No Brainer of The Month

I just found this and it is, hands down, my new absolute ultimate recommendation for a new baby gift. Available now in a whole rainbow of colours from the completely edible baby boutique Tuppence & Crumble for £19.95. It's completely out of this world! 

Enough said.

Babies Who Lunch & Birds Who Fly

I just bought one of these Totseats £24.00 for a friend who is expecting her baby early next month. It's the sort of invaluable thing whose use you can only really appreciate AFTER you've had a baby which is why it is such a vital gift. Available in a range of lively fabrics and fitting almost any chair, this portable pack away highchair just slots into your baby bag. Put down that layette set and cuddly toy! This is the sort of thing a new mum really needs. And I was particularly pleased that I got this little beauty for a complete bargain through a half price offer on family deal site LittleBird. I've only been a subscriber for a couple of months and I've already used them twice. This is twice more than I've used a similar (discretion, valour etc.) site in the past two years! (I mean - how many electrolysis sessions and eyelash extensions does a girl really need!) A lot of their deals are confined geographically to the London region but not all - such as subscriptions and shopping offers. Anyway, I'm a fan and heartily recommend checking them out. Bon appetit!

On the 19th Day of Christmas...

It is astounding how quickly children grow up and once they are standing, it's fun to keep track of their progress. My dad used to mark the height of my brother and I on the doorway to the kitchen with a biro. They've just had a refit but those little scratchy marks and dates are still there - a little piece of family history. This Davy Dragon Height Chart £31.00 from Kid's Rooms is a beautifully conceived decoration for the nursery or playroom to help chart their progress. It is made from fabric, attaches like a hanging to the wall and has little fabric picture frames that mark the latest height of each child that you can put a photograph in. Perfect as a christmas, birthday or new baby gift that will last for years. 

Stocking Fillers 17

How cute? Why not stuff a stocking with this Blue & Red Rose Coathanger £4.20 from This Is Pretty. I met someone once who (quite vehemently) believed that padded hangers were the work of the devil and I could never understand why. Obviously some are nicer than others (pastel yellow, crocheted and smelling of mothballs are a no-no of course) but who could say that this child-size hanger isn't cute as a button and wouldn't look so smart with a pretty dress hanging from it in a wardrobe or on the back of the nursery door. It would also make a lovely present for a 1st birthday or new baby. 

Stocking Fillers 15

Completely scrumptious. This Breakfast Menu Tray £12.00 from Jelly & Blancmange is a lovely toy for a small child. I'm a big fan of traditional wooden toys and there's something about the smoothness and roundness of these pieces that is particularly eye-catching - I love the cheese! The Jelly & Blancmange site is choc-full of good quality festive accessories, tradional toys and magic party bag fillers so go and have a wander around. I know twelve quid might be a bit steep for the stocking but I reckon individually wrapped they'd take up quite a bit of room and it'll kickstart the training for when the little darlings are old enough to start serving you breakfast in bed (which is when...roughly...by the way?)

On the 15th Day of Christmas...

So cute. My daughter was given this little Owl Holdall £13.75 by my aunt for her first birthday. It's great because she is getting interested in everything and she simply loves the opportunity to empty my handbag. Now I just fill it full of interesting things from the nursery, kitchen and bathroom and watch her go. I've trawled the internet for them and most places seem to be sold out but I found some available at Bazaar Barnstaple and Amazon do them as well but at almost twice the price and even they are running low on stock so they must be very popular. I particularly love the design of the holdall because the neck of the bag is narrower than the rest of it so even if it gets up-ended, you won't end up with absolutely everything on the floor in Tesco. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Stocking fillers 10

Here's a nice thing to find in your stocking. This pretty "Little Star" Children's Mug £7.50 is from a collection by Jamie Oliver at lovely online gift emporium It's Darling. I have something like this in mind for my little 12-month old who is currently 'practising' drinking out of a cup. Who knew? She has rejected almost every sippy cup on the market and prefers good old porcelain china like her mamma. She also seems to be really getting into tea (very weak and decaff, of course!) Altogether, she's a chip off the old-ish block. All she has to do now is figure out how to drink without waterboarding herself and, for this, perhaps a smaller mug will help. Baby steps! 

What's it going to be?

It's my baby girl's first birthday next week so it's a pretty happy time. I've just finished putting the finishing touches on her cake and I'm thinking about presents. I did, by the way, buy the 'Ma Little Princesse' hanger I mentioned in my post Scandi Baby Chic and it's gorgeous.  This time last year I was going slowly bonkers wondering if she was ever going to arrive. We didn't know she would be a girl so we didn't really buy her any clothes other than white babygro's before she was born. I did want her to have an outfit to travel home in style in though - very important for that all important 'home from the hospital' shot. I found this gorgeous Cashmere Pullover & Bootees Set £32.00 from Little Hooligan who sell their beautiful range of baby clothes on NotOnTheHighStreet.com. This was my first present to my own beautiful (and as it turns out not so) little hooligan and, since she arrived in the middle of a snowdrift, most appropriate for braving the icy temperatures outside the sweltering maternity ward. Here she is in all her 3-day old glory wearing the pullover and stripey trousers by Olive & Moss. I can't see the same trousers amongst their range anymore but there are lots of lovely similar designs on their website. Hat, snood and rose brooch by me. If you are handy with the needles and want to buy this for a new baby, you could do what I did and make a little corsage suitable for either a boy or a girl (I had a little knitted bee ready for a boy) so that the mum can attach the appropriate one when she puts it on the baby. I made the attachment out of sticky velcro to avoid having any pins in the nursery. Happy Birthday, little A. 

Scandi Baby Chic

A couple of days ago I mentioned one of my favourite gifts from when I had my baby last year and the good news is that I've finally tracked them down. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Danish company that makes them, Maileg, doesn't have an online store and, at this time, no retail outlets in the UK. I can only locate their shops in Scandinavia and North America. This makes sense now because Catherine's husband is in fact half-Danish and they make frequent trips to the country. Anyway, I thought it would be nice so put these wooden hangers on the blog because they really are exquisite. I've never found anything that comes close to their design or shape. According to their website, it looks as though Maileg products may shortly be available on a new website called Scandi Chic which is currently under construction. However, I notice that some of their lovely range of toys and accessories are currently available at Sister's Guild including this similar one (£5.50) below which is equally lovely. 

I look forward to seeing what other products will become available when Scandi Chic goes live and will keep this page posted with updates.