Two shops that stock an astonishing array of ecclectic, unusual and enchanting gifts, party supplies, crafts and decor for the more particular child.
a random selection from the treasure trove at Mes Habits Cheris - (pictured above)
Lark - always full of vintage, cuteness and kitchness.
At Molly-Meg, design shop for childeren - adorable vintage style desk and chairs in a fantastic range of colors, by Les Gambettes.
wee gallery for all kinds of art specifically designed for babies. We like the wall chart picturedon the left.
becky bauer for fabulous cushions, card, ceramics and prints. top right
famille summerbelle for all kinds of cool decor, hand screened prints and papercuts. Check out their printed paper cut city maps here. So cool!
My son is not a morning boy. Sometimes to make the transition from dreams to daytime a little less abrupt he likes to have breakfast in bed. I love these boarding pass sheets by Jon Canell and ceramic breakfast set at un-i-k gifts
Molly-meg- the wonderful vintage children's chair shop has expanded into a full design shop for kids. I found the little children wall art there by Zoe de la Cases. Zoe is a French illustrator and designer with all kinds of lovely art. accessories and paper toys on her website. I love these paper dolls and tiny fold up paper shops.
The owl and pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat.....
Free papier mache boat pattern here from Ann Wood (or you can buy them ready made here)
Owl by Abigail Brown
We love Winter Water Factory and have used their designs in many of our shoots. They are having a great 30 percent off sale in their on line shop and have also brought out beuatiful bedding available at Land of Nod
Heath Ceramics is one of California's last remaining midcentury era potteries of dinnerware and tile. There online shop stocks their own products as well as many other homewares and table wares made by ethical and small scale producers. Heath Ceramics are bringing out a new range of bright and beautifully made and designed table wear and topys for kids. You can see the full range here.
If I was going to start another collection this is what I would choose. I love pretend play vintage toys.
toy telephone at Edmond (a great spot for all kinds of vintage treasures)
Glædelig jul is Merry Christmas in Danish- maybe I shoudld be typing it in Swedish...I am not sure. Either way these decorations give a lovely Scandinavian feel.
Waxed hand printed bunting by Mangle Prints
Nativity scene at Fjorn Scandinavian
Screen printed stockings from Jane Foster
Lights clockwise
MHY Pendant at Lightly
Garland at Habitat
OOOMY designs casette tapes lamp box
Scotty dog (and other animals) at Kido
Spring Blossom chandelier by Ted Boontje at Moss
cloth poppy has new accessories and decor in their shop!
My Little Day - the French party site- has just teamed up with Milk to produce a photo shoot of their perfect garden party. So sweet.
...but somehow these are so much more than that...
Pen Pencil Stencil is the studio and workspace of designer Mark Giglio.
Goosegrease - hand painted wooden dolls and wedding cake toppers by the sweetest girls in Brooklyn
My Bearded Pigeon has lovely organic pillows with printed maps from around the world. I love the New York one.
A map of london cut (yes hand cut!) out of a sheet of paper from Studiokmo. Karen has many other great map prints as well on her site.
Recently when my youngest is meant to be asleep he comes out, blinking in the light, to tell me that the owls in his room are scaring him. There are no owls, not even toy ones, but when I go in and shoo them away he falls straight to sleep. I am not sure why he became scared of owls, but we have been looking at pictures of some sweet and loveable owls to make them less frightening.
Here are some of the cutest owls-
Happy Owl by Matt Stephens
Owls in a tree by Helen Musslewhite. (check out all her paper work- it is amazing!)
Owl Pillow by Little Korboose
2 black owls by Olofsdaughter
The winners of the Nellystella giveaway are Flora (size8) Kati (size 6) and Staci (size 3). Lucky you! Please contact us with your details.
Four new (to me) illustrators I love. I think any one of these posters would look great in a kids room.
ABC poster by Deuz
Herd by Lee May Foster-Wilson
Tapdancing by Violet May
Collection of the Best by Hanna Mellin
Great little stuffed animals by Mirasa Design made using fair trade practises and by using Azo free dyes so they are eco friendly! Oh, and a portion of the proceeds from all purchases go to Room to Read, a non-profit that partners with local communities to establish libraries, construct schools, and provide education to girls.
p.s. the winner of the Nellystella Giveaway is comment no. 21 Congrats! Bethany!
If you don't live conveniently close to one of the wall muralists we featured last week but are still interested in a bespoke wall covering Little Hands might be just what you are looking for. Little Hands is the work of two Portuguese artists, Leonor and Marta. They have a huge catalog and can make any theme for any wall. They can even include personalised elements and names. The wallpaper arrives ready to go up and the image is designed to fit perfectly. We love how they look up on the wall!
Walls painted by the new Paris based company, Bartsch. Their current collection of murals are inspired by the cycle of the day. Twice a year they will add to their catalogue but will continue to be inspired by the seasons and colours of the natural world.
Some new work by New York based artist and muralist Ami Suma (who we have written about here.) The first image is Theo's room and the second image is from the lovely Yoya store in New York.
Stools from the forest, duvet covers, cushions, baby bedding, bins for storage- Livette La Suissette has thought of everything in their well designed, but minimal collection in blues, mustard yellows and muted prints topped with stars, silhouettes and owls. Well done!
A note was in our in-box this morning from Pauline, the proprietor of this beautiful French on line shop called Small-Secret-Store.com. Her shopped is stocked with well designed, ethically made and environmentally friendly objects and clothing for children. Stop in and take a look.
Advent Calendars are a great way to answer the "how many more days to Christmas" question. Here are four of our favorites, all reusable year after year. We have copied the stories of how these designs came about from each site - lovely little stories.
Sweet Petunia "Twenty five 2" x 2" boxes have been decorated with Christmas retro feeling paper, then numbered to help you count down the days to Christmas. They are ready to be filled with whatever your heart desires. The boxes are attached to hefty chipboard and hung with a ribbon. The lids are fully removable so if you want to mix up the days for more of a scavenger hunt you can. The last thing we need is more mass produced advent calendars going into landfills after this holiday season. I believe that this will become a lasting part of your families holiday tradition."
Happy Thoughts Pdf Pattern. Emails within 24 hours direct to your inbox! So stylish no one will know you were last minute! Check out their super cool Christmas garlands and reindeer decorations too.
Peppermint Pinwheels "When I was little, my family had a handmade advent calendar in the shape of a Christmas tree with little hooks on the branches and a special little toy that was hung on each hook every day until Christmas morning. I remember how exciting it was hanging up my toy, knowing every day I was one day closer to Christmas. This year, I decided to make a new advent calendar. This calendar is designed to look like festive holiday bunting, but each of the 25 pennant triangles is a fully lined, button enclosed pouch, perfect for small presents or candy."
Nouveau Design "I remember my family having an advent calendar while I was growing up and I was always so excited to open a new window each day in December until Christmas. I have decided to make my own, featuring my digital illustration of some shop fronts, inspired by the quaint little shops in Amsterdam. Windows and doors are numbered 1-25, and reveal a tiny symbol of Christmas behind each one.
This calendar is printed on thick watercolor paper, which gives a nice texture to the print and a substantive quality to the overall piece. The print is then mounted with strong adhesive spray to a white foam core board. I have tried to make this calendar sturdy enough to be used year after year and hopefully it can become an anticipated tradition during the holiday season."
Does your child
love switching things up in their room? Do you change the art work on
your walls with the seasons? Whatever the case may be, this weeks
giveaway is perfect for any room in your home.
It's no secret Small loves the beautiful Mae wall stickers made by Peta, Bec and Emily. Not only are the fabric choices perfectly sweet but the stickers are reusable too! They are designed with children in mind so they can be moved, rearranged, crumpled and, smoothed out and reused again and, again. The Studio of Mae also has some brilliant wrapping paper you can download for free. Fantastic, right? We also love the mini collection too!
This
weeks giveaway includes 1 large build a tree kit and 1 medium forest critters kit.
All you have to do is leave a comment telling us what you love about these
designs.
One reader will be picked at
random and notified by e-mail (please leave your email when you post
your comment!). The winners name will also be posted on the blog the following
Monday.
The talented illustrator and designer, Bess Harding from Beeb, is back with another fantastic craft project for you. This time she has come up with an adorable bird mobile- although you could probably use the idea to make customized ones featuring your child's favorite animals.
Don't forget to check out Bess' inspiring blog and website and of course her Etsy shop for her toys and illustrations.
A few eco-friendly items that have been catching our eye!
Organic Striped Dress by Serendipity
Big Whale Placemat and Circle of Life Plate by Smiling Planet
Green Recycled Chair by Starfish
Bird Wall Stickers by Love Mae
Lightning Tee By Acme
Organic Monkey by Franck & Fischer
From left to right:
Animal Wall Decal by Wow Wall
Owl Growth Chart by Anna Joyce
Heirloom Growth Chart by Miss Natalie
Screen Print Growth Chart by Bold & Noble
Lisa Murray has sent us a new craft project that we know you will love. You might remember her last craft project- a padded rug for the nursery. I saw this light box in her house and asked her to tell us how it was done. It requires some basic computer skills but once you have the photos you want to use you could probably find a friend in the know to do the layout for you.
How to make an ABC light box
You will need –
A digital camera
Indesign, Photoshop or Illustrator computer
software or any other computer program that allows you to import multiple
photos into an arrangement.
A baby or kid to appreciate the finished product!
Step 1:Take a trip to the city to photograph some typography.
Step 2: Create a grid within your computer program. After some
playing around, I found 5squares across and 6 down to be the best layout as it
keeps the letters in portrait format which means less cropping – much easier
for an amateur such as myself!
Step 3: Play around – import letters you like into the squares to
make up the alphabet. So many possibilities, it’s just a matter of choosing
which letters you think look best next to one another.
Step 4: I put a black background behind my alphabet so any mistakes
with alignment would be lost before printing. Save your file as a pdf &
send it to the printers to have made into a transparency, or film to fit your
light box.
Step 5: Open your light box and
position artwork, close light box and your done. Put it up in your child’s room
and find yourself getting excited over your ABC’s all over again!
Brooklyn Design Market is going on this weekend at St Ann's Warehouse, 38 Water Street in Dumbo. We went last year and it was a lot of fun and very inspirational. This year there will be a plenty of live music and a kids lounge featuring fun, functional, and fabulous childrens’ furniture by BKLYN DESIGNers. There will be crafts and free 100% biodegradable balloons for the kids. Some of the designers included are Colleen and Eric, Argington, Casakids (there is an interview with Roberto Gil in the last issue of Small) all pictured above. Pictured below is a sample of the funky and very bright wall paper from Flavor Paper, amazing furniture from Hugh Hayden and Katie Vitale and narrative wall paper from Grow House Grow.
image above: a child's drawing and the rug it was made into.
One of our readers, Nayla Ventura, just wrote to us about her new project. We thought it was such a great idea we wanted to share it with you. Nayla told us how she has always been a big carpet lover. 'I find it so
cozy warm to have my floors covered in “art” I or people I love made.' For her it
is like walking through memories. As she sees it 'people see their floors all the time, so why not make them
completely personal, just like we do with our walls?'
Nayla has arranged so anyone can order a
rug in the size and shape they want and, most importantly, in the
design they send in. Children's drawings make the most amazing carpets
(and not only for a children bedroom)! They can also choose between having
the rug pile all at one height or with several elements at a higher or lower
pile, which gives it a relief or a hollow effect. Their rug will be
handmade in the best New Zealand wool, only once and only for them. The
wool will be dyed especially for that one carpet in the colors of the
design and then handtufted following the drawing. About 10 weeks later, their completely customized carpet will arrive at their home. No child labor involved in any
part of the production process and this is certified by the Rugmark
Foundation.
Nayla is Spanish and now lives in Germany with her husband and baby girl, but Carpetzz
ships worldwide (and is also very reasonably priced!). We will definitely be getting one!
Wallpaper is a great way to make your kids room feel like it is their own. Here are three of our favorite wallpaper places.
Hygge and West new designs by Brooklyn based designer Emily Marie Cox
Mini Modern 'are you sitting comfortably?' Color me in wallpaper.
Isak feature wall paper. They also have very cute paper on the roll.
