Merry Christmas!

With only a few hours left until Christmas, it's pretty crazy here! I wanted to leave you with this image of some Christmas bush that one of my customers gave me - isn't it beautiful? I've never seen it before but apparently it's a native to NSW.

Anyway, I'm taking a bit of a break over Christmas and New Year, and closing Mr Sparrow until January 11th. I'll take a break from blogging, too, but will still post a few bits here and there, like my Christmas table (I'm about to dash over to mum and dad's to set it up now!) and maybe a few things from New Year's Eve, which we'll be spending in Dwellingup - I can't wait! Also, January 2nd is the party to celebrate Eko and Rick's wedding so I'm sure I'll have lots to report from that.

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year and thank you for supporting the Sparrow over the last 18 months and for reading this little blog!

See you soon!

Wrapping time!

So...here is this year's Christmas wrapping! The top two photos are my wrapping and the other two are my friend Eko's - beautiful, no?

In keeping with my alpine theme, and my obsession with stamps, I've used my deer potato stamp on my wrapping, which is just basic kraft paper. The white ribbon is cotton herringbone, which I bought wholesale (along with the paper - one of the perks of being in this business!), and the green and white strip is washi tape (Japanese masking tape), which I bought online from here. I'm absolutely loving washi tape at the moment and bought some for Eko for Christmas, too!

The red ribbon on Eko's wrapping is also cotton herringbone and the little circles are made from pieces of felt and cotton with a hand-stitched letter - impressive! Inside my "A" package was a box with about six individually-wrapped presents, each with a little stamped number, which she did using these MUJI stamps (how anyone lives without these, I just don't know!).

We exchanged these presents on Sunday at our annual Christmas barbeque at the South Perth foreshore, which we all agree is our favourite part of Christmas! Afterwards, Eko, mum and I went to Carols by Candlelight, so it was a day full of Christmas spirit!

A is for Andreas

Andreas is my little nephew, who is coming up to 7 months and is just about the happiest little boy you can imagine. He lives in London and about two months ago had his Christening there. We were really sad to be missing it and wanted to get him a special present to make up for it. I read this post a while ago on inchmark journal and thought it would be really nice to give Andreas a collection of our favourite books to set him up for later in life. So James and I got together with my parents, my sister Kate and her husband Rob and each chose our favourite childhood book. I loved the idea of all the books being presented together in a special book bag and us writing little notes to Andreas inside the books, but because we live on the other side of the world to Andreas, we had to get a bit creative. Kate and Rob also live in London (and are good friends with James's sister Lisa and her husband Tucker) so we decided the best plan was for them to buy the books on our behalf, and then for us to each write a little note to Andreas on a sticker that could be stuck into the book we had chosen. And then I made this little book bag for all the books to go into...well, actually, I bought the bag, but I made the felt "A" and the apple and sewed them on. Now that Lisa, Tucker and Andreas are all here for Christmas we were able to give him the bag and the stickers the other day, and once they take them back to London and put them together with the books, the present will be complete! Here are the books we chose:

Me - There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
James - Little Wheels, Big Wheels
Kate - The Elephant and the Bad Baby
Rob - What Do People Do All Day?
Mum - Winnie the Pooh: Complete Collection of Stories and Poems
Dad - The Little Engine That Could

Happy Christening, Andreas!

A little more Christmas cheer

This is the little Christmas display I have going at home at the moment - the wooden nativity set was a gift from my sister from Canada, the deer you might recognise as the O-Check ones, the nutcracker you may also recognise from here (yes, I decided to keep him!), the Santa hat I bought in New York about seven years ago and insist on wearing every Christmas morning, and the little wooden candle holder I bought in Germany back in 1997 (unfortunately only a couple of years ago that little bit on the top broke off). They all look cute together, don't you think?

On the matter of the candle holder, I have a fantastic DIY tip to share for anyone who has trouble finding candles to fit sticks they have. The holes on this holder are really narrow and I have always struggled to find candles to fit...so, here's my tip! Buy candles that are too small rather than too big, and then superglue a pushpin upside-down inside the hole of your candlestick, so the spike points up (if you can get one with a flat head it'll work best). Once the glue's dry, push your candle into the spike of the pin and it'll stay put! I got this idea from some zinc candlesticks I sell at the shop that don't have a hole at all but just a spike to push the candle onto..and I tried it with this candle holder of mine and it works a treat!

Sky Planter

Aren't these the coolest thing you've ever seen? I saw them a while ago on a blog (I forget which one) and thought, "Wow, that's amazing, but you probably can't get them in Australia"...then I found out one of my suppliers is distributing them here! Actually, they're not from very far away as it turns out - the amazing Sky Planter is the work of New Zealand company BOSKKE. Founders Jake and Patrick Morris grew up in Morris & James, widely regarded as New Zealand's most iconic ceramics brand. They have now set out on their own to build BOSKKE into a leader in innovative gardening products. No longer satisfied with having plants relegated to the remote corners of a room, designer Patrick Morris has elevated them into stunning interior features.

Now, if you're like me, you'll be wondering how the hell it's possible to hang a plant upside down! Well, I set up an example one for the shop yesterday and all my questions were answered. Basically there are three important parts - a reservoir system, which sits at the bottom of the pot (which then becomes the top) and feeds water gradually to the plant's roots; a mesh collar, which fits around the stem of the plant and holds the soil in place; and a locking disc, which fits into the top (bottom) of the pot and holds in the plant and soil. It's actually very simple, but looks pretty impressive!

And the most exciting part? They have just arrived on Mr Sparrow's doorstep! At the moment I only have the extra-small size (which is perfect for growing herbs in your kitchen), but other sizes will be here next year. These little ones are only $39.95 and would make a great Christmas present if you're stuck for ideas. Check out the BOSKKE website for more photos and information and pop into Mr Sparrow to see one in action!

Trimming the tree

We bought our tree on the weekend but only just got around to decorating it last night. I insist on getting a real tree each year - I just love the smell of them and it wouldn't feel like Christmas without one. We have a total mish-mash of ornaments but I love them because they all have meaning. A lot of them belonged to my grandmother (including the birds, which are my favourite), others were made by me when I was younger, others were bought by James and I when we had our first Christmas together, and others were given to us - like the one with a photo of our little nephew, which is a new addition this year! Instead of a star on top, we have Daikon Man (as we call him - I think his actual name is Aokubi Daikon), who we bought in Japan a few years ago and who does a wonderful job of clinging to the top branches!

I think I'll have to do some wrapping tonight, because what's a tree without presents under it?

An alpine Christmas

OK, here's another example of me being "the spirit of Christmas" - I try and have a theme for Christmas each year, which will extend to my cards, crackers, wrapping and the Christmas table. Nerdy, I know, but I love it! I'll show you my wrapping and table a bit later, but here are this year's cards and crackers. The theme for this year is "alpine", inspired by O-Check's fantastic kitsch deer (which I'm selling at Mr Sparrow - that's him in the bottom photos). I'm creating a little alpine scene for the Christmas table, involving the deer and a homemade snow dome inspired by these...and I'm using the deer motif across my cards and wrapping. The other thing I'm using a lot of are stamps! I got these fantastic stamps from MUJI in Berlin earlier this year, which I'm using on my crackers, and I've channeled my inner child (never far away!) by making a potato stamp of a deer. I'm using the stamp on my wrapping and also on my cards, which are a snowdome design (the ones you see here are the first two I made, so are a bit rough!). I was really pleased with how well the potato stamp worked - I haven't made one in such a long time and wasn't sure it would be that successful but now I'm going to use them for everything! The paper I've used on the cards and for the tags on the crackers (made using my tag punch) is a mix of Japanese origami paper and wrapping paper bought in Berlin. In my crackers this year I put Lindt Christmas chocolates (shaped like Babushkas - so cute!), little proverbs that I stamped out, homemade personalised paper hats, temporary tattoos, a little gift each, and of course cracker snaps! The hardest thing is finding a little present for each person that's small enough to fit inside a toilet roll! Anyway, I hope this has inspired some crafty Christmas spirit in you!

Mr Sparrow in your home photos

I just received this photo from Katie of the Bubble Blackboard she purchased from Mr Sparrow recently. Love it :)

Sparrow-bombing

Something that has been stirring around in my head for a while now is the idea of creating a Sparrow community - I touched on this a bit with the Mr Sparrow in your home project, but would like to do more towards this. In particular, something I'm interested in is a sort of stealth marketing combined with random acts of kindness. Things like The Matchbox Project and Yarnbombing get me so excited, and I can't help thinking that something along these lines would be a fantastic way to promote Mr Sparrow while also giving something back to the community.

One fantastic example of the way this sort of thing can be used in a promotional sense is the Golden Pointe Shoes Competition recently organised by West Australian Ballet. I heard about this from Alex, who is a regular Mr Sparrow customer and marketing executive for WA Ballet.

A lot of people can find ballet a bit scary so Alex's aim was to involve the whole community and make it a bit more accessible. The success of the flashmob WA Ballet put on earlier in the year to promote Romeo and Juliet inspired them to do another "ballet breakout" project for the launch of the 2010 season.

At 5am on October 16th, Alex and others hid 200 pairs of ballet shoes in all sorts of places throughout the city. They had little tags on them that said "Take me home, I’m yours! A gift to celebrate the launch of West Australian Ballet’s Season 2010!". All 200 pairs of decoy pointe shoes were individually numbered and had prizes attached. There was also a pair of Golden Pointe shoes hidden and throughout the day the organisers sent their "hunters" clues, which led them to the secret location. The lucky winner won a trip to New York to see the New York City Ballet - pretty amazing!

To continue on the celebration they also held an open day in a store on King Street and invited all of their subscribers and anyone walking past to enjoy a cupcake and a glass of champagne. Visitors also got the opportunity to be the first to look at the 2010 season brochure and speak to dancers and Friends of West Australian Ballet.

This has definitely got me inspired, so stay tuned in 2010 for some Sparrow-bombing! And remember, in the mean time you can send in photos of your Mr Sparrow purchases any time as part of the Mr Sparrow in your home project and see them posted up on here or in the store. Thanks for sharing this fantastic idea, Alex!

Christmas traditions

I have a few Christmas traditions that I undertake every year and they're one of the most enjoyable parts of Christmas for me. In fact, I think I enjoy the lead-up to Christmas much more than the day itself! James calls me "the spirit of Christmas" because I get so into it, insisting on playing carols, decorating the house and buying a real tree each year (that's happening this weekend...hopefully!). I just love the rituals associated with Christmas, and even though I seem to have less and less time each year to devote to these things, there are a few I still make sure I fit in!

These are:

• Buying a poinsettia, which is traditionally a Christmas plant (you can read why here)
• Making personalised Christmas crackers for my family, which I've been doing every year since I was twelve - I even send them to my sister and her husband in London!
• A day of Christmas shopping with my mum, usually involving plenty of breaks for coffee and lunch!
• Making mince pies and delivering them to family and friends
• Eating pfeffernüsse (or the closely related lebkuchen), delicious German gingerbread biscuits. Eko and I are going to try making our own this year - yum!
  
• Shopping for Christmas tea and advent calendars with Eko

I hope you're enjoying this festive time of year as much as I am!

Photos are from: www.art.com (poinsettia), me (crackers), www.skopjediem.com (shopping), me (mince pies), www.bowlofmush.blogspot.com (pfeffernusse), www.tasteofenglishtea.files.wordpress.com (tea).

Riche

This is the great place for breakfast I mentioned a while back. It's the tiniest little place in The Mezz shopping centre in Mt Hawthorn, so probably not the first place you'd think to go for breakfast, but damn, it's good! Riche used to be more of a chocolate shop, where you could also get a hot chocolate (they have a whole menu of them!) and a delicious pastry, but in the last six months or so we've watched it turn into more of a cafe. It's Belgian, and is run by a really lovely family - the mum (with a very thick French accent) runs the place, while her daughter works the till and her husband (I think!) does the cooking. There's a real feeling of authenticity about the place that I love. And also, the food is delicious! James and I quite often drop in for a quick breakfast before work on a Saturday - a crepe with butter and brown sugar or a warm croissant with jam...and usually a pain au chocolat for the road! The last couple of times we've been, though, we've ventured a bit further into the menu...and discovered the world's best bacon! Seriously, I've been dreaming about this stuff - it's that good! And of course the coffees and hot chocolates are amazing as well. The only thing I don't like about Riche is that it's closed on a Sunday...which means we've yet to experience the delicious-looking lunch menu, or the Belgian waffles, which would be delicious with a 'chocolat chaud' on a Sunday afternoon....

Thanks to Eko for these photos!

Mince pies

Every year at about this time, I embark on one of my Christmas traditions - making fruit mince pies. I started doing this when I was about seven, I think, with my best friend Julie and her mum, although back then I'm pretty sure her mum did most of the pie-making and Julie and I just danced around to Christmas carols! It was always one of my favourite days in the lead-up to Christmas, despite the fact that I don't even like mince pies! These days, although I still see Julie from time to time, the mince-pie-making is usually done alone, but I still use her mum's recipe (which was converted from an old one in pounds and ounces, so all the measurements are really bizarre), and I still insist on playing Christmas carols as I'm doing it! The recipe is for six dozen pies (although I think they must have been larger than mine are these days because I always seem to get more out of it) and it's quite a process to make them. A few days before I plan to bake (or actually more like a week this year), I make the pastry and the fruit mince mix, and then leave them in the fridge until baking day. Then comes the rolling, cutting, filling and baking, which is all a bit of a mission because the pastry is incredibly short! And, since I don't like them, who does the eating? Well, I package most of them up and give them to friends and family who have come to expect - and demand! - them, and poor James gets all the crumbly ones that won't come out of the tin (which is a lot!). I baked three dozen earlier this week and have another three to go this weekend, so wish me luck!

The spoils of the day

Thanks so much to everyone who came into Mr Sparrow yesterday to take advantage of the special 20% off offer, and for all your beautiful flowers! They really brightened my day, and will continue to brighten a few more, too!

For anyone dropping in tomorrow

Just letting you know that my mum will be working the till until about 1pm...but don't worry, she's a friendly sort and is fully prepped on what to do if handed a flower! I'll be here from 1pm-9pm so hopefully I'll see you then for your exclusive 20% off!

Some people are so nice...

...like Joy from Cookie Culture, who brought me these sparrow cookies yesterday! She came in a few weeks ago and told me she has a cookie business, then asked if I'd be interested in selling custom Mr Sparrow cookies. I love this idea! I already have Mr Sparrow t-shirts, calico bags and badges, so why not add some cookies to the mix? Anyway, once she left I promptly forgot all about it...until she dropped back in yesterday with these samples for me to try. Isn't that lovely? I haven't tasted any yet because I wanted to photograph them first, but I'll be sinking my teeth into one very soon...and then making sure I get some on Mr Sparrow's shelves! Thanks, Joy!

Greenhouse

I'm so excited about Greenhouse! It's a new restaurant and bar on St George's Terrace...and it opens tomorrow! What really excites me about this particular place is the groundbreaking design of the building and the fantastic concept of a self-sustaining venue. I've been hearing about it for months because it's part of the enex100 building, which my friend Eko helped interior-design, and she took these photos at the industry opening last Thursday.

Designer Joost Bakker came up with the concept of a self-sustaining event venue after feeling "frustrated by the practices of a planet that keeps making stuff without any thought to the impact of creating more stuff." Initially, The Greenhouse by Joost was a temporary structure in Melbourne's Federation Square, which for three months dished up degustation fare - some of which came from the garden of its own roof-top space - in a structure designed entirely from "waste".

Then - hooray! - Perth was chosen as one of only two sites worldwide (the other is Milan) for a permanent Greenhouse and construction began in September this year. Described as a "lush, green oasis nestled amidst the concrete of St. Georges Terrace", the exterior of Greenhouse is a vertical garden made from hundreds of potted strawberry plants. There is also a rooftop garden, which will produce fresh ingredients for the kitchen and provide a serene place to escape. The frame of the building is made from roll formed steel coil and its cladding and surfaces are made from reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. Even the drinking vessels are "green", with wine served in recycled jars, cocktails in terracotta pots, and shots in test tubes discarded by science laboratories.

I feel so proud that something as exciting as this is happening in Perth! Thanks to Eko for these photos. You can read more about Greenhouse on the website and see lots more photos here.