This post contains PR samples marked with (*). For more information please read my disclaimer.
I can’t believe it’s finally Christmas time! And this week I’m spoiling you all to three seperate gift guides, kicking off with the most wanted for your toddler gift guide! Not only is this a range of different gift ideas, I’m also so fortunate to know and support 5 small businesses and their owners involved. Please try and support small as much as you can this year, it’s been a difficult one for so many financial situations and jobs, the majority of the business owners are Mum’s themselves with families to provide for! There’s a little bit of everything in here, from creative supplies, room decor, books, and just something lovely to snuggle up to. I hope you all love it just as much as Evangeline loved trying everything out for herself, I’ve got a very content little girl right now and I’m sure that you’ll agree why after having a read and seeing everything that I’ve featured!
THE LITTLE COTTON CO
The Little Cotton Co is a small business local to me who reached out to ask if she could send one of her products for Evangeline. She kindly sent us a Unicorn* and honestly my heart absolutely burst when I opened it. It is the most beautiful hand made teddy and Evangeline is completely obsessed. She loves kissing and cuddling it and taking it for little walks around the house in her pram. I was originally supposed to be putting it away for Christmas but I know the presence will definitely be missed and she’s pulled my arm! The biggest shock of this product is the shear size of it, I’d expected it to be palm sized but it’s so well made and a real soft toy that’s safe to play with. She will definitely be a treasured new member of our family!
WONDERBLY
Wonderbly is a brand that I’ve been proud to work with already this year, I did a blog post and also ran a giveaway in October where the winner received a personalised book of their choice! This brand offer the most beautiful range of personalised books including their large selection of Christmas books. It is the perfect addition to your Christmas traditions and something to treasure and get out every year for some Christmas reading! We were sent the I Love Evangeline More Than Christmas book*, this will be something to really commemorate Christmas time in our home and it so lovely for Evangeline and I to start creating traditions just the two of us. The illustrations are captivating as always and this would be the perfect gift for any family.
MADE BY BUSBY
If colour is what you’re looking for, Made By Busby is the rainbow yarn queen! Not only is this a small biz, it’s ran by one of my very best friends Shelley, she has been in business for just over a year and is absolutely smashing it. She makes all of her items and creates a range of hoops, hangings, home wares and the most gorgeous little plushies too. It has been an absolute pleasure to see her business evolve over the last year. I have a selection of items from her shop, from the ever popular clouds and some bits from her Halloween range. But I’ve always got my eyes on something new! Her clouds have become the must have product for babies and children’s bedroom/playroom decorations. All of the items can be custom made to fit colour schemes and our cloud was created to perfectly match our playroom. It’s one of my favourite additions to the room!
CHALKOLA
For as long as I can remember Crayola has been a brand that’s been a favourite since I was tiny myself! It’s something recognised by everyone and a go-to brand for any art supplies. When they launched Chalkola earlier this year, it was something that I was really excited to try with Evangeline! The magic of these pens is the ability to use them on multiple porous surfaces, including glass! It is easily cleaned off too so no excess mess! These pens are going to be amazing on our conservatory windows and doors and will definitely keep her entertained for longer than 5 minutes. We were sent a large box of 30 colours* and I purchased some inexpensive blackboards from Amazon as the Chalkola boards were out of stock, as long as you select boards made for chalk pens there should be no issues! These will definitely be just as fun for adults to use and will be used by us for years to come.
RAINBOW RICE BY JODETOPIA
Jodie is a fellow blogger and Mum, she runs Jodetopia and is one of the best people on Instagram for play ideas, sensory inspiration and themed play. I wish I had half as much imagination as she does and her little boy Arthur seems to love all the activities that she creates for him. Earlier this year she started creating her own rainbow rice which has been the perfect addition to our sensory play! I purchased some of her limited edition Halloween rainbow rice and we had hours of fun. Rainbow rice is a fantastic sensory play tool that you can use for a manner different things, Evangeline especially loves filling containers with it and pouring them out! It’s something bright in colour, appealing to the eye and there is a world of possibilities when it comes to rainbow rice play.
YUYU BOTTLE WARM WORM
Yuyu Bottle is the first original brand to create the long hot water. They have a gorgeous range of water bottles and cosy cases on their website. The brand asked if I wanted to try one of their Warm Worms* that are targeted towards children. For Evangeline this was absolutely perfect, the girl loves nothing more but to snuggle up to something. Even though this is supposed to be for her, I’m almost certain that we’ll either be fighting over it or have it snuggling in between us when we’re watching our Christmas films! Since the moment we opened it she loves carrying it around, we’ve not even got to filling it yet because she runs away and loves covering it up in her bed, it’s definitely gained a new best friend status. I’ll have to sneak it off her once she’s asleep and take full advantage of the cosiness!
BIG SPLASH CIRCUS
Big Splash Circus* is a story of friendship, difference and finding what makes you special. I love these types of books, with beautiful illustrations and instilling a really lovely message for your child as they grow. The story takes you on a journey through the characters, they showcase their talents and celebrate the things that make them unique. Not one character is the same and that’s the beauty of it. The main character, The Lantern Fish lacks a lot of self confidence and doesn’t feel like their role in the circus is important. After many attempts of trying to be like the other characters, they soon realise that they are perfect for the role they already have and no one could do it as much justice. Evangeline loves the imagery in the book, she likes pointing to the characters as we read and saying Hello! It will be a lovely addition to a little ones Christmas list this year.
THE COTTON SHOP
The Cotton Shop for me is the ideal place for unique handmade gifts for babies and toddlers. Along with the most gorgeous rattles, animal friends and the odd fruit and veg bits it’s ran by a one woman machine! Amy is one of the kindest, and most hardworking women that I have the pleasure of calling my friend and seeing her business grow from the very start has been a pleasure. Due to the popularity of the items, there is a website launch on the 1st day of every month and goodness it’s every man for themselves! But if you’re lucky enough to get your hands of one of her beautiful items you will not be disappointed. We have four well loved products from the shop, a pumpkin, a ghost, one of the best selling octopuses and a cat rattle that we won due to being kindly nominated for in a giveaway! There final launch before Christmas is tonight at 8pm so GOOD LUCK!
CUSTOM CRAYON COMPANY
Custom Crayon Company* was set up by my friend Chloe. She is a fellow Mum to two boys and running a little side hustle which is amazing! The shop creates a range of wax crayon shapes from letters, animals, flowers, space shuttles and pretty much anything you could imagine! You can tell from the brand name that all orders are custom and made to order. Evangeline is absolutely obsessed with colouring at the moment and is in the process of learning how to hold pens and pencils properly. These are a fantastic solution as they’re much chunkier to grip onto. Not only that, the letter based shapes could be used for learning letters, sounds and colours so they are multi-functional and super fun. Her orders are currently closed for Christmas due to timescales for making and posting but these would be a fantastic gift to spend some Christmas pennies on!
And that’s your lot for suggestions for your tiny people, please give the brands a follow and support them! I’ll be back with more gift guides throughout the week!
The yuyu hot water bottles look like absolute heaven!! Lovely post hun with some gorgeous brands.
Claire.X
http://www.clairemac.co.uk