Little Cloud rabbit cushions

Introducing something new and rather wonderful to Cottontails Baby.... Liberty print rabbit cushions, each one hand made in a little British studio, each one soft, pretty and practically irresistible.

Well, irresistible  to me anyhow. About a month ago Claire from Little Cloud emailed me to tell me about her rabbit cushions and I fell in love right away.

So much so that I broke all my own rules about 'only stocking toys' and 'not spending anymore money' and placed an order right away.

I have created a new Nursery Decor department on the website especially to site the cushions (although actually it's a nice addition as somewhere for all those lovely Maileg home accessories to go too).

The rabbits come in eight different Liberty print fabrics and are £30 each. Some pretty pictures below and you can see / buy them all on the website here. I hope you like them as much as I do...

Sylvain and Jeanne on the beach

The sun is shining today  (I am even wearing a summer dress!) and thoughts are turning to summer holiday.

Oh, we had a fine time on the beach last year....

I wonder where we will all go this year....?

Sylvain and Jeanne bake Miracle Bars

Two weeks ago I went to a beekeeping meeting (yes, I keep bees, must write about that some time) where some particularly lovely cakes were served. Called 'Miracle Bars' they are a delicious medley of biscuit, coconut, chocolate, nuts and caramel - yes, the five main food groups. The host kindly shared the recipe with me and a couple of days ago I had a crack at them.

Ingredients below, then method demonstrated by Sylvain and Jeanne. They are ludicrously easy to make, a little rabbit and goose were easily up to the job...

100g butter, melted

125g Digestive biscuit crumbs

175g Chocolate chips

75g dessicated coconut

125g chopped mixed nuts

400g can condensed milk

Bake in a 9" tin at 180C / 160C fan / 350F / Mk 4 for 30 mins

 

Sylvain assembles the ingredients

 

And Jeanne brings the coconut

 

Digestive biscuit crumbs go into a tin

 

Melted butter then chocolate chips on the top

 

Then coconut and mixed nuts - we used hazelnuts and walnuts

 

Jeanne goose can't keep her beak out!

 

Pour a tin of condensed milk over the top

(Sylvain has passed out in the background, too many chocolate drops)

 

Nibble a biscuit while the Miracle Bars bake...

 

And voila...

 

...delicious nutty sweet cake bars!

Oliver goes to Shelsley Walsh

My other half was competing in a hill climb at Shelsley Walsh this weekend, and I went along too to keep him company (for one day anyway, he was there all weekend but there's a limit to my motor racing tolerance... so NOISY)

Imagine Mike's delight when he realised I had taken along an 'extra guest'... yes, along with picnic, book and camera, there was room in my bag for a little mouse! (Mike LOVES it when I start phtotgraphing soft toys in public places... ha ha...)

Oliver mouse had a great day out and is quite keen to go along to the next race meeting.... Not sure I'll be there but perhaps I can persuade Mike to pop him in the passenger seat?

For your own Oliver mouse, visit the Hazel Village section on our website.

Rudolph in The Guardian

Huge excitement at Cottontails Baby HQ this morning as a key member of staff makes it into the national press....

Rudolph: national press

In an article by Judy Heminsley, founder of Work From Home Wisdom, he features as an example of a more unusual kind of colleague....

 "Cats and dogs aren't the only home office pets. Charlotte Evans runs Cottontails Baby, an online shop selling classic toys and baby gifts, and Rudolph is the latest of her rabbit office managers. Not only does Rudolph keep Evans company, he takes a starring role in marketing the business on social media"

Here is a link to the whole article, Why Pets Make Perfect Companions for Homeworkers.

I am delighted to see the little fella in print, and even more delighted to be called 'Evans' - makes me sound quite serious and professional (if it wasn't for the whole rabbit-as-office-manager thing....)

 Anyway, here he is performing some of his important roles:

 

Rudolph at his desk

 

Checking on stock

 

Checking packaging materials

 

Paperwork

 

Ordering stock

 

Lunchtime nap

The Cottontails Spring Sale is now underway

I know, I know, it's a bit late... but I have finally launched the post-Christmas / January / Spring Sale. And I think it was worth waiting for as there are plenty of fabulous bargains to be had....

I over-ordered a bit this Christmas - gosh it's so hard to get it right - which is bad news for me, but good news for you, as it means I have quite a pile of surplus stock, especially festive things.

And I hope this goes without saying - I do hope Cottontails Baby is a trusted toy shop by now! - but obviously a Cottontails sale is full of real, proper reductions - I don't buy in stock just to put into a sale, I don't inflate prices to then reduce them or any of those kinds of shenanigans. Heaven forbid!

So head on over to the sale department (I've split it into Maileg / Moulin Roty / Everything Else) and have a look around...

And as I always say, Cottontails is a small shop so I don't have vast quantities of anything. Often just one or two items... so don't dawdle if you see something you like, as there is a very real chance that it might be gone next time you look.

Happy sale shopping!

Maileg Matchbox Mice - and a little house for them

A few weeks ago I spotted a rather lovely looking wooden shelving unit in the Scandi-Chic catalogue (the nice folks who supply all my Maileg stuff). I had the bright idea that I could order a few, spend a weekend customising them with cute little ditsy wall papers, little Maileg mouse pictures, that kind of thing. And then sell them for a fortune obviously.

 

Painted wooden shelves £57.50 - click here

So I duly ordered several shelving units.... and then Christmas took over and OF COURSE I haven't had time to do any mini interior decorating. What was I thinking? In fact they have just been sitting in the hall at home since they arrived. The other half isn't very pleased.

So, I've finally found a minute to pop them on the website 'as they are'. They are £57.50 and you can see them on the website here. They are still lovely, even without a quirky cheese fridge in the kitchen... And if I still have some left come the New Year, maybe I will find time to start decorating...

Also new in today, a plethora of Maileg matchbox mice. Seven new ones to be precise. You can see them all here on the website, and here are some snaps I took earlier. Thankfully they came out okayish... because at this time of year there is no time for faffing about with photography. Let alone decorating a mouse house.....