My Rainboots

I wrote about Linda Gullbeg's shoe collection for kids - Mina Shoes - a few months ago, and now she has added a pair of rain boots to the SS2012 collection. We are big fan's of rain boots in our home. Little L wears hers as soon as it rains just a little, and I wear mine pretty much every time I walk the dog during the colder months. Mine are by Tretorn - a shoe company from the city where I grew up.

Mina's Rainboots are absolutely gorgeous. I love how the little doxin is wrapped around the boot, and the red bow is priceless. The doxin looks just like the one my moror (grandma) and morfar (grandpa) had when I was a little girl.

Scandinavian Stocking Stuffers

We don't do Christmas stockings in Sweden the way I have come to love here in America. You may find an occasional stocking, but if you do it is most likely used for decoration and not to put presents in. My mother-in-law made me a gorgeous cross stitch stocking after JJ and I got married and one for Little L after we had her. I'm sure she will start working on one for Baby L as well.

I enjoy trying to find gifts that are small enough to fit in the stocking and here is my Stocking Stuffer Guide for this year.

funflector Snowman - $4.95

A snowman funflector so that your child is visible during dark winter afternoons playing in the snow (if we get any snow). We have reflectors on most of our winter gear.

Hanna Andresson Swedish Moccasins - $14.00

Swedish moccasins are perfect to keep your kiddos feet warm during cold winter days. We have several pairs so that the girls don't fall on our tile floors (even Baby L will start to walk soon at the rate she is going - she's already crawling at 6 months old). 

Sockerbit Candy Zoo Lollipop - $3.25 per 1/4 lb

A little candy in the stocking is a great idea, and a Zoo sucker from Sockerbit. I am planning on getting a bag of candy for our Holiday party, so I will get some extra suckers for Little L.

IKEA Glove Puppets - $1.99 (on sale too!)
Finger puppets for creative pay with friends or family. We have a lot of fun with our sheep.

Viking toy Chubbie - $4.50 ea
These are good for all conditions, even snow-races on homemade snow tracks.

Polarn O. Pyret Hat - $19.50
Polarn O. Pyret classic stripe hat is good for quick trips to the car or grocery store, and it is so cute and practical. The girls each have one, and I'm thinking about getting a big kid size for myself.

Lilla Hairclips - Russian Dolls - $7.00

Hairclips are perfectly small so you can fit a lot in the stockings and Lilla hairclips are inspired by simple and vibrant Scandinavian design. Little L's hair is in her face all the time now because I am letting it grow out.

A Scandinavian Cyber Monday

I haven't actively been searching for Cyber Monday deals yet - but htought I would share what I have for Scandinavian kids style with everyone. Check it out on my sales & giveaways page.

Thanksgiving with family

We have a great thanksgiving this year. JJ's siblings are in town and The L's little cousin is here to visit. She's 1.5 years old and her and Little L are playing really good together. They have just had a few little jealousy fights since the got here two days ago. I still have a lot of vacation left, so took a few extra days now - I am saving the rest for Christmas.

Scandinavian style advent candle holder

The first of advent is November 27th year. We light a candle every Sunday during advent.

For those of you who do not have a candle holder, here is a tutorial on how to make one.

Frosk wear

Found Frosk @ The Mini Social a few days ago. It's a scandinavian inspired american made brand that I had not heard of before. Founded in The Woodlands Texas (a place I have visited often) in 2008 by Bente Nilssen. They produce all their clothes in the US, using natural European materials. I love the Icy tones and relaxed look of this winters collection.

Stuff & Things

• I love the toy animal photography by Jeff Frisen featured over on Inhabitots.

• This baby doll is perfect for all baby fashion addicts like me. Sized to fit actual baby clothes, it will give your cute little outfits more use and your child will end up with several outfits to dress their doll in.

• I wish I would have seen this baby photo project @ Young House Love before I had baby L (or Little L) so I could have done something similar.

• This home maid reindeer advent calendar I found over on Little Scandinavian is so cute!

• This small and simple nursery I found over at Mini Piccolini is so gorgeous.

The Advent Calendar

December is fast approaching and here is my first Christmas themed post. I'm not much for getting in to Christmas stuff too early, but since you need your advent calendar for December 1st I thought this was appropriate now.

The advent calendar (or Christmas calendar) is a big part of the Swedish Christmas tradition. It is a calendar used to count down the days until Christmas. The classic Swedish type calendar is a large card with a small window for each day of December until Christmas. This means there are 24 windows since in Sweden we celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve. One window is opened on every day of advent, and behind the window you can find images, small poems or a portion of a story.

Here in the US I have seen the chocolate advent calendars available in many places, but have never been able to find one with images or words. I don't want my 2 year old to eat a piece of chocolate every day so I have asked Mormor and Morfar to send us one with little pictures behind the windows. I actually found the paper calendar below at The Land of Nod.

Other than the paper calendar there are also candles that you burn down one day at a time or big wall calendars that fit a small gift that the children can open for each day. The candle below is by Danish George Jensen, and the pocket calendar is by Danish Maileg.

Comfortable in Scandinavian Velour and Terry

When I was a kid comfort was by far my most important factor when deciding what to wear. I hated wearing jeans because I didn't think they were comfortable. I can still remember a red velour sweater with a little bunny on it that I wore frequently. Although I can't be sure if it was because of the velour or because of the bunny since bunnies are my favorite.

Velour just has the right combination of stretch and comfort with a velvet feel. French terry is another fabric that is super comfortable to wear. When the temperatures started to drop here in KY I started to look for some warm comfortable clothes for my girls.  I have a velour playsuit by Me Too for Baby L that will be perfect this winter. Here are some more Terry and Velour Scandinavian kids fashion options I found.

Terry Dress by Ej Sikke Lej

Velour Sweater by Urban Elk

Merino Wool Terry by Polarn O Pyret

Terry Playsuit by Smafolk

Velour Radish Dress by DUNS Sweden

Stripe Velour Jacket by Katvig

Velour Playsuit by Me Too

Mini Rodini Outerware 2011

Mini Rodini has some great outerwear for this winter. They are a great fashion statement, yet functional and will keep your children warm. The faux fur coat is just super cute.

You can find Mini Rodini outerware at Sweet William here in the US.