Because of all the traveling H and I have been doing lately, we have really been trying to find great ‘busy’ activities for H to do independently. I kept seeing super cute ideas on Pinterest for felt board play, so when Carrie of While They Slept and I connected, I was really excited.
There are a few things I love in particular about While They Slept’s shop – first off, its a mama run business. You know I love to support my fellow female run small businesses, but, if I’m being super honest, there’s a little extra love in it for me when they are mama run. I love knowing my dollars are going to support their family time, whether it be a special vacation, maybe a night out to ice creams for everyone, helping to finance ballet or soccer practices, etc. I also love that the adorable hand made felt piece play sets start at only $12.99, meaning they are very budget friendly, and more accessible to families like myself who are living on one income. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Carrie is such a sweet woman, and has so much obvious love for what she does as well.
Please make sure to head over and check out While They Slept‘s etsy shop, and if you find something you know a special kiddo in your life would love, make sure to use code “DARLINGFANS” to save 20% off your order!
Carrie is the owner of While They Slept, a small business specializing in felt story pieces and travel flannel boards. She began creating felt story pieces for her own children as a way to offer them new, interesting ways to play and learn. Carrie loved felt play herself when she was a child, and knew that the multi-sensory play would be a hit with her own children as well. What started as a hobby that was also a great creative outlet for her, had the added bonus of giving her children something new to play with. It didn’t become a business until Carrie’s friends and family began asking her to make sets for their children as well!
The name “While They Slept” is a reflection of when Carrie does her work… while her children sleep. Early on, when it was still a hobby, she would show my husband what she created during nap time and the conversation would always start with “I did this while they slept.” When it was time to choose a business name “While They Slept” seemed to be the best fit.
Carrie’s children are the inspiration behind the business and behind each set. As their interests change and evolve, she tries to create new sets to keep up with them. They keep Carrie on her toes both in life and in business and her 3 year old son always has special requests.
No doubt about it, Carrie has always always always had an interest and love for crafting. She has always enjoyed challenging herself to see what she is capable of making and has always found crafting to be somewhat of a coping mechanism and a way to relax.
Being a mom, a wife and a business owner is difficult, and balance is still tough for Carrie. Finding time is definitely her biggest challenge. She has a long list of story sets she wants to create and big goals for the shop, but that list gets put on the back burner often. Her children are still very young (3 and 14 months) so they demand a lot of her time. Carrie is, of course, happy to give it to them but that means that her work only gets done during nap time and after they go to bed.
When Carrie is not busy running While They Slept, we could probably find her playing in the backyard, at the beach (they live in south Florida), spending time with family, or trying out new restaurants with my husband. Although she is not much of a singer, and you’d never find her trying out for The Voice, if she could sing, she would probably pick “The Story” by Brandi Carlile. It is one of Carrie’s favorite songs and it was even played at her wedding (which is awesome, because it is one of my favorites as well and I made sure its was played at our wedding as well! It must have been fate that we ‘meet’!)
When I gave H the option to look through all of While They Slept’s felt play options, he had the hardest time choosing between them all – because they are all so perfectly right up his toddler alley! Like H, Carries favorites are the “Dinosaurs” felt play set because it was a special request from her son who is totally into dinosaur everything right now, but she also really loves the “Farm Animals” felt play set, which is the one we ended up going with. Carrie’s daughter is just starting to identify animals and loves all the goofy sounds mommy makes when they play with that one (which happens to be one of H’s favorite reasons to play with our Farm Animal felt play set as well!). The “Counting Cupcakes” and “Matching Letters” felt play sets are also favorites just because of the educational value they have.
Carrie would love for you all to know that she is just happy to be here and excited to be on this little journey of growing her business. She is quite passionate about play and it’s value to children. Play is where a child learns about themselves and the world around them. To be part of that play, in any way, is a great honor to her, and she thanks everyone for all their support!
Because Carrie is super amazing and awesomesauce, she has offered not one but TWO amazing goodies for all of you. First off, if you’d like to pick up something from While They Slept‘s etsy shop, make sure to use code “DARLINGFANS” to save 20% off your order!
Secondly, we’ve teamed up to give away a $15 shop credit to one of YOU to be used on anything in While They Slept’s wonderful felt play shop! If you want an additional entry, find this giveaway image on my Instagram for more ways to win!
I love that. It's like the colorforms I had when I was a kid.
I'm squealing this is so damn adorable. What a great crafting activity.
Such a cute board. These are great for gifts!
That's definitely a good learning tool for toddlers and I'm glad that behind it is a dedicated mom! She's so admirable and I hope her business becomes more successful!
Awesome cute play board. Nice giveaway too! Truly great!
The board is so cute! Thanks for the discount 🙂
Whatever happened to colorforms? Those were so cool. This is nice too.
I have such a soft spot for felt sets like that. I would totally buy all these up!
Awesome giveaway for a fantastic Etsy shop! Kudos to them for making wonderful toys that are fun and educational!
What an awesome giveaway. Your little guy is adorable.
What a fantastic giveaway this shop is pretty neat thanks for sharing!
I would love to have the Felt Animals Set for my son!
Thank You for the chance
Fiona N
The board is so cute and cool! Thank you for the idea.
What a fantastic board, perfect for kids! Great giveaway too 🙂
I wish this play set was around when my boys were little!
such a fun and creative idea…looks like he's enjoying them! Thanks for sharing.
I remember having something similar to this when I was a kid that was made up of felt pieces! I used to love it!
Such a cute and creative felt story board. I could see my young niece loving this for her birthday.
Such a cute busy play activity for little ones. Great giveaway too!
I've always wanted to do those things but I just didn't have the creative juice. I can only cross stitch, diamond paint, and the like. Those look awesome!
I love felt sets like that. I would totally buy all these! Love it!
I have something kind of like this at my grandma's house, It is so much fun.
This would be great for my three-year-old nieces