Product Reviews
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Design your nursery with Bumbo
Bumbo® is a well loved brand in South Africa and across the world. The first Bumbo® product was launched at the turn of the century. The brand has now become a parenting essential and a trusted household name. Read all about how this family business started on their website. When Bumbo® contacted me about their new range of gorgeous colours that will be launching in 2020. I could not wait to see the colours. The company has truly gone over and above to ensure that their product range is perfectly inline with the latest and trendiest Pantone colours. The company has seen and met the need for baby products to…
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DIY Doll furniture makeover with Rust-Oleum
We were gifted an old, steel doll crib from a family friend years ago and recently I found the matching doll feeding chair in an antique shop close to our house a few months back and I wanted to spruce them up a bit and change to colour from the two mismatched pinks. Because Rust-Oleum works so well on difference surfaces, it is perfect for the steel doll furniture. I cleaned both units and made sure that there was not any loose paint or particles. I chose to go with the Satin silver lilac, I like the satin finish and the colour was a good combo of girly and modern look…
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DIY Table makeover with Rust-Oleum
I’m excited to share my first blog post on my recent Rust-Oleum DIY projects. I’m a huge fan of their products and have used it a lot over the years for DIY projects around the house. The fact that they have products that can be used on wood, steel and plastics (and more) are a huge advantage and I have been wanting to see what the wear is on plastic sprayed products, especially when used by kids. What better way to put it to the test than reviving an old kids plastic table. I have these cute kids chairs that does not match any of my tired old kiddies tables,…
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2018 Holiday lust haves
It is that time of the year again… Christmas decorations are up in the malls and I’m so ready for this silly season to start! We are also buying a new Christmas tree next week so I’m so excited to get the festivities going. I have yet again rounded up a list of my favourite items for this holiday season and Christmas. These make amazing stocking fillers and festive party starters (like we need it), AND we have a special Christmas giveaway at the end of the post.. 2018 Holiday Lust Haves Elf For Christmas Need a little help with the kids this festive season? I found a handy little…
- Gifting Ideas, Kids Educational Toys, Kids Interiors, New Product Alert, Product Reviews, Shop @ Little Interiors, sourcing service, Things I love
We are starting stories…
We have very exciting news! We have teamed up with Popsiebelle as their official South African online retailer. The Popsiebelle brand aims to create products to get your kids to explore their imagination and create creative stories that they imagine up. A few of my personal favourite products from their range are: The monster pillow and spray: My little boy old had terrible nightmares and fears of monsters so I grabbed the monster spray bottle that came with the monster pillow and we sprayed all of the monsters out of the house. So no more monsters live here, and it was such an easy way to get him to not be…
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Holiday Activities – DIY gingerbread house
Our holiday activities normally include loads of beach time or visiting some family friendly spots during our visit to the coast. On the odd rainy day we get up to some fun indoor activities and I found this no baking DIY gingerbread house kit that we all enjoyed making. The kit included everything that you will need so it is the perfect accessory to travel with. I was worried that it would bread but it was really well packaged. Your pack includes: All the house panels with a Christmas tree and a sleigh icing sugar piping bags some sweets to decorate, we added an additional pack of sweets as the jelly’s were a…
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Office makeover with Prominent Paints
I have been dying to make some major changes in my office area. I was stuck looking at brown brick walls for 9 hours a day putting quit a damper on the creative juices at times, so an office makeover was desperately needed. I decided that painting the walls was going to be the easier option at this stage, I did not have a major budget for the office so I wanted a major impact with what I did. Before We decided to talk to our friendly advisers at Prominent Paints to give us some pointers on how to paint these walls correctly. The brick was sealed by the previous…
- Baby Interiors, DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, LittleME, New Product Alert, Nursery, On a Budget, Product Reviews, sourcing service
No Fuss Nursery
Sometimes less is more and sometimes more is more. The brief for this nursery was to create a gender neutral, stylish and clutter free area form mom and baby. I did not use a specific theme in the room but the LittleME Cacti crib sheeting inspired a more tribal feel but I did not want the theme to overpower the room. The Umthi Meyer von Wielligh lamp is made from solid Ash wood and an amazing feature in this room. I added in pops of colour with the shelving, bedding and ottoman but I kept the rest of the colours and finishes very natural and neutral. The room is not…
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Celebrating friendship with My Little Pony
In My Little Pony – Friendship is Magic, every pony represents an element of harmony to help teach children important friendship values. Each pony has a trait that is key in building strong, caring and empathetic young people – and boy do we need some more people like that in this world. See all the characters here. My daughter, Alexia turned 6 in June and all she wanted to do is have a tea party with her besties, and what better way to do it than with My Little Pony. I had loads of fun planning the snacks and the decor with the Friendship Is Magic party pack that we received.…
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Home Renovations by Prominent Paints
We live in a house built in the 70’s, so home renovations were inevitable for us and we have been prolonging it for way to long. A few months ago we woke up one morning and decided to actually just start the renovations. Our plan for the first leg of the home renovations were to plaster the face brick walls, paint all the walls, remove the standard brown (ugly) skirting and replace it with a nice wide white skirting as well as paint all the door frames white. One thing that has always bugged me in this house was the brown veneer doors and cupboard doors, you know the really old…
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Holiday 2016 lust-haves {Win}
Whether we like it or not, Christmas holidays are around the corner and that means Jingle Bells, beach days, cocktails, and loads of fun in the sun. Here are my holiday season lust-haves for summer 2016. 1. Benbat OLY mirror: The drive to the beach is far for some of us, especially when you have a baby. I got this for my baby as his first Christmas gift. He was only 2 months old as I would have like him to remain rear facing in his car seat for as long as possible this was perfect. My little boy is now 2 and still asks me to switch on his “friend” as the mirror has…
- DIY Ideas, Kids Interiors, LittleME, Product Reviews, Shop @ Little Interiors, The Collaborative, Things I love, Toddler Room, Trends
The Collaborative – Monochrome Boy Room
The Collaborative is the brain child of Chantelle {La Fede designs} and Mariette {Little Interiors} with the goal get mostly South African small businesses to collaborate to create beautiful room settings with locally designed and manufactured items. Our first The Collaborative room design was a playroom for girls, see it here. The second room reveal is a monochrome boys room. The room was designed with a young child or a toddler in mind, creating a fun, playful yet modern bedroom setting. We deliberately combined some of the most used themes in 2016, showing that you do not necessarily have to have stick to one theme ONLY, especially in a monochrome room setting. We added pops…
- Brain Develpment, Brand Rep, Competition, LittleME, Media, New Product Alert, Product Reviews, Shop @ Little Interiors
Become a #LittleBubBrandrep
Little Interiors and Bub Hub & Co Broad Acres are looking for a 1 brand rep in the Johannesburg area and 2 brand enthusiast countrywide (South Africa only). The brand rep will receive some #LittleME high contrast dangles with the frame AND a baby massage course from Bub Hub Broad Acres. The brand enthusiasts will be required to buy a frame and will receive a huge discount on the dangles from the Little Interiors online shop. What do we require from you: 1. Some high quality, awesome photo’s while using the dangles, frame and while attending the course. These will be available to the brands to post on social media. 2.…
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Win a personalized Medal Hanger!
Display all your medals with a personalized medal hanger! Earlier this year my brother turned 30, and I really was not sure what to get him that was meaningful and useful. He has always excelled in sports, especially gymnastics, karate and recently jujitsu. He has built up a good collection of medals that has just landed up in a box for nobody to see. Sa Medal Hangers had the perfect solution for me and it turned out to be his most cherished gift he got. After a recent swim gala at my daughet’s swimming school, I’m seeing a lot of potential in her. I realized that the perfect gift for her upcoming birthday would…
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Win new Pampers Premium Care Nappies
I’m going to show you how awesome the new Pampers® Premium Care nappies are and you can win some nappies to try out. In full disclosure, I am a big fan of Pampers Premium and it has been the best option for both my kids. The reason why I’ve always insisted on using only Pampers Premium is that I feel it has always saved me money in the end. I really most days only use 2-3 nappies, and the only time my kids got a rash was when they were teething. I do however sometimes work for nappies, and when Pampers asked me to review their new Premium range I was…
- Brain Develpment, Choosing colour, Kids Educational Toys, LittleME, Mobiles, Nursery, Product Reviews, Things I love
High contrast colours for newborn babies
Your newborn baby is a perfect little human that can feel you, hear you, smell you, taste what your feed him but can’t see you all that clear yet. This is one of the last and arguably the most important sense to develop after birth. You hear a lot of talk about high contrast colours, but why you might ask. Your baby’s retina is not fully developed yet and can only really see the difference between black and white or very high contrasting colours. By stimulating this sense you are helping the brain make sense of different shades, shapes and colours. This article from Dr Sears sums up how important…
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New York – New York
New York City has always been my favourite city to visit, and I still fantasize about living in this concrete jungle that never sleeps. And the shopping,……OH the shopping! This vibrant city has influenced my design style from early on and I’ve created mood boards using furniture and decor from some of the top kids decor and design shops in NYC to share a little bit of that design inspiration. Furniture & Decor from: www.oeufnyc.com, www.babesta.com, www.allmodern.com Share some of your best shopping spots in New York City, bellow. If you would like to win a trip to the city that never sleeps then make sure you do not miss the competition that…
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MamaMagic new product awards 2015
I was asked to judge the MamaMagic new product awards last year during each of the Jhb shows. They did things a little bit different, and we had a final overal judging in January 2016 followed by a awards morning at the Woodmead Country Club on 11 February. The products are judged on ease of use, functionality, safety, overall visual impact, practicality, durability, quality and many more factors that makes it an awesome product for the South African market. After a year long (4 rounds) intensive judging of 179 product entries, using 165 judges , as well as 2,341 surveys by parents for the Parents’ Choice Awards, the winners are: Baby Essentials –…
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Mamas & Papas
I was invited to the Mamas & Papas Melrose Arch store for some Mother’s Day treats and some product demo’s. I’ve been familiar with the brand since my little girl was a baby, and the quality is just amazing, but I had to get it from abroad back then. Mamas & Papas entered the South African market about 3 years ago, and they have really set the mark high for brands to compete. Here are some snaps from the day and the store. I was in love with the beautiful colours. We received a demo of the new Armadillo flip XT as well as some feeding chair demos. I was very impressed with…
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Sunglasses At School – review
We all know the damage the sun does to our skin and we all make sure to teach our kids from young to protect their skin, but how aware are you about your eyes. My eyes are very sensitive to bright light so I always have my sunglasses on or nearby, never really thinking about my child’s eyes. Bellow see some alarming facts about what damage the sun can do. OV Optics has started the Sunglasses at School initiative to make parents and schools aware of the damage the sun can do and offers a solution to protect our children from this damage. They have a range of “child-proof” sunglasses for…
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NUK Food Pots – Review
I’m a gadgets gal. We received these awesome Food Pots from NUK at a blogging event and I was so happy as I was soon going to start introducing solids to my baby. I make and freeze my own baby food and it is always handy to find something that you can store, freeze and transport the food in that seals nicely that does not cost you a fortune. Oh and they look so pretty too! You get 6 food pots in a pack in colours blue, purple and green {my favourite colours – just check my logo}, they are marked in individual portions and BPA-free, suitable for freezing and…
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Plascon Spaces Showroom
So you are redecorating and you would love to add some colour or simply change what you currently have? Plascon has a service to help you choose wisely with the help of their in-house experts and it’s FREE!!! I tested them out when designing the new baby room. It is a really tiny room and needed some serious TLC, but I got stuck on choosing the right colour for the room. I had an idea but was not sure what shade to use, so I dialed in the experts. You fill in the questionnaire they send you, and then book an appointment with one of the friendly consultants, who prepares a whole presentation with…
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Decorex 2014: My favourites
Decorex 2014 did not disappoint; amazing designs & services offered as always. I generally look for more kid/nursery products to tell you about, but the odd “grown-up kid” item catches my eye, ok loads of them… but I try. Here are some of my highlights, finds and lust-haves: (I tried to supply all the supplier details but I did miss some of them) Lighting Furniture Decor Art There are so much more to see , can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store. Happy Decorating {Mariette} Mariette SakelliouI am extremely passionate about creating stylish spaces that not only promote growing and learning but spaces that grow with your child. Apart from creating…
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Is it a book? Is it a toy? – Convertibles Books
I was recently looking for a gift for a one year old. I did not just want to buy a random toy, i wanted to get something meaningful that won’t just be chucked into a cupboard and forgotten about, I know what your thinking…. For a one year old…?! My daughter loves books so that is my top suggestion for somebody asking what to buy… So I also tend to look in the book isles rather than toys. I found the perfect gift; it’s not only a book, but also a car, pirate ship or train (there are more options abroad), and also folds out into a track to…
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Decorex Johannesburg 2013
I must admit, I do not frequent the Decorex expo as much as I used to. I became a bit bored with what was on offer, and seeing the same people year after year. I was pleasantly surprised this year. So many new designers, products and ideas…it was really a breath of fresh air. I always go on the trade days or during the week as I just can’t stand the crowds over weekends, and you do get to see a bit more if you don’t have to peek over people’s shoulders. The expo mainly targets “grown-up” décor and design, but the little ones were represented by amazing companies. My favourite stand was the MNet Cares &…
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MamaMagic Product Innovation Awards
I was able to help out with some other mom’s to judge the finalist for the product innovation awards for MamaMagic, The Baby Expo. There were SOO many great products. Here are some of MY favourite finalists: (not in any particular order, preference or any indications of who’s winning). I have tried to supply links and prices as far as I could. The Baby Bottle Buddy TM R175 (www.4akid.co.za) I love this because although it’s main purpose is to hold the bottle in place it has teethers at the ends of the ears and arms and it becomes a security toy for babies and toddlers. …