Shorties: June 2013

something for the weekend #4

Our weekly round-up of nice things from around the web...

children sketched these chairs to be turned into real furniture (see link below)

things made with cardboard: a playhouse / a dollhouse / shoelace tying board / ships / cardboard castles

did you ever wonder about the story behind the Star Wars logo?

It's hard to believe that Hairy Maclary is 30 this year! He has a cute new website to celebrate...

children's drawings made into furniture

10 rad Scandinavian children's rooms (text is in Spanish)

clogs that are actually roller skates!? YES!

more link-love...

It's winter sale time, woo hoo!
Come on in to Shorties and score 25% off winter threads from Minti, Munster and Littlehorn, in sizes ranging from newborn to 14 years.

We do love a good sale, so we've put together some special sale picks to celebrate...

'Having a Party' Vintage Book Love.

full post...

yellow and grey love...

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felt mosaic by eeboo

A lovely felt mosaic set, which is just as fun for grown ups as it is for kids (Ingrid and I had a great old time making the patterns for these photos). The box says it's 'a beautiful introduction to colour, form and design', which is definitely true - children can create patterns, shapes and pictures with the 72 felt pieces. And it all looks so pretty...

Available in store at Shorties, $29.

full post...

something for the weekend #3

Our weekly round-up of nice things from around the web...

Alexander Girard, April #1009 Drapery Fabric, 1960; textile

Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

stars when they were kids: Lauryn Hill at 13 (can you believe people would boo a 13 year old!?) / 1974 interview with Michael Jackson / Ryan Gosling, mouseketeer

a sunday project: make a fort with your newspaper

Cookies+Milk are our newest neighbours here on south King Street, and we are ever so glad because YUM. Insider tip: try the lemonade cookies.

how to fold cute paper boats

I Heart My Room by Megan Morton, a book about kid's rooms, and interviews with the kids themselves instead of parents. Cool!

Minti trackies for everyone!

Boy, aren't we happy those clever folk at Minti HQ have re-made their world famous knee patch trackies!

These very comfortable pants are not your average trackpants. They feature the trademark Minti knee patches, a stylish slim leg design, and elastic drawstring waist for the perfect fit. We've been selling Minti clothes here at Shorties for years now, and we love everything they make, but these pants have got to be the all time favourite.

There are four amazing styles to choose from in sizes from 0 through to 8 years, and you can shop the full range in-store and online right now!

ingrid's pick...

Scarlet Winter

full post...

something for the weekend...

Our weekly round-up of nice things from around the web...

illustration by the wonderful Dallas Clayton

unbelievably cute shoes for little lasses one / two / three

how to make an origami elephant

My Mum is an Airplane - sweet Russian animated film by Yulya Aronova.

an amazing tool if your child is learning to write: type in their name, or any word really, and this site will generate printable tracing pages for them to practice on!

Lego catalogue from 1973. I had the windmill and lorry set.

On the subject of Lego, did you see the study which found that Lego faces are getting angrier?

I love the most recent Che and Fidel post, especially the gorgeous shot of Poet all rugged up in her Kokonor jacket like a sweet little babushka doll.

posted by Kat

blogs we love - lamb loves fox

Have you ever set yourself the goal to take 365 photos of your children, one for each day? If so, I found some inspiration for you - Lamb Loves Fox is where one Aussie mama posts gorgeous daily portraits of her two sweet little ones, and we get to ooh and ahh at all the pretty pictures. So much cuteness! Would you, or have you, started a daily or weekly portrait series of your own?

Thank you to Lamb Loves Fox for letting us share her beautiful images

meet the maker...

Meet Rachael and Ishak, the sweet couple behind Milk & Masuki. We chatted with them about their handprinted baby wares, the benefits of organic cotton, and Princess Smartypants...

Rachael in the Milk & Masuki studio

Can you tell us the story of Milk & Masuki? How did you start out?
Milk and Masuki came into being when our little man came into the world almost two years ago. We were looking for some cool organic baby bits for him and alas found not a lot. We had also been looking for a way to use our visual arts background as a means of supporting our new family so we thought we’d throw caution to the wind, quit our jobs and start up our own baby label.

What inspires your designs?
We are quite eclectic when it comes to inspiration, we love looking at art and interior design and so take a lot of cues from design which is very un-baby related, which I think (I hope) gives us an edge.

Handprinting gorgeous Milk & Masuki dribble bibs

And all of the designs are hand printed by you? Can you take us through the process?
Yes! We have a lovely print studio next to our house where we design all of our textiles, and print most of them too. The process is quite straight forward, the designing usually takes months of agonizing and refining, we then get our printing screen burnt with our designs, mix up our colours, and off we go.

We love how family oriented Milk + Masuki is, how do you juggle family life and work life with your cute little boy in tow?
Ah, well truthfully, it’s a huge struggle with a little one as we’re constantly going to markets and traveling around on top of design and production deadlines. In the end we have made it work for us (lots of very late nights!). We usually take turns caring for him, but I still think the best thing about our business is that we have every meal- breakfast, lunch and dinner- together as a family. I’m sure not many people can say that theses days, so we feel extraordinarily lucky.

Ishak screenprinting in the studio

Using organic cotton is a huge part of your brand's ethos, is it something you're very passionate about? Why is that?
For us using organic cotton for Milk and Masuki was an easy decision to make. I think the greatest thing is that we have become more passionate about it the more we understand its benefits. In the beginning we knew its environmental and personal benefits but as we researched, we discovered that we’re supporting an industry which benefits the workers and farmers in developing nations too, which is important to us. The W.H.O. released some scary statistics about the health risks of cotton farmers so its hard not to be passionate about an alternative product which helps so many people and our planet too, not to mention that it feels so luxurious on our skin.

And now for one silly question - when you were a child, who was your hero and why? It could be a fictional or real person...
Ooh, that’s a good one. When I was little I read theses picture books called ‘Princess Smarty Pants’ (it sounds awful but they were truly gold.) The little Princess was a real rebel and went motorbike riding and got up to all sorts of mischief, I thought she was fabulous, what a role model!

You can buy handprinted Milk & Masuki dribble bibs in-store and they are COMING SOON online.

sunshiney day!

red apple lunchbox $25

handknitted swan vest $39

Rare Rabbit hair bobbles $4 each

Rare Rabbit wooden loveheart necklace $19

Teecat handprinted owl tee (shown folded) $35

handmade cord pinafore by Cathy $39

Danefae striped leggings $20

pom-pom beanie by Karin $29

snap-watch $15

Something for the (long) weekend...

Our weekly round-up of nice things from around the web.

illustration by Gertrude Elliot, The Golden Song Book (1940's)

VINTAGE

The Vintage Lunchbox Archive and the Vintage Toy Archive are two lovely Tumblr blogs featuring, you guessed it, a whole bunch of fantastic retro lunch boxes and toys!

Sort of similar to Pinterest, but just for vintage and retro photos, Retronaut is a giant archive organised into categories. Super cool and quite addictive.

EATS
I just love this adorable video which aired at the recent TEDx in Sydney. Babies tasting stuff for the first time - in slow motion. Scrumptious!

Amazing lunchbox ideas - we need 'em! Half way through the year it's pretty easy to lose inspiration for healthy, yummy school (or preschool) lunches.

LEARN
"How do I get my kid interested in science?"

This story basket is a really sweet idea over at One Perfect Day.

posted by Kat

ride on

No it's not a Mexican dia de muertos shrine - it's our new sugar skull cushion ($39) having a headshot taken with Micro Scooter handlebars. Strange pairing - great colours!

I love that you can replace individual bits of the Micro Scooters as wear and tear requires it - especially useful if you're handing the scooter down to more children. Customise with these rad handlebars for $15 a pair.

All of these new wares are available in-store now!

strawberry shortcake

hookie hangers $3 each

hand-knitted cardigan $45

hand-knitted pompom beanie by Karin $29

hand-knitted bloomers by Karin $35

blogs we love - pilze apfeli

Pilze Apfeli is a sweet blog from Provence, France. Mostly made up of family snapshots, we get to see little glimpses of a very French childhood, some incredible scenery, and cute vintage bits & bobs - there's really a lot to love. Here are some favourite tidbits from the Pilze Apfeli archives.