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.

Spiral Garden's Little Mid-Winter Sale - One Week Only!

We're having a little mid-winter sale at Spiral Garden this week! Just our little way of saying thanks for the warm welcome you've given us.

There are lots of lovely goodies... some new and old favourites among them. Things to keep you busy indoors or to keep your seasonal table looking fresh and gorgeous while the cold weather is still here..

Sale ends July 31st, so get in quickly!

Hello from Hobart!

Hello fellow Garden lovers! We thought we might take a moment to introduce ourselves. We live in beautiful Hobart, a looong way from Spiral Garden's previous home - and a lot colder right about now too! Well we're slowly settling in here as new head gardeners at Spiral Garden... We have been pottering away with Bel for a few months now, working towards this and we are a little nervous and excited to begin! We've tidied and trimmed around the place and have now begun introducing lots of new beautiful things to the garden to complement our old favourites... Like this beautiful little set with two child dolls and a little sled. It even has little sparkles on it! It was handmade in Melbourne and picked up on our holiday there last week... just perfect for your winter nature table.

The dreamy wooden clouds are too... They are handmade in NSW and coloured with all natural, safe paints.

As are these beautiful wooden rainbows and their accompanying range.

While in Melbourne, we also picked up this amazing Pixie House while visiting our supplier there... hand felted and pieced together with such care.  So beautiful. It even has a little hidey-hole under the toadstool lid. The beautiful mushroom family pictured here are sold separately, but wouldn't they have a fab time inside? We'd love one for our home.

So, a little more about us...

We travelled here on our honeymoon over ten years ago and fell in love with the natural beauty of the place and were thrilled to move here when Oberon's conservation work called. Lauren trained and worked as a textile designer for many years before and after our move, going on to make children's clothing and other things to sell at the fantastic local design markets and a few stores, including Spiral Garden! Since moving here with our eldest daughter, we've bought a house near the river, birthed two babies at home and shared our home with a dog, a cat, two kittens, a guinea pig, two chooks and a bunch of gold fish... We home educate our three girls and spend our days following the seasons, exploring nature and treading as lightly on the earth as we can. We've shopped at Spiral Garden for a number of years and have always loved the philosophy and thoughtfulness of the range Bel has stocked. We're so excited to work with such beautiful products and look forward to bringing you more, with an emphasis on ethical products and showcasing local Tasmanian talent... There's so much more to come!

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week and happy new beginnings,

Lauren and Oberon. xx

Winter ... and big changes ahead!

Spiral Garden has some big, big changes ahead.  Our business will soon be nurtured by another home educating family, far away from Far North Queensland!  Spiral Garden will be trading out of Hobart, Tasmania, from 1 July 2012.

The online store will still offer lots of old favourites, but I’ve heard whispers of BIG plans for some amazing new products, gorgeous handmade items and lots of new ways to view and buy through Spiral Garden.  Stay tuned for more information!

** Don't forget that we still have some amazing Specials available, while current stocks last! **

Almost Winter in the Garden

We've stocked up on Winter delights:

Silver Story of a Silver Stork
Winter Playcloths (for nature tables, story telling, puppetry and more)
Winter Gnomes
Winter Dolls
Winter Craft Packs
Winter Cards
Winter Yarn
and all of our other knitting and crochet products...

Check out the gorgeous new home page design by Melissa Baker. She changes our image and verse with every season, a reminder of the wonder of Earth's cycles.

For more inspiration for the changing seasons, Winter craft and activity ideas can be found in this article. Stay warm!

Winter Competition!

Here's a competition for those who are quick!

We have on offer one All-in-One House by Kaefer in Germany. Measuring 15cm x 22cm x 7cm, this solid Alder toy is a play set and puzzle in one.

This all-in-one dollhouse contains chairs, tables, benches and other individual pieces limited only by the imagination! Travel-friendly, versatile and compact to store, this dollhouse is suitable for use with small dolls, or just on its own. This competition is open to all customers within Australia ordering over $30 before postage. Terms and Conditions can be found here. Competition closes next week, 30th June, at midnight. (As does our storewide 10% off sale!)