we're excited!

because we are going to be featured here in a few weeks! stay tuned!

how to help a new parent (when you dont have kids of your own and wouldnt have the first idea where to start!)

about 13 years ago someone i knew had a baby, so i spent about a third of my weekly wage and bought her a fluffy blue teddy bear and a big bunch of flowers.  i felt good about it, my friend was probably wishing that i had of given her nothing. the only present i probably gave her was a bit of guilt she felt when she left the flowers in the hospital rubbish bin - actually she was most likely too tired and busy to even give the flowers and bear a second thought.

fast forward to late 2008 when i had my son & i too faced a similar predicament.  it wasn't until i had my son and became a parent did i realise the error of my ways.  flowers? teddy bears? useless and a waste of space and time.  (i do not hate teddy bears - my son LOVES teddy bears now, in fact he plays with them heaps now).

things i wanted when i was a new mum: a personal chef to prepare all my meals & snacks & make me me cups of tea that stay warm long enough for me to drink, a masseuse (to try to get a small amount of circulation happening), a cleaner (one that does all the washing too) & a doorman to answer the door and deal with the constant stream of  guests visiting the new bub. 

well back to reality....

here is a list of things that are really helpful when you are a new parent, if you dont have kids yourself its really difficult to know what to get. 

help a new parent by:

• ask whether they want hospital visitors, it might seem like a nice idea to surprise new parents with a hospital visit but it can be unwanted when there is a constant stream of nurses, doctor, physiotherapist, nutritionist, lactation consultant, priest (i kid you not a priest called into my room for a chat 24 hours after i has a caesarean, we politely sent him on his way. speaking to a priest was low on my list of priorities that day) another visitor can be an annoyance.

• do not arrive to the home of the new parents empty-handed, they are tired and overwhelmed and need all the help they can get, dont ask just bring. 
• good ideas are:
• NUTS (packed full of nutrition, great for snacking when too busy to make a square meal)
• MILK (the new parents have probably had a stream of visitors and made endless cups of tea, not only are you helping but you are assured of getting a cuppa with milk too so everyone wins!)
• BREAD (too busy to go to shops)
• A HOT MEAL OR MEALS (if you love cooking make a simple casserole, stroganoff or soup, lots of new parents rely on takeaways in the initial weeks of parenthood so a home-cooked meal is brilliant). package up into plastic takeaway containers so they can just remove from freezer and re-heat when convenient.

• if you are feeling particularly generous some other suggestions are:

• lovely cloth wipes - some parents use disposable wipes, some use cloth wipes but unlike nappies no parent is going to be offended by a gift of lovely cloth wipes.  when i was a new mum i started off with disposable wipes until we realised we preferred cloth.  
• a nappy wash service - if you know your new parents are using cloth nappies you could help relieve some of the massive burden of washing/drying.
• a hamper of food.
• one of our gift boxes filled with beautiful tasty and practical goods! (wont break the bank and its all made here in Australia)

What did you find particularly useful when you became a mum (or dad)?

What would you suggest as a great gift for a new parent?

advice for new parents & organisation

i came across this great website this morning, it has lots of great tips and products to help organise your life and dont we all need a bit more organising?

i really like the idea of sunday night being 'diary night', i could definitely do that....for a few weeks then i start to forget.  like when i was sitting down on sunday to choose all of our meals for the week and writing out the shopping list for all the corresponding ingredients that i would need. i'm not organised now, i think its kinda nice to decide what you are having for dinner the same day rather than a week ahead (who wants to have a baked meal when its 35 celcius?!)

the same website had some great advice for new parents here

New Parents Survival Pack - Extra Organised

i thought i would do a little spiel one of our boxes. its called one of our boxes for new parents and its called 'Extra Organised' because that's what you are when you have just had a baby. not.

that's why you need this box.

i'm in love with this box, basically its lots of things that would have came in handy for me when i was a new parent.  and still would now that i'm an old(ish) parent

the box contains:

1. Handmade designer stationery: a Weekly Shopping list, Very Important Things To Do list & pencil (made of newspaper!) all bundled up in a cute corrugated cardboard envelope;
2. Rice & lavender cold pack: this cute little cold pack is filled with 100% Australian rice & lavender.  Just remove from fridge or freezer whenever needed to apply to little ones bumps and bruises, great for breastfeeding mums or even dads sore back (from bending over the change table);
3. Honey & herb botty butter: a staple for every new parent, you'll be using this alot! great to keep bubs skin soft and nappy-rash free, also great for breastfeeding mums to use on nipples as its safe for baby;
4. Organic baby soap: a gentle soap perfect for the softest skin;
5. Macadamia nuts: full of nutrients for tired sleep-deprived parents, great for a quick snack when you haven't had time to eat a square meal;
6. Handmade clove mineral soap (for dad) & grapefruit mineral soap (for mum): a lovely handcrafted soap.

so there's lots in the box to help lighten the load at the start of parenthood.

what did you want/need when you were a new parent?

ONLINE STORE NOW OPEN!!

well its been a long time coming and our online store is now open.
please check it out
thanks

http://www.giftboxology.com.au/

x

i'm trying to find the keys for our online store, they must be around here somewhere

yes, its exciting for us, its been a LONG time in the planning...
but the website looks VERY VERY close to flinging open its doors.

the rattles are all lined up in their little cardboard house
the wraps are snuggled up in their plastic blankies
the bikkies and rumballs and handmade sweets are bursting with excitement at the prospect of finally being opened and devoured (well maybe not that last bit)

we're ready to start promoting our great aussie gifts and cant wait to show you
x

buying australian-made is not easy...but not impossible

when i set about starting up giftboxology there was one thing that i never doubted - EVERYTHING we sold has to be australian-made. buying australian-made is something that i am very passionate about.  i'm all for free trade and buying fairtrade but it disturbs me that so many products are all made overseas now. especially clothes and toys.

i visited a toy shop with my son a few months back, we had a lovely browse about the store (well my son did, i spent most of the time watching him to make sure nothing was broken and placed back everything back where it should be after he had toddled off to the next object that took his fancy)...

anyway i approached the toy shop counter to inquire with the sales assistants and our conversation when something like this:

"hi there, just wondering if you could tell me which toys here are made in Australia?"  
"australian toys?"
"yes, do you have any Australian toys?" (um, yes, toys made HERE IN AUSTRALIA?! is that such a weird request i thought!)
"ah no, none of those here"
"ok, thanks, bye"

it was then that we left the store, me feeling disappointed, my son happy enough for playing with the toys (he's still too young to really care if they are his to take home)

why should we have to ask where the australian-made toys are? why are there NONE in the toy stores?

lucky we have lots of great people making beautiful things here in australia. who knows, maybe one-day they will be even stocked in the local toy shop.

i still find it astounding that toy shops in australia have NO TOYS MADE IN AUSTRALIA!? how absurd - are all the australian toys in the chinese toy shops? 

until then we can thank our lucky stars that we have the following:

www.madeit.com.au
www.chunkychooky.com
www.bris-style.com

and of course giftboxology when we open our cyber doors next week

x

grand opening soon

thanks for visiting our new giftboxology blog!
here at the giftboxology hq we have been flat out preparing for the grand opening of our online store.
we hope to have the store open in a few weeks time.

in the meantime we would love to let you know about us:

• we are an online store selling gift boxes filled with australian-made products
• our products are organic, eco, natural and handmade
• everything about our store is australian - from our gift tags printed locally on australian-made paper, to our boxes made in clontarf brisbane, to our courier that delivers your package

we believe that buying australian made is unreal and our store sells only australian-made


$1 from each gift box sold is donated to charity

• 50c to childrens charities
• 50c to carbon offsets

here is some of our products

in the meantime please check out our site www.giftboxology.com.au/ and sign up for our email newsletter so you can be advised when our store opens. check out our facebook page

thanks