The London Mummy, Author at The London Mummy

Spotlight

Jenny Kellie : Tiny Magic Mail

Most people are familiar with the concept of the Fairy Door. We have one hammered into our wooden decking and occasionally the children leave a wilted leaf by the door in the vain hope that the fairy might swap it for some sweeties the next morning. Other than that, our imagination has run a bit dry! This is where Tiny Magic Mail comes into play.

After spending a year enjoying watching her own girls discover a world of fairies at home and persuading friends that it was the best thing ever, Jenny realised that some people just didn’t know where to start with this kind of thing. She always sat and fiddled with little creative projects in her spare time and so making a fairy washing line and a swing was fun for her. Introducing a little fairy door in to your home was easy enough but she thought on behalf of her friends who weren’t as creative as her – now what? This is when she decided that there was a definite market for making an attractive fairy door with extra tools and advice for parents on how to enjoy the magic and started Tiny Magic Mail.

Her products are aimed at children but with the important involvement of an adult who takes on the role of the fairy. Each of our boxes of fairy magic include ideas for interacting with your fairies and educational and fun activities to keep the magic alive as well as really beautifully made fairy miniatures.

Jenny has been designing for years and has always been lucky enough to be able to work from home often in the evenings and the small hours of the morning. Her children have been a huge inspiration for all areas of her designing years. She spent 7 years designing prints for children clothes and then after the birth of her first little girl she started illustrating prints and artwork for children’s rooms.

Tiny Magic Mail has given me her the opportunity to step away from the computer and be crafty, which she love and her girls have driven each step of the creative process. They release a new theme each month!

“I am lucky to have the fantastic support of a brilliant team of skilled and clever Mummies who make up the TMM company all with something different to offer, with 6 children between us and 1 due to arrive any day its been important that we all have an understanding of juggling motherhood and work!”

Start with the magic mail door box.

– a beautifully hand crafted fairy door with a few added extras to welcome your fairy

– a fairy post box ready to receive magical mail

– a tiny magical key ready to leave for the fairy or for your little one to find

– a welcome letter for you, the magic makers and for your little one from their new fairy, plus our helpful fairy interaction guide!

– pretty letter blanks to help your fairy interact

– a tiny bottle of sparkly fairy dust for granting wishes

– a hands on crafty activity to start spreading the magic

I think they may be very busy in the run up to Christmas!

Jenny’s Favourite’s

Shop – Anthropologie
Website – www.decobaby.co.uk
Hotel – She would rather a caravan!
Restaurant – The Breakfast Club – Hoxton
Holiday Destination – Seaview, Isle of Wight
Parenting Tip “Don’t sweat the small stuff, make a mess, have fun and listen!”

tinymagicmail.com

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Big Fashion TLM Monthly Edit

‘School Run’ Boots

Some people notice eyes. Some people look at hair. I like to think I look for a vibe but in reality, when I meet someone for the first time my eye is drawn towards their feet. When I see a ‘school run mum’ teetering in high heels, firstly I look with admiration as I would look like a cross dresser most of the time if I wore such sky scrapers and then I wonder why would she do that to herself if she is turning straight back home to clean up breakfast. So, boots.

In recent years, I like to think I have found a happy medium between stylish (as stylish as high heels) and practical (as trainers). Here is a collection of the latest boots on the high street that you will be able to chase a scooter with and still rock a good look…

Apisi Suede Beige B oots £125 Hudson Boots

They are meant to look like they have been used. Saves scuffing them along the skirting boards when you get home before their first outing!

Suede Block Heel Ankle Boots £44 Marks and Spencer

A friend at Diddi Dance was wearing a navy blue pair last week and they looked really good. Here is similar.

Black Suede Tassle Flat Knee High Boots £120 Aldo

Not for taking the dog for a walk after you drop the kiddies but they will take you stylishly into a cafe without any tottering.

Nellie Pull On Waterproof Boot £130 Timberland

I’m into my 3rd year with these Nellie’s. I bought them in brown and black and they are still going strong!

Easter Buckle Knee Boot £80 Office

Pretty standard but at the same time a classic. Only wear with very very tight jeans or you may look like Puss In Boots.

Grey Bermondsey Suede Ankle Boot £75 Atterley

They speak for themselves. Love!

Toggi Calgary Boots £79.99 Charles Direct

These are my new winter purchase and are slightly more acceptable than welly boots in London on a rainy day!

Ash Joulouse Woodwash Boots £155 Ash

Love the block heel, the colour, the style…

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People Services Spotlight

Clare Wright : Classlist

It was never going to be long before someone invented an efficient and practical way to communicate with other mothers (and fathers) in your child’s class. I am over the endless ‘reply all’ filling your inbox and people starting a new email on the back of an old thread as they can’t (understandably) work out how to create a new group that you can send to with one click. I am in a Whatsapp group for my eldest sons class (Year 1). Frequently a topic has been started and never concluded as people miss it or they are onto the next thing quicker than you can say ‘did anyone take home Timmy’s swimming trunks?’ Anyway, let me get to the very exciting point. Clare Wright saw all these cracks and co founded Classlist.

“Both myself and my co-founder Susan are ex-management consultants and have had children at several different schools due to moving house in the UK and abroad. My eldest child has just started Senior School aged 13, and it is his fifth school, including 2 American schools in Brazil, where we lived for 4 years!”

Classlist is ideal for class and year group messaging, organising class/school events and RSVP. Parents add their own details, which can only be seen by their own year group. Classlist is data protection registered, private and encrypted, and it makes communication with other parents quick and easy. It is basically a private social network just for your school.

Classlist helps parents register, share and update whatever contact details they feel comfortable with. When you send a message on Classlist it always uses the latest details. We started out with a pilot at our own school, the Dragon School in Oxford, before building the mobile version of Classlist. We seem to have hit the nail on the head in terms of what parents need, as we have lots of new classes and schools joining Classlist.com every week.

There are some other great features based on the people in your school’s community: a school run sharing map (find other families nearby to share journeys with), and customisable private birthday invitations too.

If you are a class rep or teacher I would register your class or school pronto! It’s a game changer…

Clare’s Favourite

Shop : Brora

Website : Pinterest

Restaurant : Porthmeor Cafe on the beach and next to Tate St Ives in Cornwall

Hotel : My Blue Hotel, Jericoacoara, Northern Brazil

Holiday destination : Argentinian Patagonia

Parenting Tip

“This summer I was working a lot and my children had to amuse themselves. I wrote a blog piece for Classlist.com about what to do in the holidays, and I had a very positive reaction to my advice that you shouldn’t arrange much at the start of the holidays, but should let your children get really bored, and then they will get creative! I don’t allow any TV or devices until 6pm in the summer holidays – mainly because I can’t stand hearing ‘it’s my turn’. For me the biggest downside of devices is that when children are bored, instead of thinking ‘shall I make something, or shall I go outside’, their first thought is ‘can I go on the iPad?’. If they know that isn’t going to happen they get really good at filling their time themselves, and they can still have a go on the iPad later.”

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Fashion TLM Monthly Edit

TLM Monthly Edit : October 2015

The change in season prompted a wardrobe weed, so on my hunt for new items to shake up my wardrobe, I wanted to share some fab websites I have found!

The Idle Parent, Tom Hodgkinson

Before I share my few fashion finds, I have to recommend a book that a lovely friend of my husband recommended to me. I am not a naturally quick reader but I flew through ‘The Idle Parent’ in 24 hours as it was THAT good. I found myself shouting ‘Yes!’ quite a bit and am totally encouraged by Tom’s ‘on the money’ advice. Read with a highlighter as there is so much good advice. Here’s to a happy and peaceful Autumn term…

Little Circle

The concept is simple. Buy the most chic clothing from us. Your children will wear them and love them. When they are too small, send them back to us and we sell them. Use your credit from the sale to refresh your child’s wardrobe… and so the little circle goes on.

The Little Shoemaker

I came across this website on one of my Instagram grazing evenings and was touched by beauty and effort that go into these handcrafted shoes. There is so much competition with cheap imported children’s shoes (and the rest) that I really wanted to support this lovely little business by sharing it with you.

Neon Boots – Grey & Pink £150

As you may know by now, I love a bit of neon. However when the days get shorter and a bit more gloomy it feels wrong to go all out neon. These give a little nod in the neon direction. Yeehaa.

Rae Feather – Monogram Clutch £120

This is a lovely website to peruse and these personalised clutches are d.i.v.i.n.e. You should see the bags too!

Lascana Bustier £19 Zalando

Mayne I am late to this party with this website, but hey ho – it is amazing. There seemed to be top end, think Net a Porter and lower end like ASOS and Boohoo and no middle ground. Zalando covers this much needed market and I am hooked! I love this bustier that would look good under a sheer top at a Christmas party!

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Products Spotlight

Bluebird Tea Company : Tea Mixologists

I am currently straddling two camps – coffee or tea. This is in part to the Bluebird Tea Company who have created delicious and interesting blends to rival the staunchest of coffee drinkers – me. I am nearly tipping over. The Pumpkin Spiced Latte and Bonfire Tea are delicious and perfect for the impending Halloween and Bonfire celebrations over the next couple of weeks.

Bluebird Tea Company that was set up Mike and Krisi, a couple from Brighton. After working in the tea industry (Krisi) and bumming (in his own words) around as a ski instructor (Mike) they both became incredibly passionate about how fun, innovative and versatile tea could be. They knew there was a gap in the market for a top quality, young, fresh tea company that could create fabulous flavours of loose teas that were fun, tasty and affordable.

Rather than selling straight teas such as darjeeling or Assam, they take teas and create exciting flavours by mixing them with a wide range of blending ingredients including herbs, flowers, fruits, caramels, chocoate and even cake sprinkles! They take popular tea and build up ingredients to create unique flavours.

Peppermint – MojiTEA

Chai – Coco Chai No. 5

Lapsang – Bonfire Toffee.

I have tried the Bonfire Toffee and am stocking up the cupboard in time for Bonfire Night.

Spiced Pumpkin Pie is delicious and perfect to serve up on Halloween.

If you really want to impress The Pumpkin Spiced Latte Kit will convert you to tea latte’s forever. Here is a video to show you how to make it.

If Halloween and Bonfire Night aren’t your bag – their Christmas selection is out now, with gorgeous hampers, including a cocktail tea making kit. Now that is cool and a great way to get Granny off her PG Tips!

Mike and Krisi’s Favourite

Shop : Berts Homestore, Brighton

Website : Sofa.com

Restaurant : La Grand Ourse, Les Gets

Hotel : Artist Residence Brighton, London, Cornwall

Holiday Destination : Anywhere with fresh snow and a fire!

bluebirdteaco.com

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Activities Events People Spotlight

George Whitefield : Sharky & George – Autumn Activity Tips

Sharky & George are the go to children’s party organisers for those in the know. They have a simple aim – to find the fun in everything. Their jaw-dropping children’s parties are all about getting everyone involved in active, imaginative, energetic games, races, competitions, adventures and missions – always involving a certain amount of mischief!

Charlie (Sharky) and George did their very first party in their last year (2001) at school for their House Master’s daughter’s 6th birthday. They continued doing parties for nieces, nephews, cousins and their friends for a few years and it was “getting a bit tricky to sneak out of our office jobs every five minutes to talk to mothers about balloons, water bombs and party bags whilst pretending to be all serious in our suits and ties!” They officially gave up their serious jobs to run S&G full time in September 2007.

Over the last 10 years they have created thousands of children’s parties throughout London and the South East, in Bristol and as far afield as Italy and Switzerland.

They do a wide range of themed parties, from the weird to the wonderful and everything in between. They are also happy to discuss bespoke requirements. I love the look of their Survival Parties – perfect for boisterous & active little ones!

George’s tips on how to entertain children as Autumn draws near:

Get outside and enjoy all the colours and leaves.
Build a den out of leaves and have a leaf battle.
Nothing beats a proper conker championships, make a score board and get competitive.
Use Andy Goldsworthy as inspiration for an awesome piece of colourful leaf art.
Leaf rubbing, put interesting leaves under a sheet of paper and use wax crayons to colour over the top to make awesome leaf patterns.
As it get’s dark earlier, it’s the perfect opportunity to play night games before bedtime, enemy spotlight (see how to play below) and glow stick 40:40 are brilliant.
Cooking, although messy, pizza, scone and cupcake making is so easy and so much fun, it’s worth the tidy up.
Building mini houses and villages. So much stuff falls off trees at this time of year, it’s perfect for creating mini worlds in the garden, these can be for real toy people or for fairies/goblins if you’d rather.

Their book ‘Don’t You Dare’ includes ‘Enemy Spotlight’ and has lots of games that don’t require expensive props or hours of preparation. Good to have in the back pocket over the holidays!

George’s Favourite’s

Shop : Cranch’s Sweetshop, Salcombe

Website : www.vat19.com ‘Curiously awesome gifts’

Restaurant : The Shed, Notting Hill Gate

Hotel : Soneva Fushi, Maldives

Holiday destination : North Cornwall coast

Parenting tip…

“Play, play and keep playing! Take play seriously, it’s the most important thing in the world for all ages, play is definitely the best way for children to learn and almost more importantly it’s key for adults to play more”

Where can you go and see Sharky & George in action?

Sharky & George is joint hosting the VitalityWest Fun Run with Savills on 15th November. They will be warming up the crowd before zipping around the one-mile fun run course flying rocket balloons and blowing bubbles to spur on the runners. They’ll also put on loads of fun and games while the grown-ups finish the 10k slog. Sign up for the event here and enter the code WESTRUN20 to get an exclusive 20% discount.

Sharky & George have also joined forces with Belmond who have created a Festive Express train journey through the country side in December, with 3 course lunch and children’s entertainment from Sharky & George. We are going on it and cannot wait – it is set to be spectacular! I will keep you posted.

They have are also offering a new Mannying service called P.I.C (Partner In Crime), taking children aged 4 plus out for the day, including activities like skateboarding lessons, chocolate making, stadium tours & learning dance routines. I can’t wait to try this in the holidays. Bring on P.I.C!

www.sharkyandgeorge.com

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Fashion Little Products

Winter Warmers : Boys – From Park To Party

It was easy to compile Winter Warmers : Girls as there a whole host of shops and websites dedicated to little girls, however it is often harder to find interesting clothes and accessories for the little guy’s. However, there are some incredible individual website’s out there that will help you veer away from the high street. Here are a few things that I have bookmarked to take them from the playground to a party!

Hoy Beanie Hat – Rasberry and Grey £20 Zaini