The KIDSEN BlogNews, Views and Advice from the UK's First Scandinavian Children's Store

We’re sure you’ve wrapped up your Christmas Shopping by now – of course you have, you’re super organised.  But for those friends of yours that haven’t, let them know that the last order dates for European deliveries are tomorrow (Friday 16th) and Tuesday (20th) for UK delivery.

If your friends need a bit of inspiration we’ve just published our Mini Gift Guide (below) to help you (ahem, I mean them) wrap up their Christmas Shopping once and for all.  

Gift Ideas for Babies

1. Stacking Ring by Plan Toys

2. Flensted Kitty Mobile

3. Klippan Baby Blankets

4. Rockabye Baby Lullaby Renditions of Madonna

5. Sebra Pull Along Elephant

Gift Ideas for Boys

1. Plan Toys Parking Garage

2. Tigger Rider

3. Helmets for Kids in Animal Shapes

4. Oskar and Ellen World Map

5. Automoblox x9x Sports Utility

Gift Ideas for Girls

1. Lundby Stockholm Dolls House

2. Brio Stove

3. Melissa and Doug Cupcake Set

4. Oskar & Ellen Tea Set

5. Rice Pink Circus Storage Baskets

Stocking Fillers

1. Heart Shaped Diamond Stamp Ring Set

2. Balloon Ball Buddies

3. Animal Toy Bubbles

4. Kids Groucho Marx Disguise

5. Melissa & Doug Fashion Sticker Collection

For our full range of gifts take a look at:

http://www.kidsen.co.uk/categories/Gift-Ideas/

For the next couple of weekends we’re making Christmas Shopping easy like Sunday Mornings….

We’ll be open this Sunday (11th December) and next Sunday (18th December) from 11am to 4pm for hassle free shopping…

Stop by and say hello and grab those all important gifts.

x

It’s here! It’s the beginning of December which means only one thing, 24 days until Christmas! Today signifies the official countdown meaning we can open up those advent calendars which have been staring at us since we bought them, dust off the decorations and start wishing for snow!

Being a Scandinavian shop it’s only fair we share a few of our festive secrets! Here, Christmas is full of family affairs with so much chocolate and turkey that your diet consists of them for the next week and the clothes you just got no longer fit. A Christmas in Scandinavia is not so different however, they do have a few quirky traditions! Dinner consists of loads of small meals such as meatballs, pickled herring, salmon and ham and to wash it down, shots of schnapps! Singing songs whilst doing so, adult members of the family take shots to help their digestive system (as good excuse as any!)

Also, Christmas day is  the 24th in Sweden meaning Christmas comes early! And the best tradition of all? Their equivalent to the Queen’s speech is an hour-long Disney episode at 3pm, somehow I feel like I’m missing out!

Traditions are everywhere at this time of year, in my family we always go for a Christmas Eve dinner followed by a champagne breakfast Christmas morning, posh ay! What are some of your weird and wonderful family traditions?

But before we get too excited, lets not forget the organising and gift buying before the day! Here at Kidsen we have finally completed our beautiful window (see above) and have filled it with some lovely traditional toys! Our Lundby dolls house is a favourite. Popular in Sweden (and here it seems) this gorgeous dolls house will be the ideal gift. Along with all the cute accessories we have, your little one will light up with joy when they see it!

If you’re looking for further gift ideas then have a look at our homepage where we have selected some of our best products!

If you’re not already panicking enough then here it is…there are only FOUR weeks until Christmas, eek! So to try and take some of the pressure off, here at Kidsen, we have shipped the American tradition, Black Friday, overseas and brought it to you! From now until next Wednesday you can get 15% off clothes and shoes in store and online. Not bad hey?

We have beautiful collections available and there’s nothing better then opening up a brand new party dress or shiny new pair of shoes on Christmas morning (they’re definitely on my wish list anyway!) so order yours whilst stocks last! Simply pop in the shop with your newsletter or quote ‘Black Friday’.

In the name of festivity and all things Christmas we’ve started our Christmas display windows. Ylva, our very creative co-worker, has been hard at work with the glitter and glue and produced a magnificent display. Fake snow, sledge, snowballs and all our best toys, what more could you want! Here are a few pictures of the magic happening, keep a look out on our Facebook and Twitter for the finished product!

Personally I’m feeling a little bit sad, a look at our dolls house collection and Moomin range has got me all nostalgic and wanting to be eight years old again *sigh*. What was your favourite toy you as a child? Let us know! But for now I suppose I better stick to a very ‘adult’ wish list, chocolates and shoes please!

Woop! We’ve been nominated for the best independent children’s shop by the lovely people at The Telegraph. Describing us as an ‘oasis of Scandinavian cool’ we couldn’t be happier! So here’s where we badger you about why you should vote for us…

As a small independent business, we started only three years ago and have gone from strength to strength. Located in Kensal Rise, (Sienna Miller lives here don’t you know!) we supply beautiful and the most individual of children’s products, from traditional Swedish designers staying true to our Scandinavian roots.

The idea for KIDSEN originally came after shop founders, Corina and Franco first had children. Realising the long hours they both worked didn’t coincide with their new family life, they took the opportunity to open up shop. With Swedish roots it made perfect sense to bring the simple, understated style of Scandinavia to the local shops of the UK.

We appreciate it’s the middle of the week so we won’t bombard you with too many amazing KIDSEN facts, but if you want a quick peek into the shop and some more info then just click here:

http://www.kidsen.co.uk/pages/About-KIDSEN.html

And if all that fails to convince you to vote for us, then how about the chance to win a free break courtesy of The Telegraph? Thought so! Just click here to cast your vote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/promotions/8776059/Telegraph-Best-Small-Shops-in-Britain-Awards-2011.html

Everyone knows the Love Film concept.  Don’t buy DVDs anymore, pay a subscription, get the films sent to your house and keep them as long as you want.  When you’re done, send them back and get new ones. 

Well, Plumgear have done the same thing but for Kids Clothes.  So instead of buying clothes, you subscribe and you get bundles of kids clothes every month.  Keep them until your child outgrows them (or until you fancy a change) and then send them back and get new ones. 

Clothes are cleaned without harsh chemicals, recycled and sent out again.  If they’re too badly damaged, then they get donated to charity.  Pretty genius really.

It’s only available in the States at the moment, but maybe it’ll roll out to the UK too.  Or maybe we’ll just do it ourselves…!

What do you think about this – would you use it?

Tell your mother, your sister and your brother too, because they’re not gonna want to miss this.

Over on our Facebook Sweepstakes Page, we’ve just launched another giveaway.  Starting today, we have a gorgeous Sebra Cushion and Poster Set for Girls and a Cushion and Poster Set for Boys up for grabs.  It’s a great way to brighten up your child’s room, now that dreary old Autumn is about to kick in… 

Entry to the draw is free, so enter NOW.

Good Luck!! 

Reading  enlightens, educates and entertains and this week the magic of books is being celebrated with National Book Week, encouraging primary school children in the UK to read for fun!

We all have memories of books that changed our lives. Mine was books by Astird Lindgren, a Swedish children’s author who created hundreds of children’s characters and stories. Her most famous character has to be Pippi Longstocking, and   there is something very special reading those same books to my own children and finding they love the same stories  as much as I did back in the 1970s.

That is the power of a good story. Embrace National Book Day and encourage your children to read!

For more information on how you and your school can inspire your child to read more visit: http://www.booktrust.org.uk/Campaigns/Childrens-Book-Week