H&M Rainforest Shower Curtains

This is not exactly a come back post, however I’ll write it anyway. Instead of closing down the curtain permanently to this blog I’m trying to reopen it – to some extent at least.

A couple of busy years have passed since my last post, and cannot promise any frequent updates, but I am very pleased that I remembered my password when I thought about this blog today.

H&M Rain Forest Shower Curtain

The updated Finnish maternity box is now out and that brought me back here (wrote about it back in 2012). Since then a lot has happened in my personal life but to cut the story short here I am waiting for a good old H&M delivery as I ordered their gorgeous rainforest shower curtains few days ago. I also signed up to their newsletter to enjoy an extra 20% off the price and free delivery.

It seems that not all of my house plants made it through the winter but these curtains are sure to add some green and forest like feel to any bath room!

H&M Rainforest Shower Curtain

Moomin Advent Calendar 2013

I’m repeating myself a little bit here, especially as I haven’t updated this blog for a year, BUT the Moomin Advent Calendar 2013 by Martinex is now out. I’m very tempted this year as the calendar is suitable for kids aged 3-8 years. I do think £20-£30 is quite a lot for a calendar, but my moomin hobby has never been kind to my purse. This image is from Lekmer, but after a quick browse I found the calendar available on Ebay too…

Another great and similar Scandi calendar option is the Lego calendar, although they seem to have boys’  and girls’ calendars separately (image from Lekmer) and they are aimed from a bit older kids from 5 years.

Estelle & Thild

I was on a business trip in Sweden recently and came across this lovely organic skin care range by Swedish Estelle & Thild at Ahlen’s department store.. First I was drawn to these products simply by the product design that looked quirky and fun, but I got really interested when I soon found out they are organic! There are many product lines and I’m now sampling Face Cream Neroli.

Based on just few days I think I’ll be soon also getting the night cream and their repairing oil complex also look very interesting!

In addition, there are baby & children’s products and mama to be products as well!

My skin type is typical mixed but also dry and I have struggled to find a good, reasonably priced product range, so I’m very excited about Estelle & Thild. The face cream comes in a pump jar and feels pleasant and absorbs quickly. It has a nice organic smell, nothing overpowering or too sweet. Estelle & Thild were founded in Stockholm, Sweden, and the inspiration has been the founders children, Estelle and Mathilde, who the initial product range was designed for.

Estelle & Thild products are free from parabens, mineral oils, alcohol, propylene glycol, colour, silicone and PEG – yippie!! In the UK Estelle & Thild is available in few shops including Urban Retreat.

Winter Clothes for Boys

Seeing as it is already snowing in the UK (and Finland) it was time to rush into the shops – including my own – to get MiniMoose sorted for the freezing conditions! Hatwise, we started from my moose…

Duns Sweden £14

Duns Sweden £14

Maxomorra £7.90

Maxomorra £7.90

For outdoor clothes, we head straight to PO.P

Wind & Water Proof Coat £65

Waterproof Suit £79

Another must destination for quality winter wear is Villervalla at Impkids!

Dots & Stars Baby Winter Overall £39.95

Padded Waterproof Winter Overall £78.95

Waterproof Padded Wintercoat £60.95

 

For shoes, we love Molo’s wellies and gloves at Nordic Kids.

Molo Rainbow Sejer Wellies £24.99

Molo £22.50

And whilst at it, we do love Molo’s snowboots and fleece at Kidsen:

Molo £29.95

Molo Driven Snowboots £29.95

Fiskars Village

On our trip to Finland last Summer, we visited the lovely little Fiskars village in the southern Finland. This is the place where the first pair of those orange handle Fiskars scissors were made! These days there are lots of little artists living and working here and nearby there are also summer cottages.

The village is pretty and there are little shops, museums, antique stalls and obviously Iittala outlet that is very Fiskars scissors orientated. A lovely river also runs through the village. This year also the village takes part in the Helsinki Design capital year with exhibitions. I’ll let the touristic photos speak for themselves and as for shopping destinations, Koppar and Iittala shops are not to be missed!

 

We ate at the Kuparipaja restaurant from a buffet table – in typical Finnish style kids pay according to their age and therefore our 2-yo’s lunch was in the region of €2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiskars village is best visited by car – there is a big free car park – but there is public transport from Helsinki too. There are lovely little b&b’s in the area such as the lovely b&b Villiruusu (=Wildrose).

Lundby Dolls House

These are the dolls houses that I remember from the 80s! Dating back to the 40s in fact, Swedish Lundby dolls houses are still very hip and happening. They were the first dolls houses to come with lights and their range of accessories is endless and very modern these days to say the least. The most popular type of a house has been the Gothenburg that was discontinued in 2006 and its updated version is known as Smaland nowadays. The other models are called Stockholm and Gotland, Stockholm being very modern and Gotland the country cottage.

Smaland Dolls House

Stockholm dolls house

Gotland dolls house

Lundby’s dolls houses are also ideal for some DIY action, especially if you have an old, a bit tired house, as the wallpapers are quickly updated with some cool wrapping paper or wall paper left overs – every room with a different type of course.

Lundby Bed Room Set

Lundby dolls houses and accessories can be found for example at Kidsen or on ebay!

There is also a downloadable Lundby lifestyle magazine for dolls house inspiration on Lundby’s home page.

Verso Design

One of the new brands (to me) I fell in love with on my recent trip to Finland was Verso Design. Established already in 1997 this Finnish Design company creates lovely interiors items made of felt. After quick search on the internet, Verso Design creations can be bought at Finnish Design Shop or Finnish Gifts. I got one of the ‘Marja’ trivets for my friend and the only problem was choosing the colour.

Marja Trivet by Verso Design

 

Marja trivet by Verso Design

 

 

Silmu Carpet by Verso Design

 

 

 

 

 

Finnish Plasto

I’ve been tractor shopping today for MiniMoose’s 2nd birthday. This is not an easy task as I’m a complete beginner when it comes to ‘vehicles’. Anyway, Finnish Plasto makes excellent plastic kids’ vehicles that are even pleasing to my eye! I can also remember Plasto’s toys from my childhood so therefore it’s even easier to shop these for MiniMoose.

Tractor with trencher and showel

Since MiniMoose has already got a ‘shoveldozer’ and a ‘truck’ (and we are struggling to fly with all this vehicle fleet) I decided to get a yellow ‘tractor with trencher and shovel’ as this wouldn’t be as massive as the ‘large tipper truck’ combined with a Digger that I originally planned.

Digger

Large Tipper Truck

All Plasto toys are made in Finland which is quite rare in my opinion as all the plastic toys seem to come from China these days. In addition to an extensive selection of vehicles and machines Plasto also makes beach toys or toys for sandbox play, kitchen toys and large sit on toys.

Pedal tractor with tipper

Sit On Digger

Dinner for 4

Set with Water Wheel

Set of sand moulds

Plasto toys (to some extent) are also available on Amazon.

Baby Bjorn Bib

I’ve found our Swedish Baby Bjorn soft bib again! A friend of mine gave me one last summer to try with MiniMoose. Back then, he hated it and furiously wanted to get rid of it, so we forgot about it and left it in Finland. Now, by chance, we tried it again, and have fallen in love with it.

Baby Bjorn Bib in blue

The bib is soft and comfortable (as it says on the Baby Bjorn website). It has an adjustable snap that allows the bib to grow with your child and a place (hole) where you can hang it dry (I just use the strap to hang it).

Baby Bjorn Bib in Green

The bib is ergonomically shaped, easy to clean, and probably the best thing is the spill pocket that stays ‘open’ and collects most of the mess. We still mop the walls, table and floor, but the front of the top stays dry and clean.

Baby Bjorn Bib – our eating scene doesn’t look this calm and collected, but you get the idea of the bib!

The bib is easy to rinse, and unlike traditional bibs, it doesn’t mold in the spill pocket (god knows how I get the bibs to mold in there…)

Lots of colours available and they seem to retail from Amazon etc at around £8-9. Brilliant!

Flea Markets

My not-so-subtle obsession are Finnish flea markets. Luckily, there are loads of them filled with gorgeous used children clothes, Iittala/Arabia plates etc, Marimekko fabrics, toys, books, furniture, hats – in short everything. There are car boot sale type flea markets, but more and more hall type of self service flea markets where the sellers hire a table and leave their stuff there with price tags on among other tables. Some of these are even specialized for children! Shopping is easy as you can hunt through all tables and when finished proceed to the till where usually also cards are accepted (dangerous!).

I usually look for children’s books (as these are expensive in book stores), toys (lots of brio – today saw a Dachshund for €4 and last week Brio stove for €25, plasto, lego etc) and children’s clothes (despite having my own shop – clearly need some therapy). I also keep my eye out for Iittala/Arabia glassware but usually sellers are aware of the value of rare moomin mugs – for example spotted a brown Nipsu mug this morning priced at €60 in a flea market! Other than that, estates usually dump homes into the flea markets and there are lots of old Arabia ware that offers a great starting point for collections or topping up existing collections!

Our recent finds have been Julia Donaldson ‘Hide and seek Pig’ book (in Finnish) for €0.50 and moomin laptop €12