Beeswax candles...

The short days and long nights of winter call for some gentle, nurturing family activities at ours. We've been enjoying making our own beeswax candles to light our evening meals. The gentle light and honey scent bring warmth to our table and our home. Our children delight in watching the candles flicker and melt at different rates and how rolling the candles differently brings different results.

Rolling the candles is fun for everyone in the family, with warm hands and honey scents filling the air as we work. Even our three-year-old rolls candles with ease, after a little help to roll the wick. We like to play with different shapes, from tall and slender to short and triangular.

Sometimes we'll mix things up and cut out shapes from the beeswax to decorate with. We decorate the candles we've made or make garlands to decorate our home. Sometimes we make extra candles for gifts that'll bring a little honey warmth and light to a loved one's home.

You can find our beeswax and candle making kits here.
Find a collection of our favourite beeswax related pins here.

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!

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)

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!

Handmade Christmas?

I often pledge to make each Christmas a handmade one. More often than not, mid-December rolls around and EEEEEEEEEEK - I haven't made everyone's gifts. These days, I figure that if what I'm buying is fair trade or locally handmade, that's still a lot better than ordinary store-bought gifts!

If you love to give handmade too, here are some ideas...

Breastfeeding Mother Doll and Baby $82.00 (I actually have one in stock, which is unusual for this time of year!)

Itsy Bitsy Lou Lou reduced to $30.00 - a fantastic price for a handmade cloth doll of this size with such beautiful clothing - her siblings Molly and Oliver are also up for adoption!

Bamboo Face & Body Wash Cloths $10.00 each


All of the Beguile Soaps and Lip Balms are handmade here in Australia!

Jasminka's Silk Angel Mobiles are just perfect and only $40.00 each.

We love our Hand-felted Garden Flags - a very versatile gift.

Eco Clay is handmade and certainly hand tested around here!

The very popular Sandwich Wraps are just $15.00 each. Our last stock sold out quickly, so order soon.

Juggling Balls are great fun for all ages! Check out these felt ones!

Of course we have many more dolls, gnomes, animals, bags, dress-ups, jewelery and craft items which are made by hand within Australia. Come and browse our online store today. Almost all of our products are actually handmade or handcrafted, but the ones above are some which are made by people I know, with their own hands!

Shopping for Artists

Quality art supplies are such a delight to artists of all ages. They improve results and are a pleasure to use. Here are some gift ideas for your arty loved ones...

Stockmar Colour Circle Paints
Set of three colours (red, yellow, blue)
Just $26.00 per set.
Try our glass paint jars for storing them in, $1.65 each.
For more information on techniques
for using Stockmar art products, click here.

Kindergarten Paint Brush from Mercurius.
18mm brush of amazing quality, just $14.00.

I get excited by crayons, after years of enduring the average quality ones available in most department stores. The ones above are Crayon Rocks, soy-based crayons from the USA which are vegan-friendly and help prepare little hands for handwriting. They also look great, don't they? More stock (in two sizes) due from the USA in time for your Christmas orders. Stay tuned. Just $10.00 for the pack of 16 vibrant colours.

The delicious-smelling Honey Sticks are so sturdy and yet they deliver smooth, bright colours when in use. Ingredients include beeswax and non-toxic pigments, and the stubby design means that these crayons will last! Just $13.00.

Stockmar Block Crayons - quality you can trust from Germany. These come in a metal tin, in a set of eight bright colours. Ideas for using Stockmar crayons can be found here. Only $16.50 from Spiral Garden, much less than you'd pay elsewhere!

A perfect addition to any gift of crayons are these fabulous hand-made wool felt pencil cases from a Fair Trade supplier through Mercurius Australia. Available in a variety of colours and only $9.50 each!

Once customers discover Mercurius' Main Lesson Books, they always come back for more. These can be used in classrooms, in homeschooling, as journals, for many different art mediums and methods, or just for fun! They include 32 pages of quality paper with onion skin paper in between to help preserve artwork. Just $4.00 per book.

Lyra Pencils are the longest-lasting pencils which
are a delight to hold and use. From $2.60.

Lyra Sharpener - look, it's not plastic!
$3.20 each, suits most sizes of pencil.

We stock dozens of other quality art products at Spiral Garden. Happy Shopping!

Shopping for Babies

Not another teddy bear...

We have some fantastic gift ideas for babies, check out these best sellers - all natural and top quality!

Knot dolls, all-time best seller available in
pink, orange, green, lavender, blue and yellow.
$13.00 each

21cm wide rainbow window star
$10.00

Single felt ball $7.00

Garden Flags $65.00

Bamboo Washcloths $10.00

Dyed Muslin Playcloths $10.00
White Muslin, Silk and Cotton Playcloths also available!

Baby wraps available in
Cheesecloth Jumbo
Cheesecloth Newborn
and Flannel Jumbo
... so versatile, from $15.00!

Wooden Teething Ring $16.00
from Drei Blatter in Germany.

Shopping for Boys

Of course, most of our products appeal to both boys and girls, but in my experience, the items below have been especially popular with boys...

Felt Horse, 14cm high and only $18.00

Aussie Anamalz with pouch $34.95.

Debresk Vehicles, from $9.50

Lyra Skin Colour Pencils $18.00 - for painting faces without the mess or skin irritation!

Stockmar Block Crayons - tough but still delightful to use!
$16.50 (pay up to $22 at other Aussie retailers)
Give with a quality blank book!

Solid Wooden Fish Xylophone $27.00

Claves $11.50

Eco Clay $30.00, add a rolling pin.

Animal Tails $12.00.

Juggling Balls - set of 3.
Current stock includes lots of blue, green and brown tones.
Just $20.00 per set.

All-in-one house - a dollhouse and puzzle in one.
Use for little gnomes or other figures.
Made in Germany by Kaefer.
$60.00
Gnomes in stock include Earth Gnomes, Season Gnomes and Gnome Families.