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Smoochie Baby is turning 15! Yes, you heard that right! On Saturday, May 4th we are gearing up to celebrate 15 wonderful years at 110 Berry Street. Please stop by the store from 10am - 7pm for a sip and shop event with freebies from Molo, Bobo Choses, & OMY, a  raffle to win a $50 Smoochie Baby Gift Card, & 15% off storewide! Enjoy live music with Kyle Tigges, face-painting by Nicole, & a coloring station from 2pm - 4pm! This event is not to miss!

Celebrating Community 

In light of this amazing milestone at our boutique, we would like to thank the community that has made our existence possible… Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been our home for the last 15 years. As you all know, this neighborhood is filled with wonderful small businesses from doggy daycares, to kids clothing stores, bakeries, and everything in between. This reason in particular has made having a storefront in this area so special. Shopping locally is one of our core values here at Smoochie Baby and for our 15th birthday, we want nothing more than to share with you the benefits of supporting local as we reflect on 15 amazing years in Williamsburg.

Sustainability

Smoochie Baby has always had a mission of being as sustainable a business as possible. This is done in many ways such as encouraging the use of tote bags for shoppers instead of single-use bags and carrying brands that have a mutual understanding of sustainability (like Candy Lab, Flap Happy, and Pepita & Me). When shopping with local businesses like ours, you can feel better about your carbon footprint when making purchases. Fast fashion brands are some of the largest polluters on earth with the UNEP even stating that fast fashion brands make up 8% of global carbon emissions. Here at Smoochie Baby we aim to leave our planet better than we found it for our next generation. With a storefront outside of urban sprawl, we encourage walking from store to store in the neighborhood to lessen pollutants and explore other small businesses that can be found here!

Promoting the Economy

Small businesses are a great way to stimulate the economy! Independently run and owned small businesses, such as ours, make up an extremely important sector of the economy. Local businesses encourage entrepreneurship on a local level and also open up jobs within the community. According to the Small Business Administration, “The 2019 Small Businesses Profiles show that small businesses added 1.8 million net new jobs in the United States.” Wow, that is a lot of jobs and those numbers only represent one country! Imagine what could be done on a global scale if local businesses were supported as much as your local chain store.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Finally, local businesses add variety and diversity to a community! It would be boring to shop at the same few stores every week with the same products. At Smoochie Baby we aim to bring creative, fun, and unique products to the families in our area and beyond. Whether this is through supporting other small local brands (like PiccoliNY) or importing them from around the world (such as Tiny Tribe), we are on a mission to bring as much personality and character to your children’s lives and wardrobe as possible…

In conclusion, we would like to thank everyone in our community for making the last 15 years possible! We wouldn't have been able to make it without the support of our customers, vendors, and neighbors. We look forward to this next chapter at Smoochie Baby and cannot wait to see what the future holds. We hope to see you all at our anniversary event on May 4! Come sip and celebrate another year in Williamsburg with us!

Happy Valentine's Day!

At Smoochie Baby the approach of February means one thing, Valentine's Day! This is the perfect time of year to show how much you care for your loved ones, but also a great time to get creative with your kids. Making valentines is a great way to spend a fun afternoon with your smoochers, and we have a couple tips and tricks on how to make them easy and sustainable! Make them and pass them out to family, friends, and teachers! It is an easy and lovely way to tell the people in your smoochers lives that you care.

Sweet Treats - DIY Lollipops

A way to make sustainable and adorable valentines is by making them edible! To create these easy valentines from local mom and influecer @brooklynfarmgirl, you only need a few supplies: red and pink jolly ranchers, popsicle sticks or fun straws, cute sprinkles, and parchment paper. Simply line a baking sheet with the parchment paper and place three jolly ranchers next to each other on the sheet (try mixing pink and red candies to achieve a marbled effect). Make sure to leave a few inches between the jolly ranchers as they will spread when they melt. Pop the lined baking sheet in the oven and watch them closely until they are melted. Immediately add a popsicle stick to each lollipop. Now this is the fun part! Get together your various sprinkles and decorations and allow your kids to get creative! You can even get eye sprinkles and make silly faces on each lollipop. Bundle two or three together with some ribbon and pass out these adorable lollipops to your friends and family! Find the orignal recipe here: https://brooklynfarmgirl.com/valentine-monster-lollipops-jolly-rancher-lollipops/ 

Get Personal - DIY Valentines

Valentines are always the most special when they are personalized for your special someone. With this amazing hack, every valentine you give out will remind your loved ones that your smoocher is thinking of them! First, start by taking a cute picture of your child holding their hand out to look like they are holding something. Once you get a shot you like, use a photo editing app (Snapseed is a good one) to add your desired text. Print as many copies of the photo as you want (the photos will be your valentine card)! Then, carefully cut two incisions with scissors or an X-Acto knife, on the top and bottom of the fist. Slide a lollipop through (perhaps the DIY ones you made above) to look like your child is handing it to their valentine. Finally, hand out these creative and delicious valentines that everyone is sure to love! Step by step reel by @tablefor5please here. 

Let Love Grow - DIY Plant Pots

Another fun project to do with your kids for Valentine's Day is to let love grow through potted plants! To make these simple and sustainable valentines all you need to do is head to your local plant shop with your kids and have them pick out a couple of plants they like (we like mini succulents as they are adorable and easy to care for). Make sure to buy a pack of clay pots and some potting soil as well. Bring your supplies home and set them aside. Assemble some materials like paints, markers, and heart stickers to decorate the pots. Customize them by adding the name of your individual valentine you are making it for! Once done with decorating, have the kids place some soil in each pot, add the plant and water them individually! It’s as easy as that! This is the perfect project to do with your kids and a great addition to any home. 

Here at Smoochie Baby we would like to wish you all a fabulous Valentine's Day filled with lots of sweets and hugs! Make sure to stop by the store for Valentine's Day clothing, accessories, and gifts (so much good stuff here) for your little valentines! If you get a chance to make any of the valentines we listed above make sure to post a photo on Instagram and tag us @smoochiebaby  so we can see your beautiful creations! Happy crafting!

"One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly."~ Andy Rooney

Running a local business is no small feat, especially in the age of the internet when we can order something and get it on our doorsteps almost instantaneously. Sometimes people seem to forget that small businesses form the core of our community. They provide spaces of camaraderie, familiarity, and warmth. So, in honor of Small Business Saturday we wanted to highlight some of our most cherished small businesses in Williamsburg. From markets, to doggy daycare, and hardware stores, Williamsburg is lucky to have a healthy and flourishing community of small businesses that really make the neighborhood what it is today. 

Aurora Hardware & Locksmith

In need of a spare key? Perhaps a lightbulb blew and you need to pick up a new one? Or maybe you are getting into gardening and want to get some nice pots and extra bags of soil? Aurora has you covered in all these areas and so much more! Having served the Brooklyn community for the last 30 years with their expertise, Aurora is really a one stop shop for all of your necessities for the home. This family run business is located right in the heart of Williamsburg, on Bedford Avenue. So make sure to go check them out next time you are in need of a screw or two!

Driggs Mercantile

Driggs Mercantile is a whimsical store where one can find artisan and locally made gifts and clothing. Their hand-curated selection of ephemera is hard to beat, featuring items like kids toys, textiles, tarot cards, jewelry, and stationery to name a few. Founded in 2017 by the same owners as Red Pearl on Bedford Avenue, this sister store has a completely different vibe. This boutique is an extremely calming space, with candles and crystals scattered throughout. It is the perfect spot to buy a birthday gift for a friend, or even goods to revamp your own home!

Le Doggie Cool

This doggy daycare center has it all! A place to board or leave your furry friend for a couple hours, you can trust that you are leaving your pet in great hands. It is clear that Le Doggie Cool’s entire staff loves and cares about animals, and treats them like they would their own family. Le Doggie Cool also provides grooming services and a coffee shop with treats for both you and your pup! On weekends it is open to the public, so you can go and play with the dogs on site, even if you don’t have one of your own. This small business truly is doggy heaven!

Williamsburg, and Brooklyn in general, is jam-packed with small businesses of all sorts! There are so many honorable mentions to name like Vittoria Mercato for their amazing sandwiches and goods for the kitchen and Northside Pharmacy which has been operating since 1910! So next time you need to shop for something, whether it be home goods or your prescription, consider visiting a local mom and pop instead of your big box stores. Small businesses really are the bread and butter of our community and all of our customers mean the world to us! So please go and check out your local businesses this Small Business Saturday!