From ’60s activist badges to ‘80s erasers to… my Thames beachcombing finds. It’s a pretty good reflection of my diverse nerdy interests.
I’m a frustrated archaeologist. I really wanted to study archaeology at university but went down the English literature route instead. When we first moved to London, I was following (mostly all-male American) metal-detecting groups online, who organised weekenders on fields all over Britain, digging for treasure. Excitement!
But when the metal-detecting thing didn’t eventuate, I started to look in my own backyard. Literally. We lived on Kingsland Road, an old Roman road which was the main route heading north out of London. I had a little dig around the garden beds in our backyard, hoping to unearth a Roman coin or two. Apparently they’re a dime a dozen in and around the City. No such luck.
But when I heard about all manner of ancient treasure that can be found on the banks of the Thames, I soon found myself Bankside one hot summer’s afternoon, one hand sheathed in latex and my feet encased in wellies.
Me, wearing rubber gloves and showcasing my latest find: a bit of old bone. Photo courtesy of Time Out London.
I had joined a tour with London Walks, led by inter-tidal archaeologist Fiona Haughey.
The remarkable thing about beachcombing that particular area of Bankside, quite literally a stone’s throw from the main tourist drag between The Globe Theatre and The Founders Arms pub, is the sheer amount of historical artefacts that can be found just on the surface of the beach rubble.
It’s little wonder, really, when you consider that the river Thames has played host to human inhabitants for thousands of years. And it goes back long before that.
There are Tudor roof tiles (look for their tell-tale peg hole; smooth top and unfinished bottom); clay pipes dating back to 1550; pieces of bone that, depending on the colour and condition, could have come from a Neolithic peat bed; Roman and Medieval oyster shells; fragments of 17th century delftware from the nearby Southwark kilns; as well as evidence of London’s maritime history from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Of course there’s every chance you could pick up a piece of cheap ceramic circa 2007, but there’s something quite thrilling about the idea that you could chance upon something quite unique – a fragment of London’s ancient history.
Just another sunny day in London… Photos by Rebecca Lowrey Boyd.
Fiona’s most exciting discovery to date, is in fact a Bronze Age human skull, which is currently housed in the carefully-controlled climes of the Museum of London.
Over the course of my own beachcombing afternoon, I eventually stumble across a rather nice slab of Tudor roof tile, an old (Roman?) oyster shell, rusty old nails, fragments of delftware, broken pieces of clay pipe, all of which can be seen in the top photo of my collection.
While my beachcombing finds hardly compare to a Bronze Age human skull, I’m completely captivated by the thrill of discovery, and I try to imagine the owner of one of the pieces of clay pipe. Who was the last person who held it in their hand, having a puff while gazing over the Thames? What was their life like? Was it a 19th century Dickensian dude? Or was it nit-ridden groundling, who popped out for a quick drag during a performance of Hamlet at the nearby Globe theatre? Who knows? That’s the exciting bit that sparks my dorky imagination.
This is an edited version of an feature story I wrote for Time Out London.
Thames Beachcombing Fast Facts
Thinking of beachcombing the Thames? Don’t touch anything without wearing rubber gloves – you can get Weil’s disease from rat urine. Really nasty (and potentially fatal).
Wear sensible, fully-enclosed shoes and look out for broken glass and beer bottles.
Read up on the UK’s Portable Antiquities Scheme. To report your finds, get in touch with your local Finds Liaison Officer. They will identify and record your finds onto their database for you and others to see and researchers to study.
Want more info about the Thames? Head to the Thames Discovery Programme – a really brilliant resource for London enthusiasts.
Want to see more London archaeological finds? Make a beeline to one of my favourite London haunts, the Museum of London (not to be confused with The British Museum).
Tell me: have you ever gone scouting for treasure? Beachcombing? Mudlarking? Share your nerdy finds with me in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.
I can’t help but be reminded of the lyrics from the ’90s “You and Me Song” by the Wannadies (which just happens to be the ‘first dance’ my husband and I chose for our wedding).
“You and me
Always, and forever…”
Ahhhh. 10-year anniversary present, darling?
Thank you Kmart, our affordable homewares prayers have been answered! Just last week, I was lamenting the fact that Australian retail chains didn’t have any globe string lighting in stock. I wished aloud that new spring/summer collections would deliver the goods. And they have!
Kmart’s new spring/summer homewares collections have arrived in-store and online TODAY, and people – it’s good. Better than good. There are globe string lights (aka festoon lighting) – for just 10 clams (see below). Nice one, Kmart.
Here’s our top 10 picks of the collection. Let’s go. (This is an interactive shopping guide. Just hover over the product and click to go through to Kmart to shop and buy.)
It’s that time of the year when retailers are discounting product to make way for new season stock, and I’ve stumbled across some cracker buys from one of my favourite labels.
London-based Antipodium encapsulates everything I love about London fashion designers. Despite (or perhaps because) of their Australian origins, the brand plays up its East-Ender sense of fun with masterful prints combined with signature clean lines.
Antipodium always includes an awesome go-to shirt dress in their ready-to-wear collections – and good news scouts – it’s on sale now at ASOS, along with a line-up of other choice wardrobe pieces.
Here, my top Antipodium sale picks at ASOS… (all in Aussie dollars, with free worldwide delivery)
Move over fairy lights. If you’re decorating your table for an evening ‘do, it’s all about hanging up a string of old-school clear globe lights. It’s a simple strategy for adding an uncomplicated yet visually effective touch to your table.
I’ve found where to source the best globe string lights (also known as ‘festoon lighting’ in Australia), and rounded up the most inspirational tables to show you how to dine under your very own starry night – outdoors or in.
1. Recreate this magical woodland table setting with single globes hung at different heights above a rustic timber table. Load the table with plants and foliage for a living forest effect.
2. Position your table under a tree so the string globe lights can be hung from the branches. Keep your table simple and classy with white linen and tablewear, with a few candles to add to the ambient glow.
4. An outdoor dinner party for Kinfolk in Charleston is enhanced by two rows of globe string lights. Keep your guests warm with blankets on the backs of their chairs, and add some vases of bright blooms for a pop of colour on your table.
6. Transform your trailer into a party location by hanging rows of string lights attached to poles. Load it up with picnic table and add a couple of candles for a dinner party on the go.
7. Got nowhere to hang your lights above your outdoor table setting? Take inspiration from this party, and insert stakes in the ground at either end of the table. Add a brightly-coloured bunch of flowers and a couple of candles for a festive touch.
8. In this light and airy table setting by The Lane, cut crystal glassware, copper candlesticks and branches of magnolia combine with a single row of string lights. Raw and pretty.
9. Create a little party zone in your garden by stringing a few rows of string lights above your outdoor setting. String lights can be rented from Timber Mill Rentals.
10. One long table along a winding bush track with rows of globe lights strung across the table from trees. Take inspiration for a scaled-down long table in your own backyard for your next big celebration.
11. Low tables (or a couple of pallets) make a relaxed outdoor setting for a dinner table. Candlelight, blankets, flowers in milk jugs, and globe lights strung around four posts creates an intimate setting.
Where to buy globe string lights
In Australia:
It’s frustrating as our major retail chains are lagging behind in this global trend. They’re still flogging rope lights, LED fairy lights and over-designed novelty string lights. Fingers’ crossed they’ve caught up by the time the spring/summer collections come out, and have some affordable options on offer (like US Target does). You can buy festoon lighting from the following independent online shops:
White Cord Globe String Lights, US$34, from Urban Outfitters (see photo above). AC plug compatible, they require a power convertor when used outside of North America.
Tell us: which dinner table look is your favourite?
This is the third post in a four-part series on how to decorate your dinner table. In the final part, we’ll look at how simple details and pared-back style can make an elegant dinner table.
As you may have guessed, my childhood and adolescence spanned the 1980s.
And clearly, I had a lot of time on my hands. At my school, collecting ‘cute’ items of stationery, from pieces of ‘pretty paper’ (gawd), stickers and rubbers was the thing we did to entertain ourselves. (I feel slightly fraudulent calling them ‘erasers’. Growing up in ’80s suburban Australia, we only knew them as ‘rubbers’, and no, we didn’t associate them with the American slang term for prophylactics.)
We never traded. I have no idea why, except (1.) ‘trade’ was not part of our vocab (we would have ‘swapped’); and (2.) it wasn’t in our school culture to swap. Every last scented-lemon-slice-rubber and scratch-n-sniff grape sticker was highly prized, and most probably procured from the local Granny May’s shop.
If you haven’t heard of Granny May’s, you’re obviously not a middle-aged Australian female. Granny May was the 1980s Australian patron saint of highly-desirable-but-totally-useless-novelty-items-marketed-at-pre-pubescent-girls. Think Smiggle now. It got a smuttier in the late ’80s. You know, gross novelty dick stuff. Weird.
My rubber collection is like a shrine to Granny May’s. I remember clutching a new purchase in one of those highly-covetable pink polka-dot plastic bags, my heart palpitating from the adrenaline rush of spending my pocket money on my ‘choice’ rainbow love-heart rubber (most likely, it was palpitating from the toxic chemical fumes that created that sickly-strawberry scent). Other more ‘exotic’ erasers were collected from the UK and the States, which were obviously my ‘showpiece’ items.
My favourites back then were the jolly hot dog; tea cup and plate; matchsticks; ice-cream; cassette tape and scented biscuit rubbers, but now I’m loving the old Australian $10 and $5 notes. The assorted dog breeds are also rather interesting, and how good are the Star Wars and ET rubbers? All still in mint condition, never used. Naturally.
Tell me: did you shop at Granny May’s, too? Did you have any of these rubbers? Do you still have them?
Parenting: it’s challenging, rewarding, and sometimes? Just plain bewildering. But somewhere along the way, we’ve all picked up little gems of information and pure nuggets of genius that have somehow made a difference to our lives.
We’ve gathered our favourite Australian bloggers and asked them to share their best parenting resources with us – from tots to tweens. Introducing:
Lexi Kentmann, the blogger behind PottyMouthMama and mum to a 10-year-old boy (‘The Doctor’) and a seven-year-old girl (‘Tiny’).
Jen Bishop, the publisher of Interiors Addict, and new mum to 12-week-old Sebastian.
Clare Hillier, the blogger behind Checks and Spots and mum to 10-year-old Alfie and three-year-old Mabel.
Steph Bond, the publisher of Bondville, an Australian design blog for kids, and mum to two girls, aged five and seven (‘almost eight’).
And there’s us! (Lisa, mum to 11-year-old Roxy; and Rebecca, mum to four-year-old Harry).
We hope you find a good gem or two that your children will love, and some tips that will help make your life run a little smoother. Let’s go!
1. Quirky Kid Shoppe
Don’t let the title put you off. Whether you have a ‘quirky kid’ or not (don’t all kids have their own quirks?), this is a brilliant shop with a curated line-up of therapeutic resources for kids’ social, emotional and behavioural issues. – Rebecca Lowrey Boyd from We Are Scout
Living in both Brisbane and Sydney with little ones, I was so impressed with the quality and development that my girls received from community playgroups. In Brisbane, the Lang Park PCYC runs an exceptional Tiny Tots program for little ones including music and soft-play. – Steph Bond from Bondville
Featuring the delightful illustrations of Charley Harper, this is a beautiful take on an old favourite. It’s also a fun way to practice focus, concentration and memory with your rug rats! – Clare Hillier from Checks and Spots
This is one of the best bookshops in Sydney, and I can say that comfortably because I frequent many. The name really says it all, but the staff are second to none in: knowing the latest and greatest reads, and being able to recommend books to suit your child’s interests and reading levels.
This has been incredible given both my children have voracious reading appetites, for which I have no guilt for indulging. It’s a great place to spend a Saturday morning – and later head to Chicken and Fishhead for a coffee/milkshake to flick through your new purchases. – Lexi Kentmann from Pottymouth Mama
Friendships can be a tricky thing to navigate sometimes. GirlPower & GoodGuys workshops empower tweens with the skills, language, and self-confidence to be better friends and develop healthier friendships. For girls and boys in grades 1 to 6 – Lisa Tilse from We Are Scout
As well as obviously being a great reminder about important vaccinations, Save the Date to Vaccinate, released by NSW Ministry of Health, also has some lovely lullabies on it which help get my baby off to sleep if we are out and about and he is cranky! – Jen Bishop from Interiors Addict
We are completely smitten with Discovery Kids. The TV shows are beautifully-produced and full of inspiring information about animals and the world. Finding Stuff Out with host Harrison is particularly good and covers all areas of science and the environment. It’s bang-on target market for our five and seven-year-old. – Steph
My four-year-old isn’t quite ready for Anorak magazine, but it’s the kind of kids’ mag I wish I had the brains (and balls) to launch back in my kids’ magazine editing heyday. This design-led magazine features puzzles, stories and loads of fun activities. – Rebecca
9. Travel
Having family living overseas, we have made annual trips to the US and Canada since the girls were born. Yes, the plane trip is challenging, but both of my girls are growing up truly understanding that the world is larger than the small bubble we live in, and to appreciate and wonder at the differences and similarities of the lives our own family lives. I hope this instills a life-long love of travel. – Steph
These are my home boys. If I hit a tricky bit in my parenting adventure, I usually turn to reading Michael Grose or Steve Biddulph books. Real, really good, and relevant, they both share practical ideas and solutions to everyday parenting woes. I couldn’t recommend them highly enough – they’ve really helped my navigate my way through tricky periods, and be on the front foot to know what to expect next. – Lexi
Kids-in-mind.com is my go-to resource whenever we are considering going to the movies, or renting a DVD. It’s not a movie review site in the traditional subjective sense, but rather a very detailed and objective guide which enables parents to make the decision if a movie will be suitable for their individual child(ren).
Together with a brief story outline, there is a list of discussion topics together with the key message for each film. Movies have individual ratings for sex and nudity, violence and gore, and profanity – and every example is listed, however innocuous they may seem to some. The value in this website is that you can base your decision of the suitability of a movie for your family on your own standards, ethics and morals, rather than relying on someone elses’. – Lisa
If your pre-schooler loves playing with apps on your iPad, Breathe, Think, Do is a brilliant resource that’s part of Sesame Street’s Little Children, Big Challenges initiative. This is a great app for building emotional intelligence, and teaches your child breathing techniques for self-control, how to solve problems, and how to persist with tasks. All the good stuff! – Rebecca
Our son, Alfie, draws morning, noon and night. This book is one of his faves as it breaks down the basics of drawing and cartooning with 501 quick sketches. – Clare
In Sydney, the North Sydney Institute of TAFE Crows Nest campus operates an incredible play session with childcare workers-in-training that gave my girls access to all sorts of crafts and activities as well as a fabulous playground. This play session, along with Tiny Tots in Brisbane, were both extremely inexpensive and gave my girls amazing experiences. – Steph
A relatively new launch by the makers of Anorak, this is a creative mag for pre-schoolers. Each issue of Dot has a special theme and features beautifully-illustrated stories, games and activities. A nice alternative to commercial mainstream magazines filled with licensed characters. – Rebecca
16. Cooking
Both of my girls have had a keen interest in cooking and have baked with me in the kitchen standing on stools since they were tots. Having child-sized aprons, their own mini whisks and using measuring spoons and mixing bowls makes them feel like they are cooking independently. – Steph
Lammily is a ‘body positive’ fashion doll that is taking on Barbie! She has been created using standard body proportions, of an average 19-year-old woman’s body. – Clare
18. Music
We’re not professional musicians, but we have always had a corner of our home filled with a pile of instruments (drums, maracas, tambourines, sticks, mouth organs, recorders, keyboard, ukuleles, and more) that the kids can pick up and play at any time. My husband plays his guitar a lot, and we are always singing, and sometimes I even bust out my trumpet. It’s great for impromptu performances when friends come over too. – Steph
The When I’m Feeling series of books by Trace Moroney is championed by child psychologists and helps pre-schoolers better understand and manage their feelings, as well as building self-esteem. – Rebecca
20. Child-friendly Cafes
They are more common these days, but a good child-friendly cafe can be good for mind, body and soul. Getting out and about with the smalls is really important to me, so we have a few favourites. It’s a great opportunity to practise manners, to socialise in public, to try different food and cultivate an interest in food (and hopefully cooking).
Some of my favourites include: Chicken and Fishhead (Beecroft), The Greens (North Sydney), our local Chinese restaurant – where it doesn’t matter if you’re messy, because it just is! and Via Napoli (Lane Cove) – the 1-metre long pizzas are fun, the Italian staff are warm and welcoming, and the buzz is always fun. – Lexi
As a mum to a little boy, I thought this website wouldn’t be relevant for us. But when I was looking for sex ed books for pre-schoolers, a friend steered me in the direction of A Mighty Girl. It’s a fantastic resource for the best books, toys and music for kids of both genders. – Rebecca
Another great baby tracker app for parents of newborns to remind you which breast you fed off last (surprisingly easy to forget when you’re sleep deprived) – Jen
23. Miniland Baby Dolls
If you’re looking for the best first baby doll for both boys and girls, these educational dolls are amazing. They’re anatomically correct and have well-defined facial features representative of different races. They can be bathed and are a great starting point for talking about bodies, gender, private parts and difference. Available at Oliver’s Twisty Tales and Zanui –Rebecca
We use this excellent website to help us navigate and determine age-appropriate movies. We hope the excitement of going to the cinema and the tradition of making homemade popcorn and snuggling up on the couch with family and friends will stay with them. – Steph
25. Sex education books for pre-schoolers
When my four-year-old started asking questions like, ‘How do eggs turn into babies?’, I wanted to give him the correct age-appropriate answers. No avoidance, distraction or silly stork stories for us! My research into the best sex-education books for pre-schoolers led me to Amazing You, which addresses the difference between boys’ and girls’ bodies and reproduction, without going into the mechanics of sex.
But when he starts asking more direct questions about sex, I’ve got What Makes a Baby on standby. It’s an utterly modern book about sex and reproduction for all kinds of families, regardless of how many people were involved, their orientation, gender and other identity, or family composition. New reproductive technologies addressed, as well as adoption and surrogates. – Rebecca
26. Classic Musicals
We love watching movies with our girls and have prioritised the musical classics – the original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and Annie, The Sound Of Music, Mary Poppins, The Muppets Movie, to name a few. – Steph
27. Bellaboo Skincare
Roxy and I have discovered this great brand of Australian skincare for tween and teen girls. The ingredients are safe, high quality natural and sustainable, and Bellaboo promotes a positive self-image. – Lisa
28. Cookbooks
I’ve found that having a selection of fun cookbooks aimed at kids inspires discussion around cooking, even if they are full of sweet treats; they love the very girly, very pink Cupcake Book For Girls (Icewater Press), Fairies Cookbook (Gibbs Smith) and Cupcake Greeting Cards (Kingsford Editions), but by far the favourite is Frankie magazine’s Afternoon Tea book (not just for kids!). Not a day goes by that the girls aren’t flipping through the pages at the kitchen counter. – Steph
29. Girl Stuff by Kaz Cooke
We loveGirl Stuff. It’s funny, but at the same it’s frank and honest, making it an empowering resource to equip girls to make the right decisions in their teen years. – Lisa
30. Australian Geographic shop
Australian Geographic is a one-stop shop for imaginative and instructive gifts that stimulate curious minds of all ages. From astronomy to geography, nature and geology, science, weather, gadgets and games – educational and non-gender-specific gifts tick all the boxes. – Lisa
Tell us: do you have a favourite parenting resource that you couldn’t live without? Share your top tips in the comments below and we’ll build a mega go-to list!
Exciting things are happening in floristry right now, but we’ve got our eye on one rising star. Introducing Berlin-based florist Mary Lennox, aka Sydney-born-and-raised Ruby Barber.
Located at The Store x Soho House Berlin, Mary Lennox “provides clients, local and abroad, with freshly cut flowers and plant arrangements tailored in each case to the unique nature of the project. Mary Lennox’s characteristic approach emphasises the simple grace of freshly cut flowers and the unassuming beauty of elegantly prepared foliage.”
In recent news, Mary Lennox has launched a collection of seeds and gift boxes, alongside a plant styling service.
Meanwhile, I’m loving her pics of shopping trips for cactus… head to her store in Berlin for more covetable cacti.
Now here’s a cushion we can really get behind. Kip & Co have collaborated with media personality and mental health advocate, Jessica Rowe, to design a cushion to further promote mental health awareness and the important work of R U OK?
“I’m passionate about raising the awareness of mental health issues having myself suffered from depression and anxiety. We still don’t talk enough about mental illness and I feel strongly about sharing our stories and breaking down the stigma of having a mental illness”, said Jessica Rowe.
The cushion is suitably colourful and cheery, and it reminds me of the bright colours used in the work of Dutch crochet designer, Marinke Slump (aka Wink), who took her own life last month after suffering with depression. I worked closely with Marinke when I was the editor of Craft at Tuts+, and I was devastated by her death. You can go to Marinke’s site here, and read my tribute to Wink here.
Since Marinke’s death, I’ve become more determined than ever to bring mental health issues into my discussions – and here on We Are Scout. As a result, Lisa and I have featured a pro-bono banner ad at the top of We Are Scout for The Black Dog Institute in Australia, a not-for-profit organisation and world-leader in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder. You can donate to the Black Dog Institute here.
You can also buy Kip and Jessica Rowe’s gorgeous cushion, with 100 per cent of profits going to R U OK? to help future campaigns and programs to promote conversations about mental health all year round. Nice one, girls.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: sometimes all it takes to update a room on a budget is a couple of new cushions. Shopping for cushions right now can be a cost-effective exercise, as many Australian brands, like Arro Home, for instance, have discounted their Autumn/Winter 2015 collections. There are many brilliant buys to be had, and you can easily introduce new colour, texture and style into your home for less than $100.
Meanwhile, other brands, like Aura Home, are launching their new ‘high winter’ collections. Head there for the latest new season cushions and bring your home bang-up-to-date.
Here, my round-up of the top 20 cushions. Just hover over each image to get product details, then click through to shop. Easy!
Give your next dinner party the ‘wow’ factor by creating a living tablescape with plants and foliage. (I know, ‘tablescape’ is an invented and slightly wanky word but it’s fairly relevant to describe the decor in this post.)
I’ve rounded up seven inspirational dinner tables that make clever use of potted plants, air plants and assorted foliage. They might look totally fancy-pants, but most of these looks are fairly easy to recreate in a scaled-down version for a special occasion.
1. Use moss, ferns, bark, small hollowed logs and foliage to create a living forest runner. In this delicate Tuscan-inspired outdoor wedding reception, the ‘unruly’ greenery was combined with plain white dinnerware and napery on a timber table top. The bride and her sister made the long drippy tapered candles themselves; ‘a therapeutic project; making them tall, thin, and perfectly imperfect.’
2. Take inspiration from Studio DIY and create your own green runner by laying the table with palm fronds and monstera leaves. So simple, yet effective! Add pale pink tableware (with matching pink macarons and chocolates) for a fresh colour palette.
3. Keep your table decorations low-key and create a focal backdrop instead. Use fresh leaves to create a stunning wall decoration, combined with a small floral arrangement and air plants on the table. Click here for the DIY tutorial by Almost Makes Perfect.
4. Macrame isn’t just for your walls! Add a textural touch to your dinner table with a macrame table runner in natural tones, combined with potted succulents, wood-handled utensils and bundles of fresh green herbs.
5. Alternate little mounds of moss with air plants and ferns for a whimsical living table runner. Use glass bottles and bell jars to add texture, different shapes and interest.
6. Create a miniature living landscape for your table centrepiece that will live beyond your dinner party. Lila B used orchids, moss, ferns, rosemary and succulents on a rustic timber tabletop.
7. Make a beautiful hanging wreath with foraged foliage, and keep the table pared back and simple with clusters of white pillar candles, and plain black napery.
Tell us: which dinner table look is your favourite?
This is the second post in a four-part series on how to decorate your dinner table. Next time, we’ll look at how festoon string lights can add a glowing ambience to your festivities.
Well, this is a little revealing, isn’t it? In the first of a brand new We Are Scout series, Lisa and I will be sharing some of the things we like to collect. Or, as in the case of today’s post, sentimental collections we’ve inherited.
Many of my old Wee Birdy readers might recall that I’ve inherited my mum’s love for collecting things. From my low-brow ’80s collection of rubbers (that’s what we called them back then – ‘erasers’ in suburban Australia was a foreign word) and stickers to Tudor tiles scavenged bankside on the Thames, you’ll find that my taste for curios is eclectic, to say the least.
Today’s collection is one I mostly inherited from my mum, and it reveals quite a bit about my family’s political activist leanings. Collected mainly from the mid-60s through to the ’80s, you can tell that my parents and grandparents participated in quite a few May Day parades back in the day.
From this group of vintage protest and activist badges, you can also see that they were basically activists for peace; human rights; women’s rights; indigenous Australians’ rights; and the environment. It might not sound exactly radical to our 2015-thinking, but back in the ’60s it was a totally different story. (No wonder I wandered around uni in the early ’90s in a Sinead O’Connor t-shirt with the slogan ‘Keep Your Laws Off Our Bodies’…)
Apart from their historical and sentimental significance, there’s also a lot to love from a design perspective. Personal favourites include the graphic ‘Resist’ badge; International Women’s Year Australia; ‘Uranium? No Thanks’; ‘Free Angela Davis’; and the Vietnam moratorium badges.
Now, I bet you weren’t expecting that today! Next week, a peek into another personal collection.
Tell me: have you inherited any vintage badges? What do they reveal about your family’s history?
Photography and styling by Lisa Tilse for We Are Scout.
This post was originally published on We Are Scout.
Kitting out an entire bedroom in brand new stuff can be a costly exercise. But if you’re prepared to do a bit of DIY, there are plenty of amazing tutorials around that show you exactly how to make a style statement on a budget. We’ve rounded up nine incredible DIY bedroom projects – from Scandi-chic hanging shelves to modern quilts and bed bases. Let’s go!
How amazing does this DIY floating string bedside table look? Mette from Monster’s Circus shows you how to transform a breadboard into a Scandi-chic piece of functional furniture.
