Why Didn’t I Think of That? A few years ago, Debra Carmody of Alpharetta became frustrated that her infant son kept kicking off his blanket while in the stroller. So she fashioned a baby poncho to fit over his head. “His father would take him for a walk and people would stop and ask where he got the blanket and he Debra Carmody would tell them I made it. Gradually, we realized we should turn it into a real product.” Last October, they launched Bonchos – The Better Baby Blanket. The Mommy Pendant was conceived –
literally – from the much more painful experience of childbirth. After two difficult years of trying to conceive, Jenna Nudelman of Sandy Springs wanted to celebrate the birth of her “miracle” daughter with a keepsake piece of jewelry. “I searched online Jenna Nudelman and in catalogs but could
only find novelty jewelry with pacifiers and baby shoes, or very expensive jewelry that we could not afford,” she says. Her husband, who is in the jewelry business, encouraged her to make it herself. “So I decided to design my own pendant inspired by the most precious moment I experienced during childbirth, cradling my darling daughter for the very first time. I then added a birthstone to commemorate her birthday and The Mommy Pendant was born.” Tina McCullough, a clay artist and owner with her husband of Blue Bell Gallery in Comer, 20 miles east of Athens, commemorated her nephew’s birth 10 years ago with a unique gift: a baby belly bowl, Tina McCullough cast from her sister’s shape during her third trimester. Over the years, she made a few more, when an expectant parent heard about the belly bowl by word-of-mouth. Then inspiration struck two years ago, in the form of a stunning photo one of those few clients sent to her, showing her newborn asleep in
Don’t Miss Atlanta’s
the bowl. McCullough realized she should actively market the bowls as Sweet Baby Belly Bowls. In the past two years, she’s created 10 to 15 a year, and the demand is growing. The ceramic clay bowl might include carvings, or family trees, or poems and scriptures, or a combination of those, in colors the parents choose. Usually, the baby’s name and date of birth is carved somewhere on the bowl or under the pedestal. “The belly bowls are as different as every little one that’s born,” she says, and they’re a beautiful piece of art for the baby’s family. After Kristi Gorinas’ fourth daughter was born in February 2007, she wanted a simple, portable seat and came up with the “Go & Grow Seat,” a seat she could move around the house or take to the beach, camping or to visit relatives, a seat that would grow with the child. With the strong support from her husband, Vyto, she started working on the idea, and at the same time, pursuing another idea: a purse with an “EZ-Wipe System” that allows a mom to reach into a zippered compartment in the bag with one hand and pull out a baby wipe. The purse was less complicated to manufacture, and came to market first, but both products have been a hit with busy moms.
BEST
Block Party!
Sat. October 13 Mercer University, Atlanta Campus
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50 Atlanta Parent September 2012
atlanta baby
atlantaparent.com