Have you stumbled across Pitchi before? We’ve just been introduced to this new online marketplace, and after a little digging, we were really impressed by some of the hidden gems we uncovered.
Pitchi is a place to find innovative, new and genius products – each showcased by an explanatory video. Check out the video below for the water garden, which doubles as a fish tank.
It’s also the perfect place for finding a present for those tricky people on your Christmas shopping list who seem to have everything. We bet, for instance, they don’t have a beautifully designed rack for their Nespresso pods; or a genius runaway alarm clock. Or how about a bluetooth item finder, which you can attach to anything that has a tendency to get lost (I really need a Chipolo for my keys!).
Here, we’ve rounded up our top 12 favourite finds on Pitchi. All genius, all innovative, and all budgets.
The team at Pitchi have also put together themed Gift Guides on the Pitchi blog where you can discover more of what the site has to offer, as well as get to know the sellers and entrepreneurs behind the products.
We’ve got more Christmas Gift Guides in the works, so keep an eye out for more fresh and lovely gift ideas coming your way.
Disclosure. We Are Scout partnered with Pitchi on this post, and we curated our favourite finds after spending a good deal of an afternoon completely hooked to the site. We only partner with brands that are a good fit with our blog, our aesthetic and what you, our readers, enjoy. Content and concept, product selections, words and opinions are all our own.
I had so much fun putting together this edit of the 20 best presents for pets – and their owners. I just had to think of a few of my favourite crazy cat ladies (and gents – hello Lisa, Toscha, Gemma and Jason) for some clever gift ideas, and as a former rabbit owner (RIP Oscar), I didn’t have to look further than the modernist rabbit hutch.
It’s the first Saturday in December, which means your local shopping mall is going to be crazy-busy with Christmas shoppers.
My advice? Skip the crowds and finish your shopping online – I’ve found 24 perfect gifts for people who are slightly obsessed with homewares and interiors.
Ready to go shopping? Grab a coffee, sit back and go shopping with our interactive guide – just click on the links below to go straight to buy!
How are you getting on with your Christmas shopping? I’ve still got loads of presents to check off my list, so I thought I’d share with you our 30 favourite finds for the girls.
So if you’re still looking for the perfect present for your mum; sister; daughter; grandma; aunt; niece or teacher, check out our curated gift guide. We’ve catered for all ages, all budgets and all styles – you can’t go wrong.
Ready to go shopping? Grab a coffee, sit back and go shopping with our interactive guide – just click on the links below to go straight to buy!
You know how I’ve been banging on about Australian design’s mini revolution? And how there’s been an explosion in new homewares brands, with the bed linen sector in particular experiencing extraordinary growth? Well, it just got bigger.
Introducing Siesta Home, a new homewares brand launched by Australian Winter Olympian Johanna (Joh) Lyle. Her debut collection of luxury cotton bedding features a mix of bright and bold prints in contemporary geometric designs, inspired by the snowy landscapes that dominated her former life as an athlete.
The collection has been designed to mix and match, while also working effortlessly with your own bed linen. If you’re on a budget, you could easily add a pair of Siesta’s colourful new pillow cover designs to give your bedroom a fast refresh, and they’d make fantastic Christmas presents.
“I wanted to create something that embodied my passion for my sport of snowboarding and the environments I was challenged and inspired by,” explains Joh.
“It was also a key channel into my artistic side. I have always been excited by interiors and interior design – since retiring from my athletic career after having a family, my partner and I have been working on creating beautiful homes and spaces. Siesta Home is a natural extension of that – to furnish your environment, particularly the bedroom, with quality textiles that look beautiful is such an important part of making a house into a home.”
The homeware brand’s first range includes duvet covers in queen and king sizes, as well as standard pillowcases and flat and fitted sheets, that have all been screen-printed by hand. There are four designs to choose from, with snowboarding-inspired names: Alpine; Arial; Freeride and Peak.
All products are available to buy online now at siestahome.com.au and at selected stockists.
Photography by Suzi Appel, Suzi Appel Photography. Styling by Jess Viscarde, Eclectic Creative.
Have you been seeing in black and white? Children’s bedrooms have taken a turn for the monochrome look, in one of the biggest trends we’ve seen for interiors this year.
It may not be a look for everyone, but there is a certain minimalist and timeless appeal to a black and white bedroom, and it’s a design-savvy style that will grow with your child.
Black and white Scandi-style kids’ room, from Inside Outmagazine December 2014. Styling by Jessica Hanson. Photography by Craig Wall. Via Poppytalk.
I was inspired by this trend for today’s Christmas gift guide of 30 gorgeous design-led gifts for kids. Beautifully minimalist and monochrome, each present has been carefully curated for its design cred and timeless appeal. These gifts are for keeps and will inspire and thrill both parents and kids – from babies to tweens.
Ready to go shopping? Grab a coffee, sit back and go shopping with our interactive guide – just click on the links below to go straight to buy! You can’t go wrong.
We’re publishing a new Christmas Gift Guide every day this week, so have a look at the other top presents we’ve found, and keep an eye out for more fresh and lovely gift ideas coming your way.
If you’re on the hunt for some affordable artwork for your children’s room, you might like to have a look at The Gathered Store.
This Australian-based online store recently held an exhibition at Sydney’s One Fine Baby Fair, curating 22 artists from around the world to contribute an original print under the theme, ‘My Happy Place’. Artists include Andrea Kang, Laura Blythman and Pete Cromer.
The individual prints are now available for sale from their online store, with prices starting at $29.95 for an A4 print. Larger sizes are also available, with an A3 print for $39.95 and an A2 print for $59.95.
All proceeds from the sales of ‘My Happy Place’ prints go directly to The Dandelion Support Network, an Australian charity which provides nursery items, clothes, toys and baby bed linen for families in need.
This curated collection by The Gathered Store is an excellent starting point if you want to buy some decent affordable art for children. They’re new and fresh pieces by popular artists, so they haven’t been over-blogged or pinned a billion times on Pinterest.
Have you picked a name out of the hat for the office Secret Santa? Stressing about getting the present ‘just right’?
We’ve got Kris Kringle sorted for you with 20 incredible finds, starting from just $10. You’ll be amazed at what you can buy for under $30 – from cupcake makers and cooler bags to Scandi designer votives and limited edition Star Wars diaries. Seriously good stuff!
Ready to go shopping? Grab a coffee, sit back and go shopping with our interactive guide – just click on the links below to go straight to buy! You can’t go wrong.
We’re publishing a new Christmas Gift Guide every day this week, so have a look at the other top presents we’ve found, and keep an eye out for more fresh and lovely gift ideas coming your way.
If you’ve got any kids on your Christmas shopping list, you can’t go wrong with a brand new picture book. Not only are you providing quality fodder for a child’s growth, imagination and development, you can also bask in the glow of instant parental approval. So just a little bit smug.
I loved rounding up my top 12 books for this Christmas gift guide. All released in 2015, each book is a rollicking good read with superb illustrations.
My top pick is Glasgow artist and author Lesley Barnes’ new book, Jill and the Dragon. A new release, Jill and the Dragon is getting the recognition it so richly deserves, with universal approval for its wonderfully detailed, whimsical illustrations and quietly subversive storyline. Look out for my upcoming review of Jill and the Dragon.
In the meantime, check out who else made my top 12 best children’s picture books 2015.
Ready to go shopping? Grab a coffee or brew of your choice, sit back and go shopping with our interactive guide. Just click on the links below to go straight to buy! You can’t go wrong.
We’re publishing a new Christmas Gift Guide every day for two weeks, so don’t miss the other top presents we’ve found, and keep an eye out for more fresh and lovely gift ideas coming your way.
We’ve been talking about Christmas all week, so let’s take a brief break and consider this superb Swedish apartment.
Here in Australia, there’s been a lot of discussion recently about the the popularity of the Scandi look.
It was also brought up time and again on The Block (my knuckles are still recovering from the sizeable bite marks during the finale last night), where contestants were either praised for their Aussie spin on the Scandi look, or critiqued for reproducing “cliched Scandi style”.
So if you love how the Scandinavians decorate, how exactly do you pull it off without replicating a textbook-style showroom in your own home?
This is how.
Take away the furniture, the layers of neutral tones and textures, the careful arrangement of object and shape, and you have the bare bones of any apartment that could be in Sydney, Melbourne – or Hammarby Sjöstad, in Stockholm.
There is a restraint in decorating that defines the Scandinavian look, working with neutral tones and natural textures to create a style that’s seemingly effortless.
The kitchen is a careful study in monochrome, working with a luxe mix of materials including marble, copper and matte black finishes.
A mix of natural tones and textures is evident in every room of the home.
In the dining room we see a crumpled linen tablecloth combined with matte black tablewear, reflecting the finishes in the kitchen. The look is completed with the addition of timber and subtle flecks of copper in the decor and handles of the sideboard.
The white-washed floors are the foundation for building layers of texture and tone. Here, we have a natural wool vintage Berber-style rug, with a pair of timber side tables – the pale timber contrasting with the matte black table top.
Notice too, the replication of shape in this home, where circles are used to break up lines and add a fluid dynamic that’s so subtle, you don’t actually notice it until you really study what’s going on.
Here, circles are also repeated with the bowls and objects on the table, combined with a signature Scandi natural element, in this case, the organic lines of a branch.
In the bedroom, circles and layers of textures in natural linen are combined with matte velvet as a variation on the same theme.
Consistency, restraint and carefully-considered layering: a small lesson in simple non-cliched Scandinavian style.
In today’s Gift Guide, we wanted to show you how you can buy luxe and designer presents on a budget. We’re not talking about the latest iPad or a Valentino dress (we wish), but rather small, well-designed gifts, by designers such as Marc Jacobs and Tom Dixon, as well as smaller, artisanal and independent designers.
Nothing says luxe more than the gleam of metallics, so our gift guide showcases a mix of beautiful eye-catching designs, from bang-on-trend copper and brass to mercury and gold.
While I couldn’t find a bijou Chanel buy for under $50, I settled for the rather excellent Chanel Rouge Allure lipstick instead. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather unwrap a single tube of sensational Chanel lipstick than a budget-vacuumed-sealed-box of 12 crummy lippies. Small, yes. But also very special, superb quality, and a little touch of luxury I wouldn’t usually spend on myself.
Now is also the perfect time to grab a designer bargain over at Shopbop‘s big sale, which has just gone live, and you get up to 25% off your purchases until November 30, 2015. The more you spend, the more you save, so get together with your friends and family and make group purchases. Just use the discount code GOBIG15 at check out. (Read terms and conditions first – brand exclusion may apply.)
Ready to go shopping? Grab a coffee or brew of your choice, sit back and go shopping for gifts less than $50 with our interactive guide. Just click on the links below to go straight to buy! You can’t go wrong.
We’re publishing a new Christmas Gift Guide every day for two weeks, so don’t miss the other top presents we’ve found, and keep an eye out for more fresh and lovely gift ideas coming your way.
You know it’s almost Christmas when I round up a bunch of beautifully-festooned crackers, give them one almighty yank and – BANG – reveal all manner of miniature treasure, bad Dad jokes and silly paper hats, in my annual edit of the best Christmas crackers.
That’s right, the annual Wee Birdy Festival of the Cracker for 2015 is officially open, and I’m ridiculously excited to present my slightly bonkers obsession to my new We Are Scout readers (cue exploding cracker confetti jets).
Now in its eighth year, I’ve rounded up the best crackers around the globe, from the £5 budget-yet-beautiful box set to the £1,000 cray-cray crackers, and everything in between.
Here we go, my top 25 for 2015.
1. Meri Meri Santa and Reindeer Crackers, set of six, £25.95, from Selfridges.
You can always rely on Meri Meri, an American-based party supplies company, to deliver a fresh new look for crackers each year. With a different magic trick in each cracker, along with a joke and hat, your Christmas celebrations will get off to a jolly good start.
2. Fortnum’s Afternoon Tea Christmas Crackers, set of six, £100, from Fortnum & Mason.
Presented in Fortnum’s signature eau de nil snowflake pattern, and with a miniature caddy of tea and complementary jam in each cracker, these rather genteel crackers have a history of selling out before the end of November. Run, don’t walk.
3. Midnight tassel crackers, set of six, AU$110 from Papier D’Amour.
Bring a touch of regal royal blue to your Christmas table setting, with these handsome gold tassel crackers from Sydney’s Papier D’Amour. Each cracker includes a hat, snap, motto and a miniature luxe gift, such as champagne stopper, wine pourer and hip flask.
4. Multicolour Liberty Print Superior Christmas Crackers, set of six, £39.95, from Liberty. A long-time staple on the Wee Birdy Christmas cracker line-up, Liberty has made the list again with their super-pretty set of mix-and-match floral prints. This year’s gifts include a clothing brush, climbing clip, trolley keyring, wine aerator, wine pourer, ballpoint pen, measuring cup, silver mirror and metal yo-yo.
5. Harrods of London Cocktail Party Christmas Crackers, set of 6, £99.95 from Harrods. Lisa and I are a fan of the vintage gold-and-pink colour palette for Christmas this year, and apparently Harrods are too, with this sparkly set of cocktail party crackers adorned with pink grosgrain ribbons. For around £100, your guests score miniature silver gifts such as a compact, money clip and magnifying glass.
6. Xylophone crackers, set of six, AU$70 from Papier D’Amour. Whip your guests into a rollicking good round of Jingle Bells around the dinner table, with this set of xylophone crackers. Each cracker includes a xylophone block pitched to a different note with a numbered sticker, along with a striker, hat and snap. The nominated ‘conductor’ uses the supplied music sheet and baton to direct who should strike their block, and when. Good times!
7. Meri Meri pom pom crackers, set of six, £26.95 from Selfridges. Sporting an on-trend carnival look with gold embellishments and pom-poms, this Meri Meri set of crackers contains a fun collection of puzzles and toys.
8. Natural rainbow crackers, set of six, AU$75 from Papier D’Amour. Finish your Christmas table in rainbow splendour with this luxe set of crackers, and treat your guests to kitchen-themed gifts such as cookie cutters, wooden honey drizzlers and mini whisks.
9. RSPB Bird song crackers, set of six, £12.99 from RSPB. I have a soft spot for British bird charity RSPB, and their annual cracker line-up is always novel and creative. This year they’ve knocked it out of the park with their beautifully-on-theme ‘song bird’ crackers. Each cracker includes a joke, hat and a bird song card, which opens to release an individual British bird’s song. Create a cacophony over Christmas lunch with a round of ‘which bird is that?’ Love it.
10. Scissor Monkeys Luxury Chalkboard Christmas Crackers Sprouts, set of six, £35, from Not on the High Street. The much-maligned and misunderstood Brussels Sprout is a staple in a traditional British Christmas roast dinner, and it’s also assumed an iconic status in recent years, with many designers playing with the sprout theme. These chalkboard crackers would make the perfect finishing touch to a monochrome or Scandi-themed table setting, and sport a line-up of suitably eco old-school gifts including marbles, a wooden die and a box of coloured pencils.
11. Fortnum’s The King of Crackers, set of six, £1,000, from Fortnum & Mason. This year’s most expensive crackers in the world, Fortnum’s legendary ‘The King of Crackers’ box, will set you back a cool £1,000. I’m still holding my breath for Fortnum’s to release a rare breed of teacup ponies as their ‘luxury gift’ in each embellished cardboard tube, but until then, your guests will have to make do with the likes of a black leather card holder from Launer of London (the Queen’s handbag maker); a pair of navy knitted cashmere gloves from heritage Scottish brand Johnstons of Elgin; or artisan-made pearl studs from Colman Douglas. And hey – they get to keep the fabric hat. Bonus!
12. Silver Birch Connoisseur Crackers, set of six, £29.50 from Marks & Spencer. I always love M&S’s annual line-up of crackers, and this year their silver birch crackers make a suitably luxe statement for around 30 quid, with gifts such as a camera tripod, screwdriver set (which make surprisingly handy additions to any handbag) and a manicure set. Great value.
Now Shop the Best of the Rest
From Homebase’s best value £5 crackers to Brussels sprouts (again) with googly eyes, I’ve rounded up the best of the rest. Just click on the image and caption to buy.
Are you shopping for a newborn or baby’s first Christmas? We’ve done all of the legwork for you and scouted the most adorable and truly special presents from around the globe for little ones.
From stylish blankets and bonnets to the sweetest rattles and rompers, we’ve got the very best gifts for babies, and covered all budgets. Parental satisfaction guaranteed!
Ready to go shopping? Grab a coffee or brew of your choice, sit back and go shopping for babies with our interactive guide – just click on the links below to go straight to buy! You can’t go wrong.
We’re publishing a new Christmas Gift Guide every day this week, so don’t miss the other top presents we’ve found, and keep an eye out for more fresh and lovely gift ideas coming your way.
