December 2009 - Page 3 of 3

Christmas is Coming…

December 5, 2009 By Paola 3 Comments

The air is buzzing with excitement (the Minx) and panic (moi).

The enormous Advent calendar stuffed full of tantalising little packages, which was sent by the Minx’s lovely godparents, is hanging up and revealing its secrets.

Christmas decorations courtesy of the Minx (with help from me on the actual cutting) are starting to go up

(for real proper grown up snowflakes check out Uncle Beefy, take a look at this incredible gallery of real snowflakes or make some on your computer here – the Minx and I have been having tons of fun with this little program and there’s no little tiny bits of paper to clear up afterwards).

New papier mache baubles from Crate & Barrel are on display.

And the snowflake garland I’ve been crocheting for the fireplace is now finished, blocked and ready to be starched and hung.

We’ve got a fun and festive weekend lined up. Our friend is visiting from Victoria and tomorrow we’re going to decorate the tree, do some Christmas baking, hopefully get to Urban Craft Uprising, go to a party in the evening, and then off, weather permitting, to Leavenworth on Sunday.

I hope you’re all less panicked than I am. What special things are you doing for the holidays?

Contemporary Dolls House – the Lundby Stockholm

December 4, 2009 By Paola 1 Comment

One of things I like best about Facebook is how it lets you tap into your friends’ collective brains for ideas. Having reached a bit of an impasse on contemporary dolls houses – either too expensive, too not available in the US, too discontinued or too babyish, I made a plea on Facebook as a last resort before buying something a little more traditional.

Eliza Truitt, Seattle photographer extraordinaire, mentioned how much she’d enjoyed playing with her Lundby dolls house as a child, which she thought was still being produced. A quick search online revealed this, the Lundby Stockholm, an extremely desirable residence with lights (I would have KILLED for a light up dolls house as a child), two decks and a swimming pool in a drawer.

The absolute coolest thing is all the fabulous furniture which is available. Come and have a look around.

Lundby is a Swedish company that has been going since 1947. They make two other houses, each with their own furniture and lights, though you can also swap furniture between the houses. (I see the Gotland summer house in the Minx’s future). There’s even fabulous vintage furniture available on Ebay.

Lundby stuff is available in the US at Cheeky Monkeys, but it is ferociously expensive. A better bet is to do as I did and buy from the UK. Lundby stuff can be found on Amazon.co.uk though they won’t ship the actual house to the US. I ended up buying a ton of furniture from Creative Toy Den here. There’s even an Lundby advent calendar with dolls clothes, accessories and Christmas decorations for the house which I am itching to buy.

So that’s me sorted for Christmas then. If she’s very, very lucky, I might even let the Minx play with it occasionally.

Abigail*Ryan Homewares

December 4, 2009 By Paola 1 Comment

Our favourite jewellista Abigail Percy and her beau Ryan Bell of Chick Stud Earrings fame have been working day and night (at least according to their Facebook status updates) on their new range of home textiles, based on Abigail’s stunning botanical drawings.

Their beautiful and unusual teatowels and scatter cushions are made from 100% cotton or 100% Pure Irish Linen, hand printed in the UK and hand-sewn in the duo’s Belfast design studio.

I love the colours they’ve used and they’ve done a fantastic job with the styling the images as well. Definitely thinking about getting some of these in the shop after Christmas. In the meantime they’re available online from Abigail*Ryan.

Contemporary Dolls Houses – The Ones We Didn’t Get

December 1, 2009 By Paola 4 Comments

Shhhh. Don’t tell the Minx but ~~I’ve~~ Santa’s been shopping for a dolls house for her. Although I know full well that at the moment she would be most happy with some horrific Barbie affair, I wanted to get her something a more funky and cool, that she would appreciate more as she grew older. And let’s face it, this present is just as much for me as it is for her.

So the last few days I’ve been surfing round the rather exciting world of modern dolls houses.

Here are the ones I didn’t end up getting.

Bozart Kaleidoscope

Designed Laurie Simmons for PMW Architects. I have wanted one of these ever since I first saw them but for some unfathomable reason they’ve been discontinued and are now only available on Ebay if you’re lucky. I may still have to buy one for myself one day.

Minimii Arne Jacobsen House

Minimii was founded by a Danish design duo who were looking for a contemporary dolls house and decided to build one based on Arne Jacobsen’s own villa in Charlottenlund.

The company will also be producing mini Arne Jacobsen furniture. Unfortunately the products are not yet available (due early 2010 and it looks from their website like they may be horrifically expensive).

The Dolls House Emporium – Ocean Drive

For a brief moment we considered braving the huge shipping costs and buying this from the UK. Fortunately it is not available to ship the US.

Plan Toys Green Dollhouse

Somewhat less esoteric is this dolls house which features its own wind turbine, solar panel and recycling bins. Not that the Minx would have any clue what to do with these features. We did consider this one, but in the end decided that, while it would be perfect for her now, it might seem a bit babyish in a couple of years.

We got something else in the end. I am beyond excited about it. Seriously and not sarcastically. More tomorrow.

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