecting the theme and color scheme of the room. Sometimes just replacing the dresser pulls and knobs can give a whole new look the the entire nursery.

Safety must come first when you outfit your child’s crib with baby bedding. To avoid suffocation, all soft items such as pillows and blankets should not be placed in the crib with your baby.  Also, the sheet must fit snugly on the mattress. Yes, they are adorable additions to the crib, but can also be a choking or suffocation hazard to your child. You should never let blankets or other bedding obstruct your baby’s breathing.

>Born out of historical events, moses baskets have been synonymous with safety and comfort for a new born baby. With such a long term reputation, you can hardly go wrong in choosing one of the many styles of the Moses Basket today to decorate the nursery. There are a lot of choices for baby moses basket such as choosing the color, hooded or unhooded, and even the size such as the max moses basket for longer use.

Why Use a Moses Basket?

There are four major reasons for using the basket made famous by Moses:

• Comfort and security of your baby
• Ease of keeping your baby close by your side
• Ease of transporting your baby between rooms and to the car
• Versatile once outgrown

The comfort and security of your newborn child is utmost in the mind of all parents. The coziness and warmth of a moses basket while wrapped snuggily is similar to being in mother’s womb for baby; this is a distinct advantage of the Moses Baskets available today over a big cold crib during these important first months of baby’s life.

Keeping close to mother while being warm and snuggled in is critical for the development of baby’s sense of trust in this exciting new world. Because moses baskets can be placed right in mom and dad’s bed room, they are super convenient and popular. You can purchase a rocking stand accessory with a coordinating skirt to keep the moses basket at eye level of beds and desks.

How could you possible handle baby as well when you are juggling between a million things? Doing four different things at once is no problem. You do that with ease. Juggling baby as well is just not quite what you had in mind. Lightweight moses baskets can increase your mobility around the house and outdoors with ease.

After 3 months when baby has outgrown the Moses Basket, rather than store it in the attic or give it away, use it for storing linens, or a home for all your stuffed animals.

How to Choose a Moses Basket

When shopping for a Moses Basket it is very important to test the strength of the fiber used for the weave. Wicker is slightly more higher priced but much stronger. The basket base of most moses baskets are made of palm or maize refined into woven fibers. You could go with lighter weight fiber baskets but long lasting wicker is much better looking.

Please note that carrying your baby in the basket is not recommended. Test the moses basket by holding only the handles and walking around with it. Make sure you have a firm hold on both handle straps of the moses basket before lifting with baby in it. Take baby out of the basket first if there is any doubt at all. A retailer we recommend with a wide selection of highly rated moses baskets is BlissLiving.com which also has a wide assortment of personalized gifts for mom and baby along with a lot of other designer nursery decor.

Less than a century ago the very act of traveling with a newborn  was a very tedious job. Travel was really burdensome if the journey required many miles of land travel on trains or possibly sea travel in ocean liners. While traveling was extremely traumatic for the adults, it was similarly and probably more unsettling for the infant in the party.

The wonderful thing these days is that you are able to pretty much forget about these types of concerns and your infant can safely travel with you and still feel the same as if he had never left the comforts of his home. This is all possible by using the BabyBjorn travel crib.

One of the most important environments that a infant quickly acclimates to and feels secure in is their crib. For many different reasons traveling can make a person feel quite disconcerted and become easily stressed out. This can be equally frequent in toddlers. Unable to sleep in the bed that they are used to, a baby could become just as unsettled as grownup travelers. Comfort is the major reason for which the Baby Bjorn travel crib is an exceptional travel companion for those long road trips across country.

The unit is so portable that every parent can easily put it out or pack it away in a snap. Transferring a Baby Bjorn crib is an uncomplicated task and is able to be performed in a matter of minutes. This product engineered by the Baby Bjorn company provides the utmost quality and the assurance of a sturdy product which will not be easily wrecked or broken. Since these cribs are engineered primarily for travel, the materials used to make these portable cribs are lightweight and consequently the cribs are able to be effortlessly transported.

If you have plans to travel soon then you might wish to earnestly think about the purchase of a portable baby crib, like the Baby Bjorn travel crib. You may easily bring it everywhere you go to, and the unit is able to be set up anywhere at any time.

When travelers ask about quality and durability they most often mention the BabyBjorn portable travel crib. You will feel secure in that traveling for you and your little one will be less frustrating and might be more fun with this exceptional piece of baby furniture in hand.

Parents and grandparents are always trying to find the best possible place to raise their children and grandchildren. It is important for a family to reside in a safe environment and for babies to grow up in a good neighborhood. Some places are better to raise children in than others. However, a lot of parents and grandparents do not have a way to move to the best places they can find because of their jobs, family ties, medical conditions, and so on.

One of the ways parents and grandparents can find the most appropriate place to live in is to look at the list of the top places to live in the United States. This well known list is published yearly by CNN/Money and Money magazine and it is called 100 Best Cities to Live in the United States. CNN/Money and Money magazine examines a large number of factors such as housing, median income, number of school, crime rates, air quality and come up with the top 100 places. When coming up with a place to bring up their children or grandchildren, parents and grandparents can refer to this list and decide which places are best suited for their situations.

Plymouth, Minnesota, ranks number one on the latest list of big cities to live. It has excellent schools, great jobs, affordable housing, low crime, an active outdoor culture, and much more. The city’s main school district is ranked among the top three in the state. For culture, Plymouth’s open-air amphitheater, the Hilde Performance Center, hosts numerous summer concerts. It is also near the Mall of America, the nation’s biggest mall. But, Plymouth, MN can get quite cold in the winter with temperature dropping to about F 3.7° in January.

If you prefer a city with a little higher temperature but not hot, then Overland Park Kansas has also consistently ranked in the top 10 of the list. Overland Park is located in the Kansas City Metropolitan area and has won many awards. Among many Overland Park City Awards is an award for being one of “The Best Places to Raise Your Kids in 2009”. There are lots of free places to visit in Overland Park and the majority of them are very good for kids. If you live in the area, you can find out from watching Overland Park news all about free, award winning, kids friendly events in the area.

There are plenty of cities on the CNN/Money and Money magazine’s list that families say are pretty close to perfect. But, it is up to parents and grandparents in charge to find the best places for their families to live in.