Paper-Kit…

Hippos, rhinos, bears… in a tube. Paper-Kit DIY 'trophies' from an origami safari! Yes they come in a tube with instructions and glue but will probably need a rather large dose of patience and a steady hand to get them picture perfect… Maybe not for the under-fives, but I'd say they'd get the tweenager seal of approval. They certainly have ours. €24.95 from www.storewithoutahome.nl 


Happy Jackson...

Ok, so it's a bit early in our minds for 'Back-to-schoolology' but we're head over heels for Happy Jackson's quirky cool stationery that we'd almost pack up our sandwiches and head off to the bus stop! Inspired by doodlings of their pet pugs, Giles Andreae (a children's book author) and Heather Flynn (an illustrator) combined their talents to create this colourful, playful, funny but most of all practical range of  homewares and stationery. Our faves are the 'snacktastic' lunch boxes! See more here… www.happyjackson.com

Rainbow Party Time...

Somewhere over the party!! It's summer… and with three Leos in our house, that means it's Party-Time! Izzie's about to turn two, so our celebration thinking caps are on and one idea was a rainbow theme. She's since nixed that (apparently she wants a 'Bunny-Party') but the inspiration couldn't be stopped. So here's some of the lovelies I found perfect for a boy, girl, toddler, older kid, twin birthday - basically any type of party! There are some invite ideas, some decorations (we're loving the pin-wheel wall decor), yummy cakes with links to the rainbow cake recipe at the bottom, and some nice ideas to keep guests entertained. I'm loving the pots of crayons and colour-in wallpaper - pin it up to a wall indoors or out for at least ten minutes of peace! (see previous blog here for details) All in all a fabulous colourfest. Enjoy!

Lapin Lamps…

Happy Monday! These quirky Lapin Lamps from 'Lapin&Me' are guaranteed to brighten up any morning… even one as wet and wild as today! Made from moulded plastic and with a matt finish they're a fun nightlight for little people's room… They come in lots of different colours, from bright yellow to muted pastels. Definitely bunnies with attitude! Available from www.lapinandme.bigcartel.com 

Flowergirls…

If I were to do it all again…. I'd have a dozen flower girls just to dress them in these confections. Everything a little girl's party dress should be, these darlings from Il Gufo are a feast for the eyes. We LOVE the colour combinations and the shoes and styling are fabulous - it's like an Italian mixed-gelati for the eyes... Delicious!

Buy now from : http://petitchic.com - and shop quick as they're half price!

Superéditions…

Parisian based publishers Superéditions are behind one of the cleverest ideas we've seen in ages. Brilliant, quirky, funny and cool storybooks written by Sandra Lanilis but the pages around the words are left blank with the idea that you illustrate the story yourself! With titles like "What do extra-terrestrials do when they are on holidays?" and "The freaky King and Queen" they're a fun way to facilitate and encourage creativity and imagination! Printed on 100% cotton paper, they're a perfect present for book (or colouring) fans and will create memories and keepsakes to be treasured for years! Plus they won't break the bank… €8 each from www.livreaillustrer.com

Little Hands Illustration...

Portuguese duo Marta Belo and Leonor Feijó are the artists behind 'Little Hands Illustrations'. They create magical mural wallpapers for children's rooms that can be 'tailored' to your space - you can even include a phrase or a name for an extra special touch. Definitely heirlooms for walls! For more information check out http://2littlehands.blogspot.pt


Minty...

Here's a fresh colour idea we're loving for a nursery. Technically a 'gender neutral' colour, mint works brilliantly with a base of puttys or beiges. Mix it with coral, pale nude or hot pink for a girlie touch, or navy, yellow or grey for a more masculine feel! Muted or vivid it's our new favourite shade, especially for accent pieces like the chairs, mobiles and beds below! Minty cool...

Nostalgia...

We love a bit of nostalgia… a hark back to a simpler time before i-pads and Peppa Pig, so this beautiful range of children's clothes and toys from Argentinian company 'Fanny & Alexander' hits all the right notes. Hand carved wooden toys that in their own words are "beautiful, simple and enduring… and utterly analogue", gorgeous wool and leather clothes and shoes, and simple but stunning accessories for their spaces make up this perfectly curated range. They also have a brilliant little section of downloads for kids including these fantastic cut-out-and-play dress up dolls. They brought back so many lovely memories of rainy afternoons playing happily, but these dolls are far cooler than the ones I played with… download here and enjoy!



Colour-In Walls...

On the left - pricey but nicey Fornasetti wallpaper. Dream wall coverings for toilets the world over. On the right - Colour-In wallpaper for kids by Artful Kids. TODDLERS... DO NOT GET THEM MIXED UP!!!!! Seriously though, how much fun would a roll of his bring to a rainy summer afternoon, either on or off the wall ;0) Available from www.notonthehighstreet.com.

Those of you living in 'Toddler-Free' zones (not jealous at all)… you can find the Fornasetti wallpapers at Cole&Son

Pinboard Legomen...

A clever, clever, clever and really cute idea for a kid's bedroom. It's from an absolute 'blog-crush' of mine - www.sarahmstyle.ca and if you haven't seen this blog before, CLICK HERE NOW!!! It's bursting with amazing, creative ideas for decorating kids spaces (and the grown up ones that they tend to spill over into.) I'm in love with this brilliant idea to hold all the little important Lego-people in your little important people's lives. Izzie is fast developing the same type of Lego addiction I had when I was running around in short pants, so I absolutely understand how 'critical' it is for her to know where each and every teensy tiny 'friend' of hers is.... usually just before bed! And here's Sarah's fast, easy and 'so-cool-I-wish-I'd-thought-of-it' solution! Clipboard + Lego bricks + glue + little favourite people who would otherwise end up under the bed, lost in the carpet, or deserted under the sofa. Genius! 

For the full tutorial on how to make these boards, visit http://www.sarahmstyle.ca/2014/01/lets-get-crafty-lego-man-display.html 

 

RaFa-kids Furniture Design...

Simple, functional and beautiful…. this desk is  on our 'covet-list'. Agata and Arek Seredyn are the husband and wife architect team behind this brilliant design house. They decided to open shop when their boys (Robert and Frank) were born - hence the RaFa name which combines all their initials. They wanted high quality but good looking products for them and found it hard to find what they were looking for, so they made their own! The response was so positive with so many requests from others that they decided to open their own company… the rest is a very successful history. This is their latest offering - the 'K Desk'. Named after the shape of the legs, it's a beautiful and clever piece of furniture that will grow with your child. We love how the desk can be used open or shut. Open, you discover tonnes of storage for notebooks, pens, pencils, 'i-stuff' or just a hidey-hole for all the important bits and pieces of a little person's life… Closed, it's a sleek, smooth writing space perfect for homework, drawing treasure maps or just a bit of good old fashioned daydreaming. Hidden dampers make closing the desk a safe endeavour for little fingers and the fact that all the screws and connectors are hidden on the inside means you can fully appreciate the natural gorgeousness of the Finnish birch and plywood. Actually, I'm not sure this desk should just be reserved for little people! The desk, and all this brilliant range, is available on www.rafa-kids.com. Oh and Agata's blog is definitely worth a read too! 


Birdie Birdie Tweet Tweet...

So these are absolutely on the 'if-I-won-the-lotto' wish-list. These spectacularly whimsical lights designed by Mathieu Challières are just gorgeous. The 'Les Volières' (The Aviarys) lighting collection looks like little rainbow flocks of birds have made themselves at home in beautiful copper cages. Designed and made in France the lights nest little life-like birds made from real feathers in copper covered wire cylinders. They're not 'cheep'…. (sorry, bad pun)…. but they are completely feather fantastic! Have a look on Mathieu's site - www.challieres.com, or they are also available through The Conran Store. We're loving how this family used it in Violette's bedroom, the darker tones on the walls really make the colours of the birds pop! Check out the rest of their amazing house on www.thesocialitefamily.com.


Big Kid Mugs...

A nice cup of tea… who wouldn't want one? And they always taste better out of a proper mug. Cue the Big Tomato Company. Made from silky smooth porcelain, just the right thickness to make drinking a joy, and lots of funny, witticisms to choose from. (Or you can personalise your own if you can't find what you're looking for). We had a couple before Izzie came along - Home Sweet Home, Globetrotter, Legend etc so obviously couldn't resist this one when she finally made an appearance. Bought as a bit of a joke thinking she would use it when she was much bigger - turns out it's already her "favourite cup mama'! A miniature version of their adult mugs,  they're brilliant birthday present for kids, and the rest of the range are brilliant anything presents for big people! Buy them online at www.thebigtomatocompany.com or if you're in Dublin check some of the range out in Article in the Powerscourt Townhouse Center or www.articledublin.com. Time to put the kettle on…. Happy Saturday! 

Skirts… That Aren't Tutus….

We avoided it for nearly 20 months…. it came out of the blue, in a run of the mill, brown cardboard box. It has caused chaos. No, not a small puppy (although that's on her list too)…. not a year's supply of playdoh… which somedays would be preferable and easier to manage. Oh no, it's a TUTU! A pink, ruffly, polyester confection that is two sizes too big for her and inherited from her cousin. A tutu, which Izzie has insisted on wearing EVERYWHERE… over EVERYTHING… and let's just say isn't very happy when it has to be washed and disappears for a day (or two if I can wrangle it due to a disproportionately large avocado stain). The conversation the other evening went something like this "Ballet skirt Mama… where's my ballet skirt?", "In the wash Izzie"…. "Why Mama?"… "Because it looks like you rolled in chocolate covered avocado with a biscuit and beetroot coating in it"… (long pause while she looks suspiciously around the room)…. "Show me Mama.". She wasn't happy until I had retrieved said pink, brown, green and crumb covered item from the laundry to show her, promising it would be back soon after its lovely long bath. So thank you dear sister for turning my grey-jersey-covered-wellie-wearing tomboygirl into a pink, twirling tornado! However, having shared my plight by way of explanation for the state of my daughter over the past couple of weeks (and yes it has now been weeks), I find I'm not alone. So for all of you looking for 'alternative' ballet skirts here's a few that have passed the Izzie test… x

Firstly the offending article on an ice-cream break! 

Things you wouldn't see nowadays!

The 80's… Perma-tanned-permed people, stonewash denim, Miami-Vice roll-up-sleeves, Jane Fonda in lycra, shoulder pads to rival any quarterback worth his salt, potnoodles and Dynasty… Somethings will come right back into fashion, and then there are some things that are just so out of sync with our world today that they just seem downright wrong (none of the above fall into this category obviously) However, a sunbed for a Barbie?!?! Would it make it past the appropriateness censors these days? I'll admit when I found this lurking in a box of toys during a big clear out I had to ask myself how we ever thought this was ok! A brilliant article in the Huffington Post earlier this year by Jessica Samakow used flashback images of toys and characters from the 80's contrasted with their modern day manifestations to show how the toys our kids play with (especially girls) have become far more feminised (wide-eyed, pouted lips… PINKER) than the ones we had when we were younger… that article was fresh in my mind when I found 'The Sunbed'. How things have changed. Suddenly a little part of me is delighted Izzie's downstairs with the hammer from an Ikea kid's DIY kit...

IMG_8373.JPG


Thunderbolt...

Ok, so apart from the 'Don't put your fingers in those holes' dangers associated with live wires and plugs…. I reckon this is the best possible looking plug for a kid's room. Right… actually as I wrote that the risk averse mother in me screamed aloud and made me write this… "fantastic for a TEENAGER's bedroom"… NOT a kid's room… A TEENAGER… got it?? No kid's, no little fingers, no electrically-shocked hair - unless you actually want your child with an 80's perm to rival Lionel Ritchie on a bad day. So to recap - here is a brilliant multi-socket for a teenager's room : The Kikkerland UL05 Bolt Power Strip - available on amazon.com. LOVE IT!


Bird Watching...

Calling all swallow stalkers and warbler watchers… this is certainly the most amazing tree house I have ever come across. It was designed for the Ando Momofuku Center which dedicates itself to promoting and increasing access to nature activities in Japan. It's located in Komoro City in the Nagano Prefecture mountain region. Basically it's a tree house that can accommodate one person, and lots and lots of birds. The idea is that the birds enter and occupy one of the 78 nest spaces on one side of the house and on the other side there is a single entrance for a human who gets to observe the birds from inside the house.  Birdwatching doesn't get more up-close than this! 

All pictures via http://www.feeldesain.com/bird-apartment-by-nendo.html.

Photo Credits: Daici Ano and Masaya Yoshimura.

 

 

Sliding Down The Stairs...

When I was a little person (cue eighties background musak and bat-winged reversible jumpers) one of my absolute favourite things to do was to slide down the bannisters of our house… actually to slide down the bannisters of anyone's house. Roll forward 'Ahem' number of years and seeing this brilliant invention brought back all those lovely memories - and a vague confusion with a Google headquarters I read about somewhere?!?! Yes it's an Indoor Slide! Oh how wonderful - great idea - every home should have one! But who has room for that in our square footage squeezed economic times? Well Trisha Cleveland from Minneapolis thinks everyone with a stairs can fit one in. She submitted her brilliant idea to Quirky.com (a prototype website that tries to match inventors and developers) and I really hope she gets to have this made because I absolutely WANT one. Nothing to do with Izzie - I just want one for myself! Sliderider  is basically a unit made up of folding mats that covers a stairs to turn them into an indoor slide. It has side bumpers and a 'crash pad' for safety and it looks like the absolute perfect rainy day play thing… and not just for the little people! Good Luck Trisha - hope to see your Sliderider on shelves soon! 

Check out Trisha's project and its progress here (www.quirky.com/products/612-sliderider-the-inside-slide/timeline)


Walls by MUR…

If you're anything like me and love the idea of pattern in a child's room but have to make do with neutral walls because you're either a) renting, b) have a mild-wallpaper phobia or c) totally can't pick from all the amazing options for a blank wall and have decorating inertia… then MUR decals are absolutely for you… Think graphic shapes in a palette of amazing colours that won't damage your walls when you take them down or rearrange them! All you need (apart from a tendency towards OCD to help you put them up in a straight line) is available on their website - www.wallsbymur.com with tonnes of inspirational images from real-life projects on their Instagram account - http://instagram.com/wallsbymur. Our absolute favourites for little people are the gold dots and pink triangles - we'll be getting out our spirit level soon! 

Image Credits - 1. www.wallsbymur.com, 2 & 3. www.greenweddingshoes.com, 4&5. WallsByMur on Instagram