I grew up surrounded by beautiful fabrics. My mother is still an avid
sewer and every time I travel to her place in the country,
we peruse her overflowing cupboards
and make wonderful combinations for quilts. I'd like to add to her
collection a few metres of the new release fabrics offered by
Sprout Design
on their newly launched and very luscious
website. You can buy the bedding for your children's rooms and the
fabric is available by the metre, so the sky is the limit with how you
use
the look. The Skipping Boy in black, and the Skipping Girl in red would
be my personal picks - the innocence and joy contained in these
prints are just
irrestistible! Those with boy/girl twins, or with boy and girl siblings
sharing a room, can finally co-ordinate the bedlinen!
There are many more to choose from such as turtles, giraffes,
caterpillars, elephants, fish and of course Skipping Boy's sister,
Skipping Girl. Selected patterns and
colourways are available in the bedding ranges, which are teamed with
Sprout's spot fabrics and some denim for contrast.
The prints remind me
of Scandiavian fabrics of the Seventies, featuring a bold repeated
animal pattern. It's rare to have a
chocolate brown option - teamed with lighter tones of latte and cream,
this would make for a most unusual and tranquil child's room that
still has that fun element.
What a wonderful labyrinth Sprout's site is, filled with Australian
designed and made goodies - from cards, to dresses,
tees and bags, all done in their signature prints. It's a one-stop-shop
for a full bedroom makeover, with all of the hard work done
for you. There's wall art that co-ordinates with the bedding and
cushions in three different sizes. Lampshades in the dotty fabric will
polish off the room perfectly!
Sprout is also conscious of the environmental footprint of the
goods they sell. All tees are organic cotton, cards are made from
recycled
cardstock, screen printing is water-based, and most of the raw
materials are sourced from within Australia. We're so excited to see
such talent launching with such a beautiful and eco-friendly range.
Sprout Design will ship all over Australia and internationally.
Bed sets are $250, tees start at $35 and are available in sizes from 000 to 6, and fabric from $38.50 - plus post.
You know what it’s like. You have a baby. You get a baby book. And you fill in that first page with incredible gusto and commitment. Then in between all the feeds and nappy changes and sleepless nights, you forget to fill in the rest.
Well, it’s time to wave goodbye to your mummy guilt because Babyology has found just the thing. The Once-A-Year Book from Laikonik is just that. A gorgeously whimsical keepsake for baby that only needs to be filled in once a year. We promise it’ll take you less than five minutes. Hooray!
The book folds out concertina-style to let you build a record of your child’s life from birth to 18 years. There’s a page for your favourite photo from each year plus room alongside to record the important bits and pieces that happened. How easy is that? If I start now, I’ll have a wonderfully personal memento to give to my Isobel on her 18th birthday... in 2026!
It could be the East European in me but I’m also loving designer Kasia Jacquot’s Polish folk art-inspired designs that are carefully screen-printed on the cover of every book. And in this age of mass-produced everything, it’s nice to know that the Once-A-Year book is made by hand. It even comes with a sweet little felt bag for safekeeping that’s also hand-sewn.
The Once-A-Year Book is available online for $75 from Dragonfly Toys.
One thing I've notice in my cyber shopping travels is that most wall decals I've seen in the marketplace are targeted at the 0-5 year old age set. This I believe is what sets One Up Wall Graphics apart from the rest... they design wall decals for both children and adults.
I'd have no concerns at all about sticking the Ants or the Alien Attack sets up in my nine year old son's room (and I'm sure he wouldn't either!). Better yet, I get to choose my own colours to match the rest of his room - yes you can even customise your own wall decals (on some designs you can choose from up to 30 colours!) how cool is that!? For myself I'd choose the Sputnik Chandelier for that strange spot in my kitchen that needs filling, but have never decided what with... yes that Sputnik would fit the bill nicely!
The One Up Design wall decals are made from an extremely thin, self adhesive film that's easy to put up by yourself and without any threat to your walls. Prices start from as low as US$12 for a set of six elephants and international shipping to Australia is very reasonable! You can purchase direct from the One Up Wall Graphics webstore, or alternatively, from Etsy. What an easy and inexpensive way to brighten up any room - how long can you resist?
We came accross Kideko in January this year and we love their designs. It's now your turn to get involved in designing their next range.
Kideko has invited children of all ages to help create ideas for their next product range.
“Calling all creative kiddies” invites children to design their own bedset for the chance to win Kideko products and buckets of coloured "smencils". With a shortlist of workshopped ideas presented as thought starters, everything from sunglasses to camping has been offered as inspiration.
Children are encouraged to be as creative as possible, and to use any materials – paints, pencils, crayons or anything else they can think of. Tech-savvy young artists can even render their idea in digital format.
With entries closing on 15 October, it’s an exciting and fun opportunity that’ll prompt kids to get busy over the Spring school holidays.
Kideko is owned and run by Sydney mother Shelley Mason. Offering kids and their design-conscious parents a bright alternative to bedroom style, the Kideko range was launched in 2007 and has already attracted great interest within Australian and international markets.
I just had to pass on this terrific list of the 26 most disturbing "kids" movies ever. At least five of my favourite films are on that list, so I'm not sure what that says about me.
