Annual Holiday Gift Guide

Are you one of those organized people who likes holiday shopping? Well, I know I like shopping, but I'm not so good on the organized part.

I love a good gift guide for inspiring ideas so have put together a few gift guides to help with the choosing for your 'small fry'

I love the idea of personalized artwork, I think it makes the most thoughtful gift.

So much more to choose from, so little time left!

Happy shopping.

Not Another Giveaway!?

Yes! In celebration of WallFry's new 'Inspiration Cliche prints' for nursery and playroom....

...there is yet another WallFry giveaway hosted by Spearmint Baby this time for a 'SET of 3 - 11x14 prints or your choice' from WallFry. This prize is valued up to $66 and just in time for holiday gift giving (or you might keep them for yourself).

Entry is easy and you get extra entries for liking WallFry on Facebook and following on Twitter too (just make sure to leave a comment at Spearmint Baby for each entry).

Head on over to Spearmint Baby for your chance to win.

Good luck!

31% off ALL PRINTS - 3 Days Only!

I have been a bit quiet lately busily designing lots of new prints which I will post about soon. In the meantime, pop over to my WallFry store to take a peek - there is 31% off ALL PRINTS for the Halloween weekend, you might even pick up a bargain.

Coupon Code: HALLOWEEN11
The discount is not good on hand-painted canvases.

Here is a sneak preview of one of my new alphabet prints:

Heaps more where that came from...

Nursery Cliche Print

For those parents with a sense of humor, or who just want to say it all:

Keep calm and cliche on....

NEW - Prints with quotes

WallFry has more new prints with heartwarming quotes for the little ones. I think they are pretty cute:

Heaps more where that came from in the shop.

While I am on the topic of NEW products there are heaps of personalized prints now available too. I have been working to get these ready in time for Christmas as they would make such gorgeous personalized gifts for kids:

 

Board Game for Toddlers

I had never really thought about toddlers playing board games before I became the mother of one (toddler that is) and my sister gave my 2 year old a board game for his birthday. Call me naive, but I never really thought toddlers could play boardgames (well not successfully at least) and yet I was very wrong... My Very First Game, First Orchard by Haba

My kids love this game (they are 2 1/2 and 18 months) and I wanted to share it with other mothers who may not have heard of it or the likes. Friends always ask about it when they visit as it is such lovely quality and it keeps the kids entertained!

The pieces are carved of wood and have a lovely smooth painted finish. It would make a lovely gift for a 2 year old plus too!

The idea of the game is to beat the crow by rolling a colored dice and gathering the fruit off the trees in the orchard before the crow makes its was up the garden path. The players work together to achieve a common goal (no winners or losers). They learn turn-taking, patience, colors, fruit, fine motor skills and general comprehension all the while (and most importantly) having fun!

I will admit that all this goes over the 18 month old's head to an extent, but he feels involved when he plays and it is great for his colors (although he does like to remove all the fruit in the one 'turn'.

I may be late to this party but had not heard of Haba (who I believe are German) before receiving this gift from my sister. They haven't sponsored this review in any way (I wish) I simply thought it was a quality toy among all the plastic trash that falls apart and wanted to share my discovery.

New Product - Owl Print

I have just added a new print to the Woodland Series. I think it is pretty adorable, so wanted to share it:

The little owl now joins his friends the fox, squirrel, rabbit and bear:

I am still working on more animals to add to this popular series. I think either a deer or racoon next.....

Clearance Sale - up to 40% off paintings

The WallFry Clearance Sale is ramping up. Up to 40% off paintings on canvas. Heaps more paintings have recently been added - Dogs, Owls, Jungle animals and dinosaurs and more.

WallFry is now focusing on Prints and Made-to-order paintings, so I am clearing out all my ready-to-ship paintings (plus I don't have the room to store them any more). These are not damaged in any way, I am simply clearing out my existing stock.

I never usually offer a discount my paintings, as they are so time consumingly hand-painted and such a labor of love. This is a one-off sale is to clear my stock, once it's gone, it's gone.
Here are just some of the paintings on canvas available in the CLEARANCE section of my shop now:

My Son the Artist

I love doing creative things with my kids and as they are very quickly getting older they are becoming more and more capable with different tools and substances.

We have always played with play dough regularly. A while back I accidentally bought modelling clay instead and had put it on the top shelf for when they are older - I didn't think that little fingers would be strong enough to manage the tougher consistency of the modelling clay (plasticine).....

This is where I was wrong:

OK, so it is no Michelangelo, but he was so darn proud of this thing ('Man' as he titled it) that he wouldn't move his hand any further away than this for the photo (maybe he thought I would want to steal it and sell it?).

And call me biased, I was pretty darn proud of him too:

He worked at this by himself with no help from me for ages and really gave it a lot of time and concentration. Pretty impressive given that this was his last artistic effort:

So I may be the only one who thought that modelling clay was for older kids but in case there are any others out there who have put it on the top shelf for later, don't! You may have a little Michelangelo on your hands (and end up with a plasticine 'Man' stored away in a plastic tub for eternity).

This Little Piggy Cupcake

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