Category Archives: Children’s design

DreamWorks to Make Stars of Danish Troll Dolls

February 15, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

On my trip to Copenhagen recently I had the pleasure to bump into an old acquaintance of mine, the Good Luck Dam Troll.

I spotted a great selection of Trolls, all of them supposed to bring good luck to the owner, in a store and picked up two for the girls.
I used to have a few when growing up and always loved theses small creatures, originally created in the 30′s by a poor Danish fisherman and woodcutter Thomas Dam, when he carved a doll based on Scandinavian trolls for his daughter Lajla. It soon became popular and the wood was replaced with rubber and then vinyl, like how it is today. And the good news is that the Trolls are still from the same family owned business in Denmark, now run by the second generation.

And soon we’ll be seeing the Good Luck Trolls, with their crazy colourful hair, coming to the big screen via DreamWorks Animation, with their very own film!
It won’t be the dolls’ first movie appearance though as they also show up in the opening sequence of Toy Story 3.

We’ll be doing some exploring in London today as Mr Troll is excited to see his new city. Follow our adventures on Twitter!

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Interior Inspiration, LIVING the ferm way

February 8, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

ferm LIVING is a Danish interior company that aims at designing and manufacturing interior products with a graphic touch. The product range consists of wallpaper, Wall Stickers, textiles, kitchen items, a large children’s collection and lots more.
ferm LIVING recently launched a showroom, inviting customers and press relations for a presentation of the Spring Summer 2012 collection. Looks like a great event and what a brilliant way of passing on some interior inspiration!



© ferm LIVING
See more photos from the ferm LIVING showroom event over at the ferm LIVING blog

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CPH kids in pictures

February 4, 2012 by Scandinavian mum
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Yes, We Do Love Wood!

January 30, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

We.Do:Wood furniture we combine design, quality and responsibility in every phase of the process. To us, this is the essence of good and sustainable design and out of respect for a world where everything is connected.
Designed by Sebastian Jørgensen this simple side table is also a functional children’s desk with a large pull-out drawer, which can be used to stash paper, crayons and other favorite toys from both sides of the table.
Together with Lilly Chair you will have children’s furniture that will last through generations.

The Geo Table made of bamboo is designed to be assembled easily at home and is available in 3 colors, black, red and blue.

www.wedowood.dk

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Contemporary design for children by Ella & Otto

January 29, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

Ella & Otto was founded by the designer Tania Urban in London in 2008, and are focusing on children’s bedding and accessories. With the products Tania brings together her experience as a designer and as a mother of four children. Raised in Sweden she now lives in London with her family.
We think worth noticing is the children’s bedding with it’s stand out print and the nature inspired organic range for babies.


© Ella & Otto 2011 collection

There is also some great advice from Tania on How to decorate children’s room, the Independent. Ella & Otto will be exhibiting at Bubble London and we are looking forward to see the products. What do you think?

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Nomess Copenhagen -storage when you need a spring-clean!

January 28, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

As the days gets longer and the sun is peeking through the window it’s time to have a proper spring-clean, to treat your home to some attention, care and love. With a few simple steps it’s easy to achieve a tidy and fresh living space.
1. Out with the old and in with the new. Well, not quite as drastic as it perhaps sounds, but do go through all things, especially the ones that has ‘no place to live’.
Consider giving away to charity what’s still usable and throw away what cannot be saved. Make decisions!

2. Everything in it’s place. In order to achieve that you’ll need storage. Especially with a smaller home a good storage solution is crucial. Storage like bookcases, shelves and multi functional furniture. Make the use of wall space by fitting a tall and narrow bookcase or shelving unit. Use coloured boxes to arrange books, magazines and DVD’s to keep them out of sight.
A streamlined room with masses of storage is an ideal way store all your child’s treasures and toys. Not only will it be time saving by easy access, but it will also protect the items from damage when laying about and maybe most importantly it will open up the room and create a feeling of space.

3. A family spring clean day. Organize a day, or two, where you involve the whole family.
We do a family spring-clean in our household and the girls just loves taking part. And helping out makes them even more happy with the end result.
They do anything from sorting out toys and clothes for charity to actually clean with water and soap. It’s actually quite helpful and even fun when everyone joins in.

Nomess Copenhagen is the ultimate solution for anyone looking to make order out of chaos with designed quality products and to give you control in your busy life. Nomess winning concept “a place for everything and everything in its place” it’s exactly what we need when organzing our home and giving it a well deserved spring clean!
Oh… and I think the products are rather funky too, I love both the finish, use of material and lots of colours! nomess.dk

Children's clothes hanger available in 8 delicious alu colours, 30 cm, 5 for DKK139 by Nomess.


Shelving units in colourful acrylic made into one bookcase, by Nomess.


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Renew the children’s bedroom with Scandi interior and decor

January 26, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

Winter will soon be over, and it’s time for both a spring clean and perhaps freshening up your child’s bedroom. We’ve made a small selection of desirable furniture, decor and accessories that are sure to renew juniors room in an instant.
Key elements are; Storage, materials like wood and soft fabrics and colours -lots of gorgeous and utterly delicious colours!

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Circa, the circular calendar

January 17, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

Seen at the number one UK event for designer gifts, toys and accessories Top Drawer;
With round shapes and bright primary colours like yellow, blue and green this calendar is a lot more than a high quality wooden toy.

Grasping the concept of time, from what day it is to how the year is build up with weeks, months and even seasons can seem a bit difficult for a young child. This rotating and stack-able interactive toy makes it fun to explore and it makes it easy for parents to explain and visualise time, how many days is it to Saturday, what month is after this one, what season comes next or more importantly, how many days is it to the child’s next Birthday! The circular calendar Circa makes learning fun!

The inventor and founder grew up in Denmark and lives today with her family in London. Learning through playing is exactly the main emphasis of the nurseries in Scandinavia, up until the age of 6, and it even continues into school life. Combining this with great design and you’ll have an educational toy that not only gets praised by parents but also wins awards after awards.

www.circacalendar.com

The Circa circular calendar is recommended from the age of 3, with my daughter soon to be 7 still showing a great interest in it. Retail price £39.99 at Nordic Elements

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Organic knitted toys -handmade by you!

January 9, 2012 by Scandinavian mum

This is your chance to create something handmade for your little one, with ready made kits, including yarn of organic cotton, instructions and knitting pins from the Swedish designer Erica Laurell.
We love knitting kits as it’s a great way for both children and adult beginners to try out the wonderful world of creative knitting. And there’s no such thing as something handmade by you -precious!
Knitting Kits by Erica Laurell are available from the Danish agent Rikros. They will be exhibiting brands within toys and accessories, like Blafre Design, Skummis and Bellio at CPH Kids in February.

© Erica Laurell

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Imaginative play at Little Red Stuga

December 23, 2011 by Scandinavian mum

Little Red Stuga is a design and production studio, creating stories, products and projects in-house and in collaboration with designers, clients and partners. Do we buy toys for our children because we think they will like them or because we like it!? Little Red Stuga once said “As a designer for children it’s one of the biggest challenges! The goal should be to keep both (adult and child) happy and satisfied.” We love Little Red Stuga and the way they innovate to support children’s basic needs of activity and impressions and to keep adults young at heart. Our ambition is to create a platform for quality design for big and small children with an international appeal and a pedagogical content.





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