Sale Time!

Our annual tradition of an end-of-year sale is on again!

There are 25 products on sale, up to 70% off RRP and many below cost!

Strictly while current stocks last...

Last Minute Gift Suggestions

Phew!  What a whirlwind holiday season this has been so far...

On our facebook page some great ideas for gifts and traditions are being shared, thank you all for participating!

We have had some last minute New Products arrive at Spiral Garden and hopefully photos for those will go up today!

We have a few products on Sale, including the very popular Eco Clay - last stock until next Summer.  Another popular product we only stock each festive season are the Crayon Rocks.  So if you were hoping to grab some, there's only a handful of packs left and I won't restock until next October or November.

And some of our favourite gift ideas...

For Her - Barefoot magazines or a new hat!

For Him - The Magic Cube has been popular this year!

For a Family - Cuddle Cards, Grow It, Eat It or The Lorax...

For Kids - Debresk Vehicles, Blank Books with Pencils or Crayons, Blank Bags with Textile Markers, Dolls, Chalk and Blackboard Eraser (it's easy to make a blackboard at home!), Kidslings, various Dollhouse Accessories and a whole lot more!

For Baby - Playcloths, Knot Dolls and Teethers - our three top selling items for bubs - simple and beautiful gifts!

We also have plenty of books, seeds and other gardening items, a large range of art and craft supplies, co-operative games, items for the nature table, musical toys, jewelery and some cute stocking stuffers that won't cost the earth...

On the Spiral Garden site, go to the Search box on the left to find the items above.

Enjoy your festive preparations - including the shopping if possible!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like...

Keep an eye on our Facebook Page and this blog, or subscribe to our newsletter (on the right of this post, or at the bottom of the Spiral Garden home page) for ideas, specials, cool links, extra photos and more!

Gnomes

We're back!  Almost all of the new products and re-stocked favourites have been uploaded to the online store, so grab anything you want for Christmas as many items are limited stock...

Today I found this link to the BEST gnome tutorial online I've seen yet.  It is easily adapted to different size doll bases.  Fantastic gift idea!


Related Products
Wood & Wire Dolls 10, 15 and 20cm high
Little Doll Family Kit
Debresk Doll Furniture
Tree House
Tree Branch Furniture
Tree Branch Playground
Craft Packs (for felt, fleece, etc)

Office Closed

The Spiral Garden office will close next Wednesday 27th, for a little over a week.  When we reopen by the weekend of the 5th and 6th of November, we should have LOTS of new products uploaded ready for holiday shopping!

Our online store will still be operating the whole time, but there may be a few days' delay in posting out your order...  Thank you for your patience!

Free Shipping

Free shipping!

 All Aussie orders over $50.00 submitted with the code 'spring11' in the Discount Coupon section of Checkout will receive FREE shipping from now until October 20th.

Ready, set, go!

Moontime Diary 2012

I've really enjoyed using this comprehensive and user-friendly moon diary for a couple of years now. It's A5 size, 162 pages. The pages are 7 days to an opening, with plenty of space for notes.

Live a healthy lifestyle
Grow abundant gardens
Housekeeping, renovating and building

It is all about timing your activities. Surely you have found that sometimes routine jobs turn out better than at other times? Or maybe you have noticed that the lawn at certain times grows back faster than at other times? We know that fishermen always go out with the tide instead of struggling against it.

Yes, there is method in the madness, which is where the moon comes in. All growing things are influenced by the ever changing moon.

Our aim is to inspire you to create a healthy lifestyle in tune with the moon and other natural cycles. Everyday practical suggestions tell you how you can tune in to the moon’s cycles and the year’s seasons. These suggestions help you to make a difference that doesn’t cost the earth.

The Moontime Planning Diary 2012 combines the solar calendar with the moon phases and positions. Daily pointers make it easy for you to access and experience the influence the moon has on your health, garden and home care.

The Moontime Diary 2012 features all the diary essentials plus
• Introduction on how to fine tune to the moon
• Helpful tables
• World map to convert time
• Daily moon and planetary aspects
• Aspect interpretations
• Moon void of course
• Monthly ephemeris
• Printed on 100% recycled paper

Created in Mullumbimby, Australia by Iris and Gisela.

Welcome Spring!

We love Spring! It's so exciting to see the blossoms on our fruit trees, hear the bees buzzing in the macadamia grove and admire the sudden and intense growth in our garden. It feels good to wash our winter blankets and put them away in storage, pack up our coats, scarves and beanies and hunt down our summer dresses, sandals and swimming items... And finally I think I've had my fill of soup, and I'm keen to prepare some warm-weather food!


We have changed our season table - the white and blue tones of winter packed away and out with pink and green, coloured glass, felt eggs, butterflies and flowers...

Our carefully chosen seeds have been planted into the seed-raising boxes, with their little pop stick ID tags in place and every day we check the progress as unfurling leaves emerge - promising a bounty of summer vegetables.

What is your favourite season?


Spring Products

Books:
Snowdrop & Ulba Bulba
Grow It Eat It
Rainbow Magic - Edie the Garden Fairy
In The Garden
The Secret Garden


Other Items:
Spring Doll
Gnomes
Playcloths - silk, cotton, muslin
Crowns
Springtime Felt
Blossom Baby
Blossom Baby Kit
Seeds
Shovels
Pots
Spring Craft Pack
Spring Fleece
Spring Card

Winter in the Garden Update...

Congratulations Vicki Meldon on winning our 2nd prize pack earlier this month! Vicki said she was so excited to unpack her huge parcel when it arrived and had fun sharing the items with her little boys.
Don't forget to check out our Facebook Page. It's frequently updated and you can make comments or post reviews or photos etc. We have random specials and other FB-only info on the page.

Stocktake Time!

Spiral Garden is having a Stocktake Sale!

15% off storewide until June 30, 2011.
(including already marked down products)

Hurry - strictly while current stocks last!

And the Winner is...

Congratulations!

Two Prizes

Some of you may have seen this on our Facebook page...

I have been rearranging the Spiral Garden office and have come across a lot of excess goodies - end of line products, samples from suppliers, items we've made ourselves from fleece and cotton and more, magazines, playcloths, bags, various art & craft items and more... So I put them into 2 boxes, and I'm adding to them as I continue to arrange the stock into more user-friendly storage.


And I'm offering these two boxes to my customers - one from orders 1-10 and one from orders 11-20, counting from Wednesday 27th April. The orders must be over $50 total, and posted to an address within Australia. You may enter as many times as you wish, and you're eligible to win twice. Each box is valued at over $100 retail and includes postage to you.

Full Terms and Conditions can be found here.
Happy shopping and good luck!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is on 8th May 2011.

I will gift wrap all Mother's Day items for free if you ask me to do so in the Comments section when ordering. I can send them directly to you, or to your Mum (or another special Mum who deserves spoiling).

Due to public holidays, please order as soon as possible to ensure your gift arrives in time. Express Post is available, please leave a note in the Comments section so I can contact you to discuss this option.


Gift ideas for Mother's Day include:

Beguile Soap in Honey, Milk and Shampoo varieties - on sale for only $5.50 each.

Beguile Lip Balm in 3 varieties from $2 each (50% off naturale lip balm)!

Seven different jewelery products, including the popular Glass Bead Spiral Bracelets made by Spiral Garden, and only $7.50 each.

Bamboo Wash Cloths - delightfully soft and surprisingly strong, $10 each.

Patchwork Sunhats - gorgeous soft hats in 4 colours suitable for all seasons!

Felt Pencil Cases - not just for art supplies! These are lovely for holding jewelery or make-up or any other things Mum needs to store safely. They are padded, washable and made by fair trade wool felt suppliers in Nepal. Just $9.50 each.

Or perhaps decorate your own pencil case for Mum? Calico Pencil Cases are also suitable for holding more than just art supplies, and are ready to decorate, like our plain Calico Bags, with Lyra Textile Markers.

Barefoot Magazine single issues and subscriptions are available through Spiral Garden, priced from $5.95.

We stock a variety of Cards from Sarah Laidlaw and Chrissy Butler, as a beautiful addition to any of the above gifts. Prices start from $4.00 per card.



Cuddle Cards and the Cuddle Journal together make a delightful gift that will bring joy to your family for years.

Celebrate Motherhood!

Homeschooling Resources

Most of you probably know that our children are educated at home. We have always home educated and have six children aged 7 to almost-17. Over the past months, we have been expanding our range of homeschooling resources. Some of the items we stock include:

Always Learning Books - a selection of booklets and books from an Australian publisher, including diaries for record keeping

Golden Beetle Books - a selection of books on Steiner/Waldorf education

HEA Resource Directory 2011

Otherways - subscriptions to Australia's best printed homeschooling magazine

More books relevant to families like ours...

Blank books - these are a beautiful and brilliant resource

Art supplies - including Stockmar, Lyra etc - especially for toddlers and children

Craft supplies - kits, raw materials, uncommon products - and all natural

Gardening products - because we think every family should grow plants!

Don't forget, if you type the code 'homesschool' into the discount coupon section of Checkout, you will automatically receive 10% off any order over $40.00.

Book of Soups

We just love this insprational cookbook! At first it seems a little plain compared with glossy hardbacked cookbooks, but the quirky illustrations and the variety and quality of recipes has deemed it a treasure in our kitchen.

Soups in the slow cooker, with dumplings, vegan recipes, broths, chilled soups, dessert soups and big soups... I think every kind of soup is covered in these 49 pages!

A favourite one for our children to make themselves...

Vegetable Barley Soup
1-2 T of oil
2-3 sticks celery
1-2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
about 2 quarts water
1 cup barley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1-2 tsp tamari
3-4 potatoes
3-4 carrots (winter squash is good too!)

In a large soup pot, saute onions, celery and garlic in oil. Add water, barley, salt, Italian seasoning, and tamari. Bring to a boil and continue to boil gently for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, peel potatoes and carrots. Add vegetables to soup and continue gentle boil for an hour or until barley is tender. Enjoy!

Serves 8

Early Childhood Department
Cincinnati Waldorf School

There are a few copies of this book left in stock. Grab yours before winter!

Using the Knitting Helper

One of our best sellers is the Knitting Helper which is imported from Europe by Mercurius for Spiral Garden.

It's a very simple design made from raw timber with a stick for looping the wool over each hook. Instructions are included, but we also found this tutorial online and wanted to share the link with you.

We have many knitting helpers in stock right now, at only $7.50 each, they're a great gift idea!

Related Products:
Hand-dyed Yarn
Knitting Kit (yarn only)
Crochet Hooks

It's Sale Time!

SALE TIME! 15% off till the 15th April.

Enter the code 'April15' into the Discount Coupon section of Checkout at Spiral Garden.

The Lorax

$12.00

This book was one of my husband's favourites when he was a child. It has become a favourite of our children in turn. And now I'm happy to be able to offer a Harper Collins paperback version through Spiral Garden.

In this haunting fable about the dangers of destroying our forests and woodlands, the long-suffering Lorax struggles to save all the Truffula Trees from the wicked Once-ler's axe. With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. This title is for older, more fluent readers to enjoy on their own, or as a wonderful read-aloud story for any age.

About the Author

Theodor Seuss Geisel -- better known to millions of his fans as Dr. Seuss -- was born the son of a park superintendent in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1904. After studying at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, and later at Oxford University in England, he became a magazine humorist and cartoonist, and an advertising man. He soon turned his many talents to writing children's books.

Dr Seuss

Rainbow Made

We are so blessed to supply so many products from Rainbow Made ~ toys to inspire!

Lis from Rainbow Made creates our seasonal dolls, felt items, nut dolls, breastfeeding mamas, slinging papas, custom dolls, elements fairies, various craft kits, fleece packs, gnomes, silk playcloths, cotton playcloths, muslin playcloths and the gorgeous 'soft' componenets of our very popular craft packs.

If you go to Lis' Rainbow Made blog, you will see instructions and tutorials for all types of crafts.

If you're keen to puchase any of the seasonal items or kits, almost everything is back in stock right now! But hurry, Lis' creations sell out fast, and because everything is hand-dyed and handmade, it can take awhile for new stock to arrive.

Simply go to the Spiral Garden web store, and type the name of the item into the Search box on the left. If you need assistance finding anything, never hesitate to contact Bel.

Magical Seeds

Few things in nature hold as much magic as seeds. With seeds, we can discover the full life cycle of plants. We can observe how plants reproduce through watching them flower, go to seed and self-seed.

To save seeds from your garden or wildflowers, collect them at maturity during the late morning on a dry day. Clean them to store in a cool, dark, dry place for re-sowing. If you have enough seeds sprinkle them around the garden to see when they come up again. Collecting your own seeds will save on seed costs, create a connection with nature through the seasons, and improve your gardening success rate as the seeds adapt to your locale. For more detailed instructions on cleaning seeds to store and save, look to resources such as the International Seed Saving Institute’s Guide. Another good resource is The Seed Saver’s Handbook by Michel and Jude Fanton, available through the Seed Savers Network.



Various types of plants have different methods for sowing and saving seed:

Annuals usually grow from seed through part of a year, then seeds are saved and stored or lay dormant in the ground until the following year. Examples of annuals are lettuce, peas, spinach, corn, beans and marigolds. Most seeds you will save will be from Annual plants.

Biennial plants produce vegetative growth through the first warm period, then slow down through a period of cold weather and flower in the second warm period, typically spring. Common examples are the cabbage, kale, carrot, parsnip and turnips. To collect seeds from these, you will need to wait about eighteen months.

Perennial plants survive for more than two years. They are a very important part of a long-term garden. Some annuals and biennials such as capsicums, chillies, eggplants and kale can behave as perennials in warm climates.

Another way to save seeds is from the kitchen. Ripe pumpkins, tomatoes, capsicums, melons, papaya, and most other fruit provide fresh, free seeds. Usually one dries and stores the seeds to plant in the appropriate season, but our children have had many successful pumpkin vines and papaya trees grow with seed fresh from the cutting board. If the fruit or vegetable comes from a hybrid plant, which many commercial crops are, the fruit that grows from it will not grow true to type. But it will probably be edible and if space in the garden isn’t an issue, you’ve nothing to lose!

More ‘free’ seeds can often be found in the pantry – many dried beans will germinate, for example. We’ve tried borlotti, lima and cannellini beans, and black-eyed peas. Beans can be eaten as a young pod, shelled when mature, or left on the vine to dry. Bird feed is another cheap source of seeds to experiment with. A large bag of sunflower seeds is only a couple of dollars and contains enough to fill even the largest garden with giant sunflowers. Or you can share them amongst friends so that others might delight in the magic of seeds.

When buying seeds, heirloom or heritage varieties are preferable for many reasons. Old varieties are more interesting and better suited to the organic vegetable garden. Did you know that carrots come in colours other than orange? You can grow your own red, white, yellow or purple carrots at home! There are also purple peas and beans, multi-coloured corn, capsicums of various colours and shapes, and pumpkins and tomatoes that will amaze! These non-hybrid seeds are most often available by mail order rather than in your local store.

Sprouting is another way to witness the wonder of seed germination. It’s something you can do in any season and any location. All you need is a jar, some cheesecloth, a rubber band and some seeds to sprout - like alfalfa, mung beans or radish. You can buy these in health shops or with the vegetable seeds in stores. Rinse the seeds, and then soak overnight in water. Strain and rinse again in the morning, placing the jar upside-down or inverted on a saucer so it can drain well. Continue to rinse twice a day, always keeping the jar inverted so that there is no excess water on your sprouts. After around four days, your sprouts should be ready for eating and can be stored in the fridge.


A bean vine can also be started in a glass jar. Take a wide glass jar, some cotton wool and a few bean seeds. Soak the beans for a few hours. Place the cotton inside the jar and poke the beans at regular intervals between the glass and cotton around the jar. Add enough water so that the cotton is moist. Put the lid on the jar and you will not have to water your beans for them to grow. Place in a sunny position and your beans will grow roots and sprout leaves. If you turn the jar upside-down, within a day the seedlings will change the direction they grow in so that the roots are facing down. After a couple of days, you can turn it up the right way again and your bean vines will adapt so that the roots are growing down once more. Children will see that gravity, water and light affect plants. Once you’ve finished your observations, this seedling can go out into the garden to fulfil its purpose.

Because seeds hold so much magic and wonder, many tales have been told about them. Jack and the Beanstalk first springs to mind. There are stories from all around the world with seeds as a symbol for life, regeneration and new beginnings. I encourage you to explore the wonder of seeds with children – begin their journeys as gardeners with the simplest of wonders.

From Spiral Garden, you can buy:
Vegetable Seeds - certified organic, open-pollinated, traditional and unsual varieties such as: Butternut Pumpkin, Purple Peas, Purple Beans, Purple Carrots, Rainbow Cherry Tomatoes, Sunflowers and Nasturtiums. We also have Kids' Packs of seeds and a lot of gardening books, tools and supplies.

Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange - Autumn

Here's something not organised by Spiral Garden, but I thought I would share it again. I joined the Summer Exchange and it was great fun!

Ready for a ‘Autumn’ crafting challenge?

Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange is inspired by the small nature table Katie has tried to start for her young children to mark the changing of the seasons. She has found most material and craft project sourced for inspiration is often based on seasons in the northern hemisphere which is not always relevant to us. Seasonal changes where we live in the southern
hemisphere can be subtle and quite different from what is happening in the northern hemisphere.


Like her children, Katie is learning about the unique seasonal differences in Australia. She is new to crafting and new to keeping a nature table. She would love some inspiration and is sure other people would as well.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have Seasonal Craft exchange reflective of the seasons of the Southern Hemisphere? A crafting challenge, a chance to create your own symbolic item reflective of the current season and a chance to inspire a stranger through your chosen craft...

To participate you need to include a minimum of one handmade item that you can swap with your allocated partner.


Guidelines:
* The swap is related to the theme - Autumn.
* The swap is open to everyone. You don’t have to live in the Southern Hemisphere to participate!
* You must be willing to mail overseas and honour your swap commitment.
* Participants will be allocated one (only) swap partner. You will send directly to your partner and they will send directly to you. Swap partners will be randomly allocated.
* No prior crafting/ art skills required.
* Participation should be done in the spirit of openness, appreciation and sharing. The only requirement is the item you send should be handmade by you with love and care. Make something special that you would love to receive yourself.
* No returns!
* The exchange is open to all ages.
* All packages must be mailed by the 15th April, and should be suitable to send in the mail.



Requirements:
* At least one, no more than five items are to be sent.
* One of these items must be handmade. It can be an object, an artwork, an ornament, small handmade book, something to display. The key requirement is it is something made by you.
* If you would like to include additional items things that could be included might be items from nature (unless you are shipping internationally), a card, additional artworks, a candle, purchased items made from natural materials (no plastic/polyester/foam/etc) etc.
* All of the items must be seasonally appropriate.
* You may want to include in your package a little blurb about your items and/or yourself.
* In addition, it would be wonderful if you were able to document the process of making and the final product. These images can be posted on the Flickr group Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange.



How Do I Sign Up?
Sign ups will take place until 14th of March.
The first 100 people to sign up are in!
Please email Katie with your Real Name, Mailing address (in English) and Email address to be entered into the swap.

Your privacy will be respected and your details will not be passed on unless you give permission.
Partners will be allocated after sign-ups have closed. Katie will confirm when you have been added to the list. Please be patient, this may take a couple of days.

As mentioned previously, Katie is a mother of two very young children, new to crafting and has only co-coordinated something like this once before, so your patience and understanding is really appreciated.

Inspiration
Thanks to Seasons Round Exchange and New Zealand Handmade Christmas Ornament Swap.
for inspiring the idea of the craft swap.

Seasons Round Exchange
The SavVy { Seasons } - a modern Swap
Soft trees Swap
Rhythm of the Home
Seasons South and North

Autumn Craft Pack
White Craft Pack
Create @ Spiral Garden

Queensland Floods, Orders, Fund Raiser

Thank you to those customers who have emailed regarding the flooding in Queensland right now. We did have a cyclone on Christmas Day, followed by torrential rain, but no flooding. Spiral Garden is located on a farm in the mountains west of Cairns, Far North Queensland. Thankfully, we are not in a flood-affected area.

To those of you who have had to wait for your recent orders, due to road closures because of the flooding, we thank you for your patience. Australia Post recommended to me that we keep your parcels high and dry here in our office, and we have contacted each of you to check that was okay. We will attempt tomorrow to post any orders we have waiting here, if it looks like the situation may improve enough over the weekend.

Spiral Garden has decided to donate 50% of all order totals (before freight) from midnight Thursday 13th January until midday Sunday 16th January to the Australian Red Cross' disaster relief and recovery appeal. The Red Cross are renowned for making a real difference during times of crisis. So if you're planning to buy your back-to-school items, summer holiday craft items, gifts, magazines and subscriptions or art supplies - now is a great time to order and help flood-affected families at the same time.