The shop of the V&A museum keeps on surprising us with its unusual gift ideas. The latest item to leave me slightly bewildered is this pair of Baby Pants.
Made from rubberised cotton they are designed to slip over a nappy. The fabric is printed with a 1950s design taken from wrapping paper. There is a choice of umbrellas or mushrooms. They cost £12 a pair and are available in two sizes, 6-12 months or 12-24 months.
Visit the V&A Shop for more details.
This item is not a new version of the Rubik’s Cube, but you can’t help but feel that is where the idea for its came from. It is in fact The Magic Chair, part of Habitat’s Very Important Products for Kids range.
It is credited to Daniel Radcliffe, although I’m not sure how much actual design input the young actor/wizard had, but his royalties for the Magic Chair go to charity which is another good reason to buy it.
It costs £120 from Habitat.
Who says that babies’ things have to be pastel colours? The Retro Revolution stroller bag by Elodie bucks that convention with its brightly coloured psychedelic pattern.
Created by Swedish brand Elodie, the stroller bag is wind and water resistant too, so you can keep your little one cosy, without giving in to boring traditional colours. And its never to early to start an appreciation of all of things retro.
It costs just under £75 and can be ordered online from Nordic Kids.
What else is there to say about The Beatles? Everyone loves them, and rightly so, and they’re still given the creedance of cool they deserve.
There’s tons of Beatles memorabilia out there, but that doesn’t stop me fawning over certain items like this Sgt Pepper’s Tin Lunchbox.
From Kitsch.com, this drum-styled tin retails at a bargain price of £9.95, along with a variety of Fabs fodder.
He might not look it, but Paddington Bear is 50 years old this week. And to celebrate, BBC Radio 4 is placing 50 Paddington Bears (like the one in this picture with creator Michael Bond) in prominent places in train stations around the UK wearing the label ‘Please Look After this Bear’. The bears will be in place and ready to be found from 9.30am on Tuesday 22nd January (which is tomorrow)
In exchange for taking the Paddington Bears home, the finders will be asked to call Radio 4 and leave a special birthday message about the bear. Which seems like a small price to pay.
And if you’re a fan, Radio 4 will have a special one-off programme on Saturday March 1st at 10:30am featuring the people who found the bears, as well as Michael Bond talking about his character and the first-ever owner of a Paddington – who happens to be Jeremy Clarkson (whose mother originally made the bears).
The rooms that are often ignored when it comes to design are the children’s bedrooms. Which is a shame when there is cool design likes the Frederic Collette A table and chairs around.
Designed by Collette and produced by Collect Furniture, the A table and chairs are intended to be functional furniture for children, but with an art deco look that’s certain to appeal to design-conscious parents. Practical too – the ‘A’ shape increases stability, preventing it from being tilted or tipped over, with the table featuring six drawers and room for two children to work at (either side) and of course, built to a perfect height for the stackable chairs (which also feature a drawer).
The table retails for £205, with the chairs retailing at £105 each.
