70 colours from Muji

Ooooooooh colours! These pens are SO desirable... nice fat shape, good for being gripped by small hands and just so many colours. I want them in my life! Yours from our friends at Muji for the ridiculously good price of GPB14.95... how can you resist?

Haunted house countdown calendar

So sad... I'd just found the perfect gift for my north American friend who, being stuck down in here in the southern hemisphere, was missing the enthusiastic celebration of Halloween but too late! Its all sold out... boooo! I was also pretty excited about having found another way to get the advent calendar concept into other parts of the year... I mean, why don't all calendars have doors with cool pictures behind them? Anyway... I decided to post about it anyway so you can bombard Spoon Sisters and get them to restock.

Rustic wooden storage box on wheels

I've just moved in to a new house and the decorating is almost finished... so now I get to do the fun stuff, like picking out new toy boxes! This one is certainly a lot more stylish than the giant coloured plastic baskets we've been using up until now. It's not even crazily priced... but it is in the UK which is about as far away from my house as you can get. I wonder if I could make one... hmmmm. I'll investigate and get back to you....

Wing boots!

Oh yes... These are as awesome as they look. Magic boots! Enough to make me wish I was little again so I could wear them myself. Difficult to decide which colour to get... would both be excessive? Cleverly they have velcro fastenings at the side to make them super easy to get on. If being the focus of envious looks from your parent and baby group is a motivation to you these boots from Chickpea Kid are sure to do the trick.

Constructive eating utensils set

I have some experience of having a fussy eater child... she seems to be improving now but for a while there was a lot of coaxing going on during meal times. I found it so difficult to maintain my sunny disposition when every lovingly prepared dish would be rejected with a little shake of the head... sometimes without it even being tasted! Aaaaargh! It's programmed in me now to perk up when I spot some device that might make meal times easier. These construction styled utensils caught my eye the other day... pretty appealing I think. I'm even tempted to use them myself....

Candela Luau night light

I think this just might be the ultimate in night lights... cordless, whimsical shape, portable... perfect! It even has a dimmer switch! Buuuut... it has an imperfect price tag... coming in at way over $300 this is not cheap. So, lets put this in the luxury-gifts-from-generous-doting-grandparents pile, huh? It's stocked on the excellent Where Did You Get That site... definitely worth a look.

Birthday candles

I'm in the planning stages for the first birthday party for my daughter and I'm obsessed with all things birthday-related at the moment. I'm loving these candles that burn with coloured flames. Amazing! I was thinking about having a colour-themed party for my daughter and these are pretty tempting. There's even a down under stockist... bonus!

Sharon Montrose prints

I love these prints by Sharon Montrose... I'm looking for pictures to go on the nursery walls in our new house. We move in a few weeks! So rather than delve into the serious business of packing or arranging for the utilities to be transferred I'm thinking about fun things... like decor! There are so many choices out there but these are pretty high up on my shortlist. I like the idea of having real animals on the walls and am thinking about a triptych along one wall... I think it could work! Now... I suppose I should look for some packing boxes.

Voila giant dollhouse

Alert! Alert! Attention grandparents and wealthy philanthropists... this is what my little one wants for her birthday. Well, its what I want anyway... I saw it last weekend in the Edex toy store on Thorndon Quay in Wellington. It's a huge doll house... completely made of wood and containing the most incredibly detailed furniture. Its made by Thai company, Voila and is uber stylish. It's so big your wee ones can actually climb through it and while its not cheap if you look at it as a family heirloom piece it starts to look fairly reasonable... So come on grandparents... don't you just love it?

Fairy door

Do you have a wee one who is entranced by all things fairy-like? Then check out this amazing fairy door! I love this idea... a teeny tiny door you can quietly install at the bottom of a wall and see how long it takes for your little ones to find it. It's not a "doing" sort of toy... it doesn't open or make noise or anything like that. But it will inspire the imagination, I think. You could suggest they write a note to the fairies and then perhaps the fairies could leave gifts... You can design your door any way you like, choosing from a range of styles and colours. Each door comes with a little key and some fairy dust. It's ace!

Haba doctor's kit

What child doesn't want to play doctors at some point? I think this might be the perfect doctor's kit... everything about it super sweet. I particularly like the little tube of ointment... I have visions of my wee one wrapping us all in bandages. It's so much better than the usual plastic versions I think I'll have to grab one, although knowing my daughter she will be absorbed by the case and ignore the contents.

Fairytale magic glasses

Looking at Vogue for inspiration is probably not very sensible... everything is a bit on the pricey side but I did find these rather perfect water glasses by Japanese design company D-bros. They feature fairytale images which look almost 3D when filled with water. Only for the older kids I think as you might get a bit peeved if your toddler threw one of these A$75 glasses on the floor.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds singing toys

I'm back! Finally I have returned... leaving the UK summer for the cold, cold New Zealand winter. I'm glad to be back but blimey its cold!

So this post is about the last great thing I spotted before I left the UK... we went to the Tate Modern for a wander and on the way in we passed the RSPB folks - they had their telescopes trained on the turbine tower where a peregrine falcon has been nesting for quite some time. They sell these amazing singing soft toys... the peregrine falcon is cuddle worthy and makes an authentic squawk when squeezed. It's a fairly intense noise... I think I prefer the robin. They have all the british birds you can think of and would make great gifts for the new babies in your life. They are amazingly reasonably priced... you could get a set!

Stuff Your Doodle artwork

Is your fridge door covered in your little one's fantastic artwork? Perhaps one of them stands out and you'd like to immortalise it somehow... This is where Stuff Your Doodle comes in. Take your favourite drawing and send it off to these guys and they will make a stuffed real life version of the doodle. They make a point of saying that legally speaking they are not toys... I suppose this is to do with the production, I'm not sure. But they certainly look great. Chcek out the before and after images of this little green number.

Cox and Cox love heart sugar cubes

If you've ever thought about planning a sugar and spice themed birthday party at some point let me direct you to the perfect sugar component. Cox and Cox have produced these little love heart sugar cubes as part of their wedding range but I think they'll do very well for my daughter's first birthday which is going to be an afternoon tea. I'm so intrigued about how they're made... I'd love to have a go.

Bold and Noble nature prints

I want one of these SO much... Bold and Noble have created these very desirable prints of leaves from British trees and outlines of various British birds. As a British ex-pat living in New Zealand I really like the idea of introducing this small slice of Britain into my daughter's life. Ideally I would put them side by side with kiwi plant and bird versions if I could find them, but no luck so far. A gap in the market all you budding designers.

Do Frame tape

OK... so this is not strictly a baby or child-related product but it's SO cool... It is instant framing tape and my idea is to put up some photos and prints in the wee one's bedroom along one wall and use this excellent faux-gilt frame tape around their edges... I think it will look pretty cool. There are some very smart people out there, huh?

Working cable car model from the Design Museum

So... still in London and I find I'm coming across far too many gorgeous things to fit in my suitcase... like this amazing working cable car from the Design Museum. Back home in Wellington I get the cable car up to my house from the city centre... it's a great way to travel, as long as you time your trip to avoid all the school kids and tourists. I think this would make a great addition to the nursery... it could travel up and down across the wall... perhaps I have room after all. Hmmmm.

Sugarloop artwork

How many prints can I fit on the nursery wall? Probably not as many as I think... I've come across these lovely prints to brighten up a room... this artwork is produced by Auckland based artist Bernadette Sipkes aka Sugarloop and comes in excellent bright colours featuring cool stylized animals and jungle scenes. Buy NZ made!

Sibis Villa

If you haven't seen Sibis toys before prepare to fall a little in love... they're not cheap... not even vaguely cheap but they're soooo lovely. There's a whole range of fantastic things... sledges, cool bikes with caravan style trailers and then there's the villa... A simply amazing dollshouse... I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. I still really like the older style doll houses but this modern number could sway me I think. The hefty price tag covers the house, furntiture, garden, pool and, get this, poolhouse... you know you're dealing with the high end products when your house comes with it's own guest pad... impressive. Anyway... it's a thing of beauty... and destined to be played with by the grownups as well as the children. I've put in on my wishlist!