I’m very excited by kiddley.com – the new blog from Claire Robertson who also writes the award-winning loobylu. It’s full of craft projects and other great ideas to keep kids entertained and I’m sure will be an invaluable resource when the Minx gets a little bit older (currently her idea of a good time is to festoon the bathroom with unravelled toilet rolls, which is not necessarily the sort of creativity that I’m keen to encourage). I have no idea how Claire finds the time to maintain both blogs, particularly as she is currently thirty eight weeks pregnant and should by rights be lounging on a chaise longue eating chocolate and complaining about her swollen ankles.
While we’re on the subject of kids’ stuff, Holly at Decor8 has just written a fab article listing some cool new products for babies and children. It is still really difficult nowadays to find beautifully-designed products for children that aren’t either made of primary-coloured plastic or smothered with cutesy pictures of rabbits and bears. I’ve been thinking for a long time of getting wonderfully-designed babies and childrens’ products onto mirror mirror, but I think that will have to wait until after we’ve launched the catalogue, moved to Seattle, started making money etc.
I am especially in love with the wonderful chairs by Jennifer DeLonge. The Minx is definitely getting one when we move to Seattle. The vintage patterns are fab – wonderful to find things which are bright and colourful but will happily fit into the most grown-up room.
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Jennifer DeLonge chairs |
Not sure the craft projects are compatible with a $400 chair, though presumably the swirly 1970s patterns would hide a multitude of sticky sins.
Can’t you just stick her in front of a video on the family sofa like the rest of us? 🙂
KNEW you would soon start to think about babies stuff on mirrormirror. 🙂 Why is it our little angels take over everything? On the odd day I set aside for myself for shopping, be it clothes, books, toiletries I ALWAYS end up browsing in the kids’ or toy department and buying something for them. Looks like mirrormirror will no longer be the adult haven it now is….
Camilla
xx
P>S Why is that godawful Shane Watson book STILL on your bedside table?!
Yes, but there’s a difference between buying things FOR children and buying things AT them, dontcha think? Tiny children invariably have execrable taste, and the average middle-class nursery shelf is stocked with tasteful designer toys that no child in its right mind would consider playing with. So in a sense, said angels aren’t taking over everything, nor are we being selfless in buying them all this stuff – it’s just a handy excuse to buy things we want ourselves, out of an idealised view of what we want our kids to want. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
How come you two always pop up when I start talking about babies?
Have been planning to add kids stuff to ‘mirror mirror’ since well before it launched, and before I got pregnant – it’s just going to take time to put together a proper little collection.
And yes, it will be aimed squarely at the parents rather than the children. I just don’t understand why all the paraphernalia associated with children should also be twee and taste-free when the children themselves don’t even notice it.
Things like changing bags, cot blankets, furniture, bibs and burp cloths don’t necessarily have to feature nauseating teddy bears. After all I’m the person who’s going to be carrying the bag, or incorporating the furniture into my decor.
But thanks for interesting input – am feeling both indignant and inspired now.
Pxx
The book is still on my bedside table because I haven’t been bothered to update it. But read a most magnificent book while in Tuscany which I will be reviewing in due course.
“How come you two always pop up when I start talking about babies?”
Possibly because we know a bit about these, but absolutely nothing about hand-knitted chairs?
Thrilled if our input added to the ‘indignant and inspired’ mood. It’s what we’re here for… 😉
Very much looking forward to review of magnificent book, but suspect it willl be of great intellectual rigour, and thus unsuitable for own hols.
Dxx
Er that came out wrong. I meant I’m indignant about the lack of good design for children…