Well, that’s it. No more Gift Suggestions from us; we are done, you’re on your own. You can of course see the whole of this years Gift Guide right here, and all of our Christmas suggestions ever can be found in one handy spot over here.

But now the children are on their way home from school, the snow is falling, and we are calling the Christmas Holidays finally HERE.

So we are closing our LittleStuff doors to fill our days with mince-pie-baking, sausageroll-making, cheesy movie watching, paperchain creating, walks and frolics in the snow (it SNOWED! It really DID!).

We just thought we’d take this opportunity to thank you all for joining us during this most bonkers and wonderful year, and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2011.

’til next time.. toot toot!

Laura & Katy
xxx

I have to say – I do try and stay clear of The Literary Gift Company. I actively avoid it, if I’m honest. But… temptation to get the better of me, and I wandered over for a quick peek. And once again, I sqeee-ed, oooh-ed, gasped, and was stabbed with longing everywhere I turned.

So. Anyway. Once I dragged myself away from the bulging shopping basket, this is the one little thing I couldn’t resist showing you… The MOST perfect notebook. It’s one of my favourite quotes, it looks sooo pretty, and it’s just chock full of lovely empty paper waiting to be written on. And don’t tell me you don’t LOVE an empty clean new notebook, because it’s a universal truth that we all do.

*WARNING – you will lose at least 20 minutes browsing the Literary Gift Company web site. FACT.

This is going to be a big hit with babies aged 6-18 months! All little ones loves shape sorters and these lovely little soft shapes are perfect for babies little hands to put inside the cylinder!
It has lots of crinkly sounds and different colours and textures for baby to explore. Sure to be a big hit is the mirror and the handles for baby to grab and hold!

*Pauses while you all regain your breathe from that “ooooh!” of wanting*

We have a full review of this delicious Lin & Leo bag from Lush Baby (yes, it IS a practical change bag too – who’d have thought?), but it would make SUCh a wonderful new Mummy gift we thought you might want to wave it under your mans nose as soon as possible…

Here’s Emilys first thoughts when she received it:

“Love the very VERY lovely, cheerful changing bag. Been stroking it all evening and a bit worried about putting stuff in it! Couple of my Mummy friends have been stroking the bag with jealousy in their eyes. Red definitely, gorgeously best.

It is so much more glamorous than my usual bag – the leather is lovely, the colour is bright and I feel quite the yummy mummy! It isn’t cheap, but if I had the money to spend this is what I’d be spending it on! Off to go and gaze in adoration at the bag once again before actually doing something constructive today.”

Oh for Father Christmas to pop one of THOSE under the tree, eh?

…in this book.

And they are of the very best seriously sensible, naughty, purr-ey, hidey sort.

I bought this book on a whim – at £2.45 it was hardly going to break the bank, and seemed like a good stocking filler.

When it arrived, I flipped through it, like you do. And despite being all alone in an empty house, I actually laughed out loud. Not smiling with a huffey sort of noise, not an amused “hmmm!” but a real, genuine burst-out-of-the-middle-of-my-chest laugh.

I ADORE this book!

It’s such a quirky little tale, and written in such an endearing manner that I can’t help thinking it’s an overlooked classic.

Do what I did – splash out on the couple of squids next time you’re on Amazon. Or hunt it down from your library. If you like cats you will LOVE this book, I promise.

Oh, and, um, your children will like it too…

Don’t forget these gorgeous lovelies from Jonnys Sister.

Only they’re not His Sisters. Or, in fact, Jonnys.

They’re mine.

Or yours.

Or whomever you buy them for, presumably.

Gorgeous, lovely, wonderful, sweetly delicious letters. Simple, stylish and just wonderful.

Can you tell I have a bit of a soft spot for ours?

You can read why I love Jonnys Sister here – but honestly, they are very special, and the sort of present that will grow in your affections year on year. And never ever be cast out or grown tired of.

And if you do, throw it in our direction. Whatever the letter, I have plenty of children, I’m sure one will fit it.

We’re looking for a little Blog Love ourselves. So. Anyone who mentions our Bestest Christmas Gift Guide on their blog (and leaves a comment here to tell us about it!) will be entered into a prize drawer to win this rather gorgeous Cheese selection… or maybe the Choclate and Proseccio set over there (or, if you prefer, you can take £50 John Lewis vouchers and go buy yourself something pretty… *rolls eyes*)

It’s honestly that easy – mention us on your blog before the 20th December, come back here and tell us and our Bestest Christmas Gift Guide, and we’ll pop your name in a hat to win your choice of prize.

The prize is sponsored by those really rather clever and lovely people at Appliances Online – they’ll also be contacting someone who comments to offer a freebie themselves, so you have two shots at swagging some loot!

Yes, yes, I know, Maileg Mice. Again.

But Look!

They have Christmas Hats!

SUCH a perfect thing in a certain Big Long Fillable Sock.

There’s a baby girl or baby boy mouse each in its own seasonal matchbox (complete with mattress, pillow and blanket as always).

Oh and the festive hats are removable, so you won’t have Christmas Mice in July, honest!

(you might also want to take a peek at the really VERY special Mama Mouse. Or indeed Armstrong Ward’s Christmas Festive favourites section, which is stuffed to the gills with oh SUCH prettiness for your home)

oh! *Cue hand clapping and a little squeal of “oooh!”

I love the ‘new’ old style of tin tea sets – not just oh-so-sweetly vintage to look at, but the tin is so flippin’ practical too!

There are quite a few styles around, but this one really caught my eye – so cheery and bright with the loveliest of garden bugs all over it.

Perfect for summers in the garden, or tea parties on the bedroom floor. Please do be sure to remember Big Brown Bear’s invite, you know how touchy he can be.

Plus, in the hunt for the best tin tea set, I fell over the Oliver & Kiki website – new to me, and SUCH a lovely place to spend a while browsing!

*swoon*

Come on, you can’t tell me you’re not looking at that with a little pang of *WANTS!* going on.

What a truly fabulous set it is (comes in deep purple and mustard yellow too). Chunky bobble hat, matching scarf (with tassels, naturally) and oh-so-snug mittens, the ultimate knitwear for any snow day.

And d’you know what’s even Fabulous-er?

It’s reduced from £32 to £19.

Oh yes it is.

I know it would certainly give me a little happy.

Yes – MORE pyjamas! By popular demand I hasten to add. Everyone loved the Glow In The dark Dinosaur pyjamas we showed you back in November, and it’s consistently been in our top ten posts hit list (over there on the right) – and we keep getting asked for more.

So – here y’go.

The Wee Gooseberry is a one-stop-pyjama-shop, honestly! You might want to take a look here for some beautiful brushed cotton girls pyjamas (and a couple of rather lovely nightdresses too)

These ones are officially my absolute favourite girls pyjamas ever – vintage girls-at-play design, with characters straight out of those delicious old ladybird books.Am seeing the Pink one rushing around on Christmas morning in these already…

Oh how utterly brilliant this torch is!

We’ve had him on review for a while now, and I can honestly say he’s… brilliant.

I’ve found children’s torches can be a bit hit-and-miss, so often the designers opting for appeal over praciticality.

But this Lego torch has both by the bucket load!

Firstly, he’s BIG – 20cm. You just can’t lose him very easily.

Secondly his lights in his feet are very very bright, so his torch-like attibures are thoroughly well looked after.

Third, his on and off switch is the large square button on his tummy – dead easy, no fiddly stiff and tricky switch for even small hands.

And fourth – and maybe the most important, he just keeps on working! Powered by AAA batteries, we haven’t had to replace them yet, despite Pink thinking he is her own personal bedside lamp, constantly falling asleep with him sitting on her dressing table, shining his spotlight across her pillow; discovered by us some hours later.

Fully articulated, and with that never-tiring Lego man sweetness, how can you resist him? He’s universally adored, from the 4 yr old up to the 12yr old (and by their parents too).

You can also get a Lego mini torch keyring version which has a brilliantly bright light too, and the Lego Lantern which is a good guide light providing a softer more general glow, but not so much play value as it’s rigid. Do NOT get the dynamo wind up version though – all tfour children snagged their fingers in the wind up arm.

Boots have him for the best price I’ve seen at £17, and as they currently have 3 for 2 on children’s toys you can probably get an even better deal if you’re looking for more than just him.

Oh oh OH! I was going to add these hampers to the Gift Guide anyway – such a brilliant last minute present for that family you simply don’t know what to get.

And then – and THEN – I saw Thorntons have reduced them to HALF PRICE!

Oh yes, my fine friends, That great big enormous pile of Thorntons fine chocolates, all presented in a really very very pretty box, can be yours for a mere £17.50!

£17.50!

And with milk and white chocolate lollies in fun Santa, reindeer and snowman shapes through to the Dark Chocolate Brazils (hands off, those are MINE) this really is a hamper for the whole family.

To be honest, I’ve ordered another for myself – I’d far rather have this than the obligatory couple of tins of Quality Street when we all sit round playing PIT…

I have said it before, and I will no doubt say it again. I LOVE this series of books! There is something endearingly charming about Louise Comforts illustrations, and the detail that goes into the eneromous pop-up ability is just perfect.

Opened up fully, they create a large circle – the best method of attack is for you to tie the covers back on themselves, lie on the carpet with the book and simply immerse yourself utterly in the fairy’s world. We already have the My Fairy Showtime and the My Fairy Princess Palace, and the new My Fairy Magic School is, if anything, even better.

It follows the same theme as the rest – paper press-out elves and fairies with accessories and clothes, and a huge pop-out world with cupboards and doors and a hundred little ‘things’ to sweep your play along.

If you have a small person who adores all things make-believe, they will honestly be thrilled when they swing this book open. Pink was 2 when she received her first one – at 4 she still plays with them regularly (and her nearly-8-yr-old brother ‘helps her out’ a lot when no bigger brothers are looking). We always take them on holiday or to the grandparents as they are a huge toy in a very small package, and they make SUCH a wonderful gift. You can get some idea of the splendour and scale of these books by Louise Comfort and Maggie Bateson from some photos of Pink with her first My Fairy book.

Best of all, this one is only £8.15 on Amazon at the moment (in fact, the whole series are reduced, I just might go and stock up myself…). Go, buy – and come tell me if you don’t love it INSTANTLY.

The wonderful Happy Tiny Babies website has some gorgeous ranges of maternity lingerie. The Womama Rosie range is especially lovely and very feminine.

Are you looking for a beautiful maternity gift for someone who is blooming? Happy Tiny Babies will also give you free delivery AND free gift wrapping. How fabulous is that?

Chris from Thinly Spread has kindly been reviewing the brilliant Love2Read books for us… here’s what she thought:
At the outset this looks like just another photo book and the idea a little gimmicky but my little chap hasn’t been parted with it since it arrived! The idea is that the books combine key words with family photos to bring reading to life for children.

When designing the book I found I was spoilt for choice with templates and wanted to make more than one before  settling on ‘All About Me’ and starting to upload photos and add text. It was very easy and straightforward.

Sharing the book has been a joy and all the family have loved it. I made sure that I popped in photos of his brothers and sister and simple text to go with them and he is very proud of being able to read it!

The only drawback is that it does rely on you being able to spell! When he insisted on taking it to school to show, I had to own up to his teacher that I had spelt cannon, as in exploding things, with one ‘n’ which turns it into a religious or musical thing! She hadn’t noticed and I only did when my 14 year old delighted in pointing it out to me!

This book is a real bonus on the bookshelf of a beginning reader!

If your kids have ever wanted to be their very own Director and create an original animated film, then this is definitely the kit for them.

Animatazz is a totally unique kit like you’ve never seen before. It has everything needed to make their very own action film. Packed inside the box are poseable figures from which they can conjure up their own creature, monster, boy, girl – in fact absolutely anyone or anything! The generous supply of multi-coloured modelling clay is used to give the ‘stars’ any sort of personality your kids please, and they can even dress them up in clothes, too. There’s also a ready-made backdrop ‘set’, an instruction CD, and loads of tips, tricks and ideas to get them started. Their creativity and imagination will know no bounds!

Oh, look! I Want one for me! This gorgeous ‘Skip Hop’ owl backpack can be seen with a  number of its compatriots (the zebra is also adorable) over at the most lovely Peanut & Pip (have you been? If not, pootle over there now and have  a potter. So many lovely things).

At £20 it’ll make a brilliant much-loved and very-much-used back pack for any pre-schooler, nursery or KS1-er.

We featured this particular hottie as a Spotted! item way back in March as the perfect antidote to a ‘meh!’ morning. Well, the response was overwhelming – one of our most popular Spotted!’s ever. It seems we all love a loittle warmth, comfort (and tea & Sympathy) every now and then.

Well, for the last month this particular hottie has been gracing my own lap… and I can honestly say it feels like a small hot bundle of tea and sympathy every time I fill it. The knit is soft and snug, and the colours are soothingly pretty. For under £10 including the hot water bottle, what are you waiting for?

(Am also loving the grey fleecy “Grumpy and Irrational, do not approach unless you have chocolate“. The “I am so poorly I can hardly change channels” made me laugh, and the Moomin hotties just give me a little OOOH! of happy…)

You ask for pyjamas, we bring you more pyjamas.

And what pyjamas they are! Big bold red stripy 100% organic cotton Santa pyjamas, so soft and stretchy – what better for snuggling up in on Christmas Eve?

They can even be personalised so they read LittleStuff *hearts* Santa (but be quick, all personalised goods from MeenyMineyMo have to be ordered by the 12th)

From age 2-5, and £25 – sure to be a mahoosive hit this winter!

As always, don’t forget to have a meander around MeenyMineyMo’s site. Not only is it cool enough to make an 11 yr old stop in his tracks and say “Oh, cool site!” (yes, it’s THAT good), but they stock a gazillion yummy things, everything can be personalised and it’s all 100% organic cotton.

(Personally I have my beady eye on these brilliantly funky wooden placemats.)