News Edition
Fairtrade Felt Decorations
If you're one of our lovely local customers yon't won't have failed to notice our beautiful selection of festive Fairtrade felt decorations filling our Christmas windows and on display throughout the shop too.
With several hundred designs from hanging tree decorations and stockings to beautiful wreaths and garlands, there really is something for everyone, whether you're a staunch traditionalist or are on the lookout for something super quirky this Christmas.
Tender Leaf - Wonderful Wooden Toys
Stocking Fillers
As a child, the most exciting part of Christmas was to wake up (at about 3am naturally) and find a stocking filled with little gifts at the bottom of my bed, “He’s been!” I would squeal before spending the next hour excitedly picking through the treasures Santa had left for me.
Fast forward to 2019 and the traditional tangerine in the toe of the stocking remains. The stocking itself is a fair bit smaller in size but filled with beautiful gifts that will last for years rather than the day.
In truth I could fill a stocking ten times over just from the bits we sell in-store! The final contents are still a work a progress but some of my absolute must-haves follow…
French toymakers Vilac have been producing heirloom toys for well over 100 years and their kaleidoscopes, telescopes and twisting acrobats are the perfect shape and size for stockings, for the more musically inclined the sweet animal maracas would make a wonderful addition.
Sonny Angel dolls are a hit with children and adult collectors alike and in the 2019 limited edition Christmas series they are wearing the cutest woolly jumpers, hats and mittens! We also have the Flower, Vegetable, Fruit, Animal, Caribbean and New York series as well as the Birthday special edition. Blind boxed, you could receive any one of the designs in any given series or, if you’re really lucky, one of the special secret versions!
We have been collecting Schleich figures for several years now and they get played with most days. Founded in 1935 Schleich is one of the most prolific toy manufacturers in Germany, famed for their realistic animal figures. We have a huge collection of farm and wild animals at home already already so all eyes are on the hand painted fantasy Bayala collection this Christmas and their beautiful unicorns and Pegasi.
Meri Meri make the most adorable hair slides, necklaces, stickers and temporary tattoos, both Christmas themed and beyond. They make for a fun and really inexpensive stocking addition. 
A more recent tradition here is to include a Christmas tree decoration in the stocking, Felt So Good and Amica make the most gorgeous hanging decs, Fairtrade and handmade in Nepal. The Felt So Good Seagull is predictably one of the best-sellers at our Brighton store but it will be the Sloth in a Santa hat wending its way to our house this Christmas.
I do of course have to include the one thing stocking sized that found its way into the letter to Santa. Maileg is a Danish brand of charming characters with the most beautiful attention to detail. The pocket size mice are particularly beautiful and amongst our expansive collection of characters and accessories you can find some Christmas themed cuties including the Fairy Little Sister Mouse with detachable wings, available in assorted colours and priced at just £15.
All of these gorgeous items (and many more besides) can be found both online and in our Brighton store, nestled amongst lots of beautiful independent retailers in Brighton’s North Laine. Well worth a Christmas shopping visit if you can find the time.
Ingela's World - Retro Perfection
We are so in love with Sweden-based illustrator Ingela P Arrhenius at the moment. Her beautiful illustrations ooze 50's and 60's retro simplicity and she has a knack for creating the most adorable characters.
The "Where's Mr and Mrs" animal series takes your youngest ones on a colourful hide-and-seek adventure. Whether you choose to journey through a garden with Mrs Ladybird, a forest with Mr Owl, a jungle with Mr Lion or a farmyard with Mrs Hen you will be sure to meet lots of cute characters along your way.
Once little hands are more developed Main Street Magic more than lives up to its name. Visit the bakery, fish market, hair salon, museum, and circus, lifting flaps to make extraordinary discoveries as you wander through this small town. Peer through the die-cut windows of the bakery to admire its mouthwatering croissants, then lift the gatefold to waltz inside where there are additional flaps and wonderful delicacies to discover.
Ingela's collaboration with the French toy makers Vilac is something special and from our range of beautifully designed and crafted wooden toys that include building/stacking toys and skipping ropes, the pull-along toys have to be amongst our favourites. In a hotly contested competition between the hen, the astronaut and the elephant, the musical hen and chick is our in-house winner (we may or may not have been swayed by the fact it plays the can-can!).
There's always room to squeeze one more toy in the stocking and our final addition this year is going to be one of these fun kaleidoscopes though we keep flip-flopping about which one to choose!
Every year we dream of a white Christmas and every year we've been disappointed! Here in the UK Glasgow is currently looking like a snow-lovers best bet with odds as high as 2-1, in Brighton we're taking no chances and if its another wet one we will at least be taking shelter with Vilac's stylish children's umbrellas. The space themed brolly with a gorgeous wooden astronaut handle is our little ones favourite though the cat and bear are equally adorable.
Indulge yourself further with a look at our complete collection here or come visit our beautiful store in the heart of Brighton's North Laine area.