Mama Goose | Resale and consignment shop in Ithaca, NY

Spring is HERE. It’s official. It’s time to go bounding through the woods and remember why we all live here.

While you’re out there appreciating Mother Earth, treat her right! Avoid excess packaging by carrying your trail mix, water, sandwiches, and snacks in eco-friendly, reusable products. We’ve got all your snack-packing needs covered for your adventures through the wilderness this season! Check out these great new products for sustainable snacking:

Kid Basix Water Bottles

Get your daily dose of H2O with these stainless steel, leak-proof water bottles! Available in an 11oz sippy cup style, 12oz water bottle, and a new 16oz size for big kids (and Mamas!) They come in several snazzy colors to fit your style, and their wide mouth makes them easy to clean so you can use it for ages and ages. They could be the last water bottles you’ll ever need!

Itzy Ritzy Snack Bags

Quit re-washing your ziplock bags. In fact, quit buying them all together. Itzy Ritzy snack bags are machine washable and have a food-grade lining that is lead-free, phthalate-free, PVC-free, and BPA-free. They could also just be wiped clean when you’re doing your dishes. The zip-top closure and water-resistant interior keep any crumbs and drips securely inside. And, bonus, they’re adorable! And just because they’re FDA approved for food saftey doesn’t mean you should only use them for food. They make great pencil cases, change purses, travel packs, and more!

Green Sprouts Sippy Cups

Talk about being gentle on mother earth, these sippy cups are actually made from plants! Each box set includes three cups, three sippy lids, and one spill-proof travel lid. So, while your little one is scaling Buttermilk Falls, use that travel lid to keep everything else in their pack juice-free. Then switch to the sippy lid to drink in the view and a nice cran-apple blend with your little adventurer.

Green Sprouts Lunch Boxes

You’ll never want to pack a paper bagged lunch again once you meet these little guys! They’re super lightweight and durable so the kids will be able to use them for ages. Plus they coordinate perfectly with…

 Green Sprouts Bento Boxes

These compact bento boxes keep meals sealed, separated, and adorable until feeding time. They’re easy for toddlers to open on their own, but don’t come loose or jostle around in their packs. Perfect for outdoor day camps, trips to the beach, long hikes, anywhere snacks can go along with you!

Wherever your adventuring spirit takes you this season, be prepared!

We thought some of you crafty mama’s out there might be interested in this great new resource coming to our community. The Clay School is an emerging center where students of all ages will be able to learn directly from some of our areas most revered clay artists. Striving to be a place, “where community meets creativity”, they will be offering classes, workshops, and open studio hours starting in the Fall of this year. If you’re a budding potter, or have a child who might be, you can even take classes together! What a fun way to grow and learn something together! And it’s located right in town at the South Hill Business Campus on Rt. 96B.

That’s Julie in the stripes!

The Clay School is the brainchild of our dear friend, Julie Dean (in collaboration with several other local artist-teachers). Julie was a member of the Mama Goose team for years, starting way back when we were in our tiny store on Seneca St. Her artistic and entrepreneurial spirit were vital to making Mama Goose the store it is today. If you don’t know Julie or weren’t around the Goose when she worked here, you might recognize her as the designer of the custom Mama Goose tiles that line our current location. That’s just one of the many ways she made her mark here!

You can read all about The Clay School and even get a sneak peak at their up-coming class schedule on their website. If you think you might like to support this project, check out their Indiegogo page here.

Our own original works by Julie Dean.

When the time comes to cajole your new walker into their first pair of real shoes, consider these three elements: flexibility, breathability, and fit. A good soft-soled, highly flexible shoe allows your youngster to really feel the earth underneath them and work on their sense of balance. Experts recommend breathable fabrics like leather and canvas. As for fit, they should be loose enough to press your thumb down on the shoe in front of their biggest toe or slip your pinky behind their heel, but not so loose that your little escape artist can shimmy out of them.

If this seems confusing, we’re here to help! And we’ve done a lot of research and taken the guess work out of it for you. We love the See Kai Run brand and have been carrying them for years. They are specifically built with flexibility in mind and are available in both leather and canvas options. Plus, they’re so stinkin’ cute!!

Ohmygosh, sharks?!  TOO cute.

We’ve just received several new See Kai Run styles for spring if your little one is in the market for them! Stop by to peruse our selection in toddler sizes 3-9.

Prices range from $39.48-$50.00.

Mama Goose will be closed this Sunday, April 5th. If you’re looking for some fancy spring duds, be sure to come in any other day this week, 10am-6pm. We’ve got plenty to choose from!

We here at Mama Goose get pretty excited about spring. After a long winter of wool and fleece, we love filling our store with bright colors and great looks for the sunny seasons. And if you’ve ever been to our store, you know it’s big (4,000 square feet big) so we work diligently to stock it with stylish and sturdy in-season clothes for babies and kids (as well as maternity wear, books, toys and baby equipment). That’s where you Mamas come in. Every time you sell at Mama Goose, we get more fresh stock to roll out onto the sales floor. So comb through your kid’s closets this spring, and remember Mama Goose!

Selling with us is really pretty painless, and it feels great to get that unnecessary clutter out of your house. When choosing what to bring in, here are a couple of tips: You will receive the most money for your kids’ gently-used clothes when you bring current-season clothes at the top of the season. Right now we are super psyched about spring jackets, rain gear, crisp oxford shirts for boys, sun-dresses for girls, sturdy shorts, higher end sandals like Keens, and bathing suits in good condition.

We do know, however, that while you’re sorting, you’re likely to find great winter clothes that you know won’t fit next year. That’s why we are happy to take a look at quality out-of-season clothes as well. When we buy out-of-season clothes, we are a more selective and pay a little less. But we are always eager to take a look at quality winter boots, outerwear, and Halloween costumes.

If you’d like to learn more about how to sell at Mama Goose, read our How to Sell page and get crackin’ on those closets!

While it’s been blisteringly cold all winter, we’ve been staying warm and cozy here at Mama Goose. Our amazing customers make it easy for us to keep our spirits up despite the weather. We love being your excuse to get out of the house, do something nice for yourself and your family, and save a little money! Here are some highlights, and some of the friends we’ve made this past winter:

Don’t you wanna get in on the Goose fun??

Step 1) Come on down! We’re nestled in the heart of Ithaca’s West End with plenty of free parking in lots on both State St. and Seneca St.

Step 2) Save. Our 4,000 square foot store is loaded with quality second hand kid’s clothes, maternity fashions, baby equipment, books, and toys, all at a fraction of their retail value. AND you can sell us the gently used items your kids have outgrown. Save even more when you get paid in Mama Goose store credit!

Our selection of gently used baby equipment typically sells for about half of the retail price!

We have new and used Ergo Baby Carriers, Happy Wraps, and assorted slings. We’re happy to answer any and all of your baby-wearing questions!

Right now we’re buying spring and summer clothes in all sizes. For more details on selling, check out our How To Sell page.

Step 3) Enjoy! This step tends to take care of itself. See for yourself!

We hope you visit us soon! We’re getting in tons of spring merchandise every day so stop in often. And, in addition to all the great new products we already have, we’re expecting shipments of rain boots, water bottles, spring scarves for Mamas, and more!

Thanks for all the love this winter!

-The Geese at the Goose

Another 6 weeks of winter, huh? Well that’s no surprise around here. Luckily, the change of seasons is a great time to shop and sell. Why? Because we’re up to our ear muffs in sales right now! So many things are on sale that we can hardly keep track. So here’s a nifty little list for you:

• Jeans, fleece, and corduroy 20% off
• Women’s Accessories 20% off
• Snow Stoppers gloves and Newberry Mittens 30% off
• Wigwams socks 25% off

And then, all of a sudden, Valentine’s Day will be here!

Will you be our Valentine? Spring buying begins February 14th! Brush off those short sleeves, rain boots, spring jackets, and spring dresses and make a date with Mama Goose! Get more details about selling with us here.

Looking for a cute Valentine’s Day craft to do with the kids? Get inspired by these cute and simple crafts!

It can be difficult to find children’s books and games that you can actually learn from and enjoy, too. That’s why we’re so excited about Barefoot Books! Their games and stories are so well-thought out, cleverly written, and beautifully illustrated, that you might find yourself getting caught up in the magic, too.

There’s a book or activity for every age, every interest. Dinosaurs? Got it. Princesses? Check. Greek epics, medieval legends, fairy tales, and monsters? Obviously. Perhaps your family is full of world travelers? Check out the Children of the World memory game where you will learn to say “hello” in 36 different languages! The Barefoot Books World Atlas is almost literally bursting at the seams with pop-out factoids and pictures. Even the board books for your littlest goslings are cleverly illustrated and delightful to read. Want a more hands-on learning experience? We carry Barefoot Books origami kits, Yoga activity cards, puzzles, and more!

There’s a real buzz around Mama Goose about these new products from Avital’s Apiaries. Why’s that? Because they harness the power of bees!

Owner Lesli Sagan has three apiaries in Ithaca and Lansing that provide her with honey to spare. Did you know that honey is a natural humectant? That means it draws moisture into itself. What a perfect feature for skin care products! We are now carrying her Lotion Bar (pictured to the left with the bee stamp), Body Butter, all-purpose balm, bath fizzies, and lip balms. All of her products are 100% natural, made from beeswax, shea butter, mango butter and more. She only ever uses natural perfumes and dyes so you know they’re safe for you,  your family, and the planet.

And this stuff really works. Our entire staff has been swarming around the sample testers. They last forever, leave your skin feeling natural and hydrated-never oily, and are just fragrant enough without being overwhelming.  Lesli recommends the all-purpose balm for baby’s drool rash. And she’d know because she’s a mama herself. In fact, the business is named after her young daughter. How sweet! And the fizzies make bath time fun while softening the water and soothing baby’s skin (or yours!). The oatmeal honey fizzies are particularly good for dry Ithacan winter skin.

Want to know more about Lesli and Avital’s Apiaries? Check out her blog.

There are a ton of options for how to carry your baby. Of course, there’s the old fashioned way if you have the strength of the hulk and can get through your entire day without using your hands… Or there are baby wraps. But even then, how do you find the right one for you?

We are proud to be the first retailer in Central New York to introduce Happy Wraps! They are made from super-soft organic bamboo, non-toxic dyes, and are 100% USA made. They are naturally anti-bacterial, hypoallergenic, and completely machine washable. The 4-way stretch fabric allows for comfortable discreet nursing and is safe for even the lightest preemies and newborns. And also, they look so trendy! There’s no reason your baby can’t be the love of your life AND your cutest accessory. We carry them in several vibrant colors to fit any taste. If you are expecting, stop by the store and try one out today! There is still time to sneak it onto your Christmas list.