Introducing… Tootsa MacGinty!
We have mentioned before that as parents we welcome clothing that is designed to last longer, and we also want our daughter’s clothes to be fun, colourful and comfortable to wear. When selecting brands for our shop we follow the same ethos, which is why we were really excited to discover new British label Tootsa MacGinty earlier this year.
Tootsa MacGinty is a new brand designed by Kate Pietrasik, who wanted to create an affordable label of timeless styles built to wash, wear and “hand-me-down”. All of their clothes (apart from a few dresses) are unisex and are a ‘riot of rainbow colour’.
We love their first collection for Autumn – Winter 2011 and are sure that you will too! Pop on over to our shop www.monkeyandbo.co.uk and take a look
baby gift ideas
A number of customers have asked us recently for suggestions on what to buy as a gift for a friend or relative’s new baby, so we thought it might be helpful to put a few ideas together.
If you’re looking for a gift for a baby shower chances are you don’t know whether you’re buying for a boy or girl. You don’t have to stick to plain white or pastel colours though; there are plenty of fun and colourful unisex products around!
If you’re giving clothing consider buying items in a larger size so that these can be enjoyed as the baby grows, but remember to think about what season it will be when these get worn so they can get the most use out of them.
Alternatives to clothing might be a snugly baby blanket, or a soft toy or rattle, or a nappy purse; really handy for quick trips out and about when you don’t want to lug a large changing bag around with you.
Here are a few of our suggestions:
1. Watermelon sleepsuit, by Smafolk (£20.00)
2. Ruby and Ginger ‘Just Nipping Out’ set funky flowers (£15.00)
3. Lipfish green amoeba rattle (£11.00)
4. Global Affairs cuddle sweet bear (£6.00)
5. logo baby vest, by Green Eyed Monster (£8.00)
6. brown hippo bodyvest, by Smafolk (£16.00)
7. green monkey blanket, by Lipfish (£22.00)
8. cream animals sleepsuit, by Smafolk (£17.00)
Of course we have many other gorgeous products available for baby boys and baby girls for you to choose from!
All our orders are wrapped in tissue paper and we can post direct to the recipient if you would prefer, just let us know their address at the checkout.
If you would like us to include a special message with your parcel just provide us with the details at the checkout and we’ll pop a card in for you.
If you would prefer to buy a gift voucher drop us an email and we’ll be happy to arrange this for you.
Outfit ideas for boys
This time we are going to showcase some of our favourite boys’ items. Using Positively Organics’ yoga pants as the key essential again we’ve put together a selection of boy’s outfits.
These blue yoga pants teamed with Småfolk’s orange lion top or cars t-shirt make a really cool outfit for your little dude!
Alternatively, Småfolk’s cars t-shirt looks great with the green yoga pants, as does our playful Lipfish blue spider t-shirt.
This bright and funky star print t-shirt by Boys & Girls looks fantastic worn with the colourful red yoga pants, as does Lipfish’s cheeky monkey t-shirt.
On warmer days these Boys & Girls green striped scoot shorts would be great for playing in and look really ‘cool’ worn with the Lipfish spider t-shirt. Or how about Little Green Radicals’ slogan t-shirt if you have an aspiring punk rocker!
Outfit ideas for girls
We’ve had a number of new collections arrive in the last few weeks so to showcase some of our favourite items we’ve put together a selection of girl’s outfits.
These unisex yoga pants from Positively Organic are really versatile and are a key essential for any kid’s wardrobe. Made from organic cotton they are incredibly soft and come in a great spectrum of colours. The red yoga pants look great teamed with Lipfish’s ladybird t-shirt or how about Småfolk’s new luscious red cherry t-shirt if you prefer an all over print.
If you want to add more funky designs to this outfit we love this new birdcage and blossom reversible dress from Sophie 4 Sophie worn over the top.
Next up is another new Sophie 4 Sophie reversible dress; this design of a 70’s inspired floral print dress looks great with the blue yoga pants and Småfolk’s orange lion top for a cool retro look.
If you’re after an explosion of colour how about matching up the pink yoga pants with either Småfolk’s elephant t-shirt or cats long sleeve top.
We love Kitschy Coo’s gorgeous tunic dresses which are really comfortable and long lasting to wear. This design looks fab layered over the green yoga pants.
Not to be out done we have some cool outfit ideas for boys coming soon!
New Year’s resolutions – one small step….
It’s taken a few weeks to get started but this weekend I tackled one of the ideas on my ‘things I should do this year’ list; cooking a new recipe from one of our dusty cook books.
This is our attempt at Jamie Oliver’s Superb Pork Fillet Roasted on Rhubarb, which we had with roasted baby potatoes.
This recipe is taken from his ‘Happy Days with the Naked Chef’ book and is really delicious! It’s pork fillet wrapped in prosciutto cooked with rhubarb and sage leaves.
Now I have to decide which recipe I’m going to pick this week; suggestions of your favourite recipes very welcome!
Spring/Summer 2011 stock starts to arrive….Lipfish
First up is the ever playful Lipfish who have introduced little bugs to their Spring/Summer collection. All garments are in their trademark cheery colours and this season’s characters are really charming.
Our two new short sleeve t-shirts, Lola ladybird and seen here, Sarah the spider would suit both girls and boys.
This playful little spider is sure to cure anyone’s fear!
And our old favourite monkey t-shirt is now back in stock
For babies we have a collection of rompers and jumpsuits and this turquoise frog jumpsuit literally jumped off the shelves (sorry!) last year
New to us this season is the amoeba rattle; available in cerise, green and turquoise this would make a fabulous gift for a newborn as they are made in soft and easy to grip velour.
See the rest of our Lipfish collection here
And the Winner of the Funky Boys Outfit is….
Kelly (and Piran)! Congratulations!!
I’ve just emailed you for your address details and as soon as you send them to us this cool outfit will be sent out to you.
Thank you to everyone for entering; keep an eye on our blog as we’ll be doing another giveaway soon!
Great Giveaway – A Funky Boys Outfit!
Calling all cool dudes – we are giving away this funky boys outfit by Green Eyed Monster, Småfolk and Kitschy Coo worth £55!
This great outfit consists of a pair of long organic cotton shorts by Green Eyed Monster, a fun retro print t-shirt from Småfolk and a limited edition, handmade reversible hoodie from Kitschy Coo.
The winner will get to choose which size they like (18 months -2years+, 2-3 years, 3-4 years)
To enter the draw simply:
- ‘like’ our facebook page or subscribe to our blog (see right hand of this page).
- Leave a comment below saying you’d liked to be entered and your chosen size *
* Don’t forget to mention in your comment that you have ‘liked’ or subscribed
That’s it. This competition ends midnight Saturday (5th February) – Good luck!
My favourite new accessory
Last year I discovered a new accessory that I love using; the Ruby and Ginger ‘Just Nipping Out’ set.
Now that Moo is a bit older I no longer need to carry masses of nappy changing paraphernalia, umpteen changes of clothes and toys around with me each time we go out. Ruby and Ginger’s Nappy Purse does the job perfectly. In fact, I wish I had stumbled across this earlier when Moo was a baby and I just needed to make a quick dash to the shops.
We’ve chosen to stock their ‘Just Nipping Out’ set as this contains the nappy wipes case and also a useful mini travel changing mat. As well as these and three nappies I find I can pop in a tube of nappy cream, a handful of nappy sacks and a small book (always a useful distraction!).
Not only is this set compact enough to pop in my handbag when we’re going out, but we’ve also taken to using it at home. Rather than have heaps of changing things lying around the house it lives on a shelf in our lounge.
Hubby is also happy to take it out and about! Oh yes, and Moo likes to use it when changing her doll’s nappy….
See more about the designs available here and if like me you like co-ordinating accessories we also have their matching toy ties
Should I make a New Year’s resolution?
I was never one for making New Year resolutions, preferring to take ideas on as they popped up, but since having Moo (who is now a lively toddler) I’m of the opinion I need to give it a whirl!
Aside from the usual eat more healthily; do more exercise these are the ideas circling my thoughts at the moment
- Read a book. Any book. Any suggestions?*
- Learn to crochet – I would love to be able to make pretty things and what better way to do this than to go to a http://darnitandstitch.com/ workshop. Imagine the hats I could make!
- Spend more time outside with Moo and try and answer her ‘what’s this?’ questions as she makes new discoveries
- Watch an episode of Miranda every day!**
- Learn to sew. I see a theme starting! Hubby bought me a sewing machine for my birthday a while back and I have fabric, I have patterns, but I also have fear that I’m going to be dreadful and my dreams of being able to whip up a dress in an afternoon will be shattered!
- Learn to ride a bike *hangs head in shame* last time I did this I was about twelve. It doesn’t come naturally to me.
- Cook a new recipe each week – we have a stack of recipe books (insert celebrity TV chef name of your choice) that are sitting forlornly in the corner crying out for our attention
- Listen to more music. Not just dusting off my old favourites but discovering new music I enjoy, even at my age!
*Actually maybe nothing too intellectually taxing, I’ve not read one for two years!
** Right so this might be a bit OTT but I could watch this again and again and still belly laugh like it’s the first viewing
So if I manage to achieve any of these I’ll let you know!
What are your resolutions for this year? Do you have any tips on how I can tick at least some of these off over the next 12 months?
Leave a comment below!
