The most divine Australian dolls

If you are looking for a special gift for a special Miss, look no further than our own Australian designers for beautiful handcraft dolls. These are three of the best designs with incredible attention to detail, beautiful fabrics and embellishments.

New La De Dah Kids winter 2015 crochet toys and homewares

Geelong-based la de dah kids continues to deliver with a brand new collection of beautiful crocheted products that the kids will love for their rooms. Rugs, storage baskets, wall hangings, garlands, cushions, toys, and cotton blankets and beanbags are all covered in a range of pastel + monochrome colours with a little orange and metallic thrown in!

I also Love with a capital L the styling in these shots; the triangle and square colour blocks on the wall in aqua/mint/white are amazing. I know these snuggle cushions are going to be hugely popular:

Iconic Australian gifts for kids

If you have family and friends living overseas, or you are like me, and just love iconic Australian symbols, go no further than Make Me Iconic. You'll find a whole host of gift ideas for adults and kids.

Make: Free Superhero doll craft pattern

So you crafty types out there - what do you think of these gorgeous DIY Superhero dolls designed by my friend Lisa from the red thread? Head to Lisa's blog now to get the free pattern for these dolls and surprise the little ones in your life. Great for using up scrap fabric!

Image: the red thread

Dudley Co amazing toddler ride ons

Hang on - a cool toy for the kids that ticks the boxes of the design-sensitive too?!? Dudley Co.'s Courtney Wall and her carpenter husband create these fantastic toddler ride-on scooters in Brisbane. Each piece is hand-crafted and screen-printed in Brisbane to suit one to four-year-olds. So great.

Dudley Co.'s ride ons are handmade in Brisbane using certified plywood, sealed with a water-based polish, and finished with solid rubber casters and water-based paints. The ride on is available in three designs, but as they are hand screen-printed, each is unique. They are tested by the couple's son and his friends who love them to bits. I can see why!

You can find Dudley Co.'s ride ons in the online store.

Image: Dudley Co.

Chalk Chook handmade chalk

My friend Kate (Katie Crackernuts) knows me well and when she sniffs out a great Australian-designed product for families, she sends it my way. Lucky for me, she found a gem with these Chalk Chook hand-crafted chalk products. So great for the school holidays and for parties too!

Treehorn geo-faceted wood jewellery and toys

I was reading State of Green online store newsletter recently and spotted these incredible handmade wood jewellery pieces by Tasmanian artisan Joe Chester of Treehorn. Seriously folks! I'll have one please. Make that one of each...

The Treehorn collection of geo-faceted necklaces, pendants, bangles, kitchen boards and building blocks are handmade by Joe using only reclaimed, recycled or sustainably grown timber (such as Tasmanian Oak and Douglas Fir). In fact, pieces are often made items from wood trimmings on the workshop floor.

The amazing building blocks would make a fantastic gift for a child of design-savvy parents, but I can also imagine them piled up on display in an adult's room, or even a work desk. Much cooler than a stress ball, that's for sure.

You can find Treehorn wood jewellery and products in the online store as well as at stockists across Australia and New Zealand.

Images: Treehorn

Owl Know How by Cat Rabbit and Isobel Knowles

Thanks to my friends at The Finders Keepers for the heads up - fresh off the press is this fabulous 32-page children's book (and product range) by Aussie collaborators Cat Rabbit and Isobel Knowles. Owl Know How is illustrated with photos of Cat Rabbit's amazing plush characters in animator Cat and Isobel's built enviroments.

 
Owl Know How started out as an animation project that Cat Rabbit and Isobel worked together on, and an empire was born. It's gorgeous, and I dearly hope there will be more.

In the Owl Know HOw book, prepare to be transported to Cloud Town, where Cornelia Rabbit lives next door to her best friend Orvi, and problems are solved with the help of owls. Lots of owls! The book comes with it's very own owl pattern for you to make your own felt owl (see finished owl top).

Look out also for the Owl Know How shop where you can pick up the book, plush figures, button badges, handkerchiefs, totes, and limited edition packs of all the goodies as well as a signed copy of the book, gocco-printed bookplate and poster.

Read more about Cat Rabbit here on Bondville.

Images: Owl Know How

Herbert and Friends softies, cushions and cards

Another super find from my outing to Koskela a few weeks ago were beautifully-made softies by Torunn from Herbert and Friends. Half-Swedish Torunn lives in Sydney and creates said softies, cushions and greeting cards featuring her quirky-cool characters.

Torunn's softies are made from recycled felt, cotton, faux fur and eco-friendly filling. Can you stand those little faces? The cushions would be great in either a girl's or boy's room and the greeting cards would work well for both girls and boys too.

You can find Herbert and Friends in the online store as well as stockists around Australia and online.

Images: Herbert and Friends

Fede handcrafted soft toys

I came across these super-cool soft toy rattles for babies and thought you would love them too. fede soft toys are unexpected shapes - hammers! spanners! cutlery!, handmade from fun vintage and new fabrics, unisex design, and made locally in Adelaide. Lots of boxes to tick right there.

New Alimrose Squeaker Designs

Alimrose Designs squeakers are a must-buy baby shower gift or present for newborn in Australia - a kids design classic (see my Alimrose post from last month).

Jennifer from Alimrose has shared a sneakpeek of the new designs to be launched at the Melbourne trade shows next month. Which is your favourite? I love that little prince - just perfect for a chubby grip.

Image: >Alimrose Designs

Taika bikes for tykes

If you haven't already, you must add Natalie Walton's Daily Imprint to your blog list. It's full of inspiring articles with Australian creatives. And it's where I discovered Natalie's family business - Taika bikes for little ones.

Move over ladybug wheely. The Taiki bikes are destined to be a design classic don't you think? They are the first of a range of wooden toys and products made by the Walton-Rollston family. It's simple functional design with a Finnish heritage.

Taika bikes are designed and handmade in Sydney using FSC timbers where possible, and finished with water-based and low VOC paints, woodstains and varnishes. Custom colours and available upon request.

You can find Taiki bikes in the online store and at stockists listed on the Taiki blog.

PS - check out Natalie's free Live a Creative Life workshops in Sydney on Daily Imprint. Might see you there?

Images: Taika

Alimrose Designs kids soft toys and products for home

Alimrose Designs has become an Australian Classic for kids. No baby shower is complete without an Alimrose squeaker or stripey toy monkey. They are as ubiquitous as a Sophie giraffe or Bonds singlet (tell me you don't have one).

Hip Products: Daisy Doe crochet animals

I have so much respect for the crafty souls who can make gorgeous throws, cushions and woolen goodies using not much more than yarn and a crochet hook. Amp the hard-factor up a level and you get clever clogs like Sydney crochet hook-master Erin Matthews.

Check out these gorgeous soft toys by Erin under her Daisy Doe label. Inspired by the Japanese 'amigurumi' style, she crochets these super-cute softies by hand. Erin has a big love of animals and her softie collection includes a range of kill-me-cute bunnies, bears, reindeer and more.

Hip Products: Cat Rabbit plush and jewellery

You want an heirloom gift for a child but don't want to go the baby spoon/silver brush and comb set/baby bracelet route (you know what I'm talking about). And you want something modern, memorable and fun. Something that they will have forever.

The totally amazing hand-crafted plush creatures from Cat Rabbit just might fit the bill. These quirky-cool pieces of art have huge personalities. Characters like the fur-covered owls, fez-adorned bears, folk costume-wearing raccoons and nerdy glass-wearing rabbits look as if they have stepped right out of a storybook

You might also like Cat Rabbit jewellery (necklaces, hair combs, brooches) or Wall Art for yourself. I just couldn't resist the raccoon cufflinks!

You can find Cat Rabbit in the Etsy store, at markets (check the blog) and at galleries and stockists around Australia (and online).

And how cool: "To celebrate the Vietnamese year of the Cat and the Chinese year of the Rabbit (hereby known as the year of the Cat-Rabbit) there is 25% off everything in the store until the 13th of February 2011!". More behind-the-scenes info on the Cat-Rabbit blog here.

Images: Cat Rabbit

Hip Products: Balloon Balls

It's not often that you come across something that's stylish, clever, entertaining, great for kids, practical, improves safety, encourages play and is handmade. And that's exactly what the amazing Balloon Balls are from Brisbane designer, physiotherapist, and Mum-of-three, Gretta (see pic above).

The Balloon Ball is an ingenious product made from pretty fabrics and finished with a button-hole-sized slot to insert a standard 25cm balloon. Blow up the balloon, and the 'ball' inflates. Tie off the balloon and you have one fantastic indoor toy.

Using her physiotherapy training, Gretta realised that the ball would move through the air much slower than a standard ball, making it easier for children to learn skills such as catching, throwing, bouncing and developing hand/eye coordination.

The Balloon Balls range includes the Original Balloon Ball for boys/unisex and girls, Baby Balloon Balls, and Balloon Football. Each Balloon Ball comes with its own list of fun, developmental games to play. How clever is that!

Kim sent me a gorgeous Balloon Ball as part of the latest Brisbane ABCD meetup goodie bag and we have not stopped playing with it since. My 3-year-old loves balloons, but they are not such a great idea to have around our baby. The Balloon Ball has come to the rescue and is providing endless, safe indoors play for us.

You can find Balloon Balls in the online store.

Needless to say, Balloon Balls was a hugely popular part of the Brisbane ABCD meetup goodie bag and won the prize of one month's advertising here on Bondville. Congratulations Gretta! Be sure to pop over and check out the balloon balls. What a great gift for any child.

Images: all images by Steph Bond except red/blue ball by Kim Wallace, pink/purple ball and bottom images by Balloon Balls

Hip Products: O.B Designs DingaRings

Our 9-month-old still has no teeth so teething rings are top of mind here at Bondville. Check out these super-cute rattle + teething ring + soft toy DingaRings that I found at the Sunshine Coast recently.

Designed in Byron Bay by Kate Nicolson and Leesa Hallahan from O.B. Designs, these rings include a cast of characters full of personality, including Aussie-themed Tony Tree Frog, Gi Gi Galah, Craig Crocodile and Keith Koala. The range includes both muted tones and bright colours, soft bodies and wooden rings to soothe those sore gums. These teething rings would make excellent newborn gifts or a present for a baby shower, particularly for friends and family overseas.

O.B. Designs is an environmentally-conscious business using recyclable point of sale and office materials. You can find DingaRings in the online store as well as at stockists across Australia, the UK, UAE, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Images: O.B. Designs

Hip Products: Made by Maisie dolls and softies

I met Catherine from Made by Maisie at the BrisStyle markets last year and immediately fell in love with her lovingly hand-crafted dolls and softies. Each piece is made from wool felt, Japanese, homespun and 1930's reproduction fabrics with hand-embroidered faces; little pieces of art!

The current Made by Maisie range includes Maisie dolls, Big Sister Maisie dolls, Bears, Kokeshi dolls and custom-made dolls. These dolls would make a stunning gift for any little girl (and the bears are super-cute for boys too). Something very special to be handed down.

You can find Made By Maisie dolls and softies in the Etsy store and at markets around Brisbane. Check out the Made By Maisie blog for market information, updates and new releases.

Images: Made by Maisie