Lilbird

I saw Lilbird on a the Metro Mum web site a while ago and thought that's cute, but it wasn’t until I was sent a sample I realised how special these are.

If you are looking for an irresistible baby gift, these are well worth a look.

Lilbird arrives in a complimentary box with their signature papier-mâché egg packaged with a satin ribbon and delicately nestled in its own paper nest, and with a beautiful onesie, tutu, singlet or long sleeve tee inside.

Bamboletta Dolls

What happened to simple dolls that let children be children? Not dolls that come in bikini and high heels with enough make up to make them look like ladies of the night.

That's why its so refreshing to come across Bamboletta dolls. These are the most beautiful dolls I have seen, and the minute I saw these Steiner inspired dolls I knew I had to order one for my daughter.

They are just so beautiful from the way they look, to the incredible love and care and attention to detail given to each doll. Christina is the amazing lady that makes these dolls, she is a stay at home mum who lives in the woods on the west coast of Canada, her hubby is master head maker and fabric cutter and her Granny does the knitting for the dolls clothes.

You can buy dolls from their etsy web site (more dolls will be available from September) or order a custom made doll through the Bamboletta web site (maybe made to look like the child you are giving it to).

The dolls faces are embroidered with a sweet, simple expression inspired by Waldorf philosophy . They encourage children to engage in open play, reflecting back to the child whatever emotion is timely and appropriate, whether happy, sad, or somewhere between.

New Choices for the Stokke Tripp Trapp

From October 2008, the Stokke Tripp Trapp will add a few more choices to their range.

The Tripp Trapp, (which has been around for 36 years!) continues to expand the choices it gives parents with an even larger choice of colours to choose from (this time from eight to twelve).

With the introduction of the yellow, green, grey and pink versions of the Tripp Trapp highchair, Stokke not only succumbs to popular demand, but also incorporates future trends.

Pink is sure to be a best seller for families with little girls.

If the opportunities for playing with the new chair colours isn´t enough, the freedom of expression is enhanced even further with six new cushions in retro, playful and classic designs, with the possibility of choosing between mono colours, stripes, dots, denim and animals to fit your chair or home.

Tripp Trapp chair in 4 new premium colours: pink, grey, yellow & green.
RRP $359.95 (incl GST)

New cushions for Tripp Trapp:
RRP $74.95 (incl GST)

Il Tutto - Stylish Bags for Mums

These days there really is a wonderful selection when it comes to stylish nappy bags for Mums. So it is rare for me to blog about one unless I see something that really catches my eye.

Il Tutto offer gorgeous practical bags for the stylish conscious mum, and they are an exciting new Australian brand.

Il Tutto Means ‘everything' in Italian, Il Tutto handbags have been designed to hold literally ‘everything'.

Stylish celebrity mums such as Cate Blanchett and Sarah Murdoch each own a gorgeous Il Tutto bag.

All Il Tutto nappy bags are made from Italian nappa leather, come with a waterproof change mat, Insulated bottle holder and a zip top purse for wet items. They all feature a gorgeous printed lining that can be removed for washing or when you want to use your bag for its obvious purpose.

You can buy Il Tutto bags online or at various speciality retailers around Australia.

Depending on the bag you choose they retail from $399.00

New from Stokke

Stokke is releasing some new products onto the Australian market from October this year.

Firstly Stokke's popular Sleepi, as well as the Stokke Care changing table and Stokke Keep storage system, all made of beechwood, will be available in a grey. Giving parents an even bigger choice when it comes to deciding which colour they will choose for their child's nursery.

Grey is proving to be the next "it" colour for nursery furniture, keep your eyes open as you will be sure to see other brands release their furniture in this colour soon.

One of the most common questions I am asked about the Stokke Tripp Trapp is "does it have a tray?" Stokkes philosophy for not including a tray on the high chair is to encourage the child to eat at the dinner table with the family, encouraging the family to bond, develop language skills and social skills. There fore I do not think they will ever bring out a tray that attaches onto the Tripp Trapp. However Stokke is releasing the new Table Top in October, and it will retail for RRP of $139.95 inc. GST.

This innovative new design attaches firmly onto the family dinner table so that your child can sit, enjoy and connect with you and the rest of the family. Stokke Table Top is not only convenient when it comes to eating, it can also be used whilst playing, learning and sharing at the family table.
Stokke Table Top does not contain bisphenol-a (BPA), phthales or any other potentially dangerous chemicals.

Just for Boys

Although the world of buying for children has expanded rapidly, and there are so many more choices these days when it comes to choosing products, fashion and accessories, it can still be a challenge to find really cool stuff for boys.

Now there is a web site dedicated to dressing and accessorising the little man in your life.

Just for Boys have an amazing selection of fashion and accessories dedicated to boys only.

They have a great fashion selection, t-shirts with slogans such as "I'm only doing this until my band gets signed" and "AC DC for those about to rock", and they stock true religion jeans.

What I really love though is their accessories . The camouflage baby bottle and sippy cup are too cool for school. They have even thought of the little things for boys such as dummies by Elodie Details.

Being the Mum of a boy, there is a lot I like from the Just for Boys site. Also check out their shoe selection for boys (of course!)

Fairy Door

Not all fairies like to live in the garden. Some are metropolitan dwellers who take to suburban homes and apartment buildings. But how do they get there and where do they live? Well, if you want fairies to enter your home, you need to install a fairy door and we have just the ticket! Fairy doors can only be opened inwards using Fairy magic and if they are forced open the fairies will see this as a break and enter and will flee to safer pastures. (read more on the Monkeytail and Wellington web site)

These fairy doors are something I know many little girls and boys would love (note to self: add this to Christmas list). It would be sure to tickle their imagination.

Each door created is unique and one of a kind, they will even create a door that matches the colour and style of your home.

I would like to welcome onto the scene Monkeytail and Wellington, I saw their web site for the first time last night and it is outstanding. They have some absolutely fabulous products, owner Vicki has struck deals with individual artists to supply designs exclusively for Monkeytail and Wellington and she has some one off designer pieces that you will not find anywhere else.

The Fairy door retails for $45

YiAhn Bassinet

There is a real trend towards convertible baby furniture, and this product called Yiahn aims to please parents who love this concept.

YiAhn is not only a normal bassinet; when the baby outgrows his bassinet, it can also be used for storage such as a toy bin and a mini bookshelf with drawers. As the baby becomes a child, it can convert into a set of a chair and a table for children. It can also be used as a bassinet again, if the family has a second baby.

YiAhn Bassinet is made out of Plyboo®. Plyboo is a term for laminated bamboo plywood which is made from 100% rapidly renewable bamboo, using adhesives that are both strong and low-emitting. Plyboo® plywood is a unique green alternative in the sheet goods industry.

Dimensions: 31" H x 39" W x 17" D. Materials: Plyboo® bamboo plywood, stainless steel, chrome metal. Mattress: 2" thick, high density foam, fire and moisture resistant.

This bassinet was designed and made by a Dad for his baby named YiAhn. The design and building of this product is a love story from a Dad to his baby.

Before I became a dad, I wanted to do something for my baby and decided to design and make a bassinet for my baby. I wished to make a bassinet that fulfills a functional purpose but should also serve the wants and needs of my growing baby. I found problems with research of existing products. A bassinet is one of the most important pieces of furniture for newborn babies. But as babies grow, they usually outgrow their bassinet in three months. After that time, it is a useless object and is also too expensive to use for such a short period of time. To set a reasonable price of the bassinet as a manufacturer, the restricted level of production cost has limited the improvement of the products' quality. I made an effort to solve the problems. The bassinet was designed to meet the needs of each phase of my growing baby. The bassinet can be used for many years by transforming into storage, chair, and table. I completed to build up the bassinet and my baby, YiAhn is sleeping in the bassinet now.

April 2007 MIN KANG

As far as I can tell this product is not yet available for retail sale, however it did win the Red Dot design award for 2008, so I am sure it wont be long before we will see it available.

Stamp, Trace and Learn to Print!

My daughter is currently learning to write her name, and I am continually dotting the letters in her name on paper for her to trace over.

So when I saw these stamps that you can personalise with your child's name and your child just traces over the dots, I had to let you know about them.

With a large 'dotted' font children can stamp their own name on paper, colouring pages, artwork etc. which allows them to trace the letters of their name.

Three custom options let you indicate your child's name, select ink colour, choose whether you would prefer ALL CAPITALS or Lower Case.

These stamps are child safe and the eco-friendly ink lasts for thousands of impressions and is a water based, washable ink that easily washes off little hands.

RRP - USD$24.95

Bilibo - Limited only by Imagination!

My children and I went to a playground this afternoon with some friends, and there was a grass hill which they had enormous fun rolling down.

The award winning Bilibo would have been great for them to use sliding down the hill.

Bilibo encourages children to use their imaginations. The possibilities are endless; rock in it, spin in it, sit in it, hide under it. Turn it over and it becomes a turtle shell. Children can use the Bilibo as a bucket or a seat. They can lift their hands and feet in the air and see how long they can balance. The Bilibo is so simple it gets little minds ticking immediately.

The Bilibo was developed by Swiss designer, Alex Hochstrasser, in collaboration with childhood development experts from the University Children’s Hospital in Zurich. The shell shape and bright colours invite a wide range of interpretations and encourage children to invent their own games, providing hours of open-ended play, which is vital for a child’s social development and imagination.

With no sounds, no lights and no batteries, just imagination plus.

The Bilibo is made from high-density polyethylene which is non-toxic, shock and fade resistant and is 100% recyclable.

Colour choices are green, blue, red, yellow, orange and pink.

RRP is $39.