My Small Blog

WIN an Early Rider!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:51:00 +0000

Hello Chaps...! We are launching our brand new, much improved, lovingly re-designed website, which is due to go live at the end of August (fingers crossed - you know how these things are!)

To celebrate we are giving away one of our beautiful and much coveted Early Rider Bikes, and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to follow our blog or by joining us on Facebook...that's it - no need for witty comments, or silly photos (although you know how much we LOVE those...!)

The winner will be picked, at random, on the day of the re-launched website, and will be announced on our facebook page and here in the blog.

Simple.

And four runners up will recieve a £10 voucher to spend in our shiny new webstore. Hooray!

Fingers crossed!

Dawnxx

Summer? NEARLY!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:57:00 +0000

We are counting the days until the summer holidays... The children are restless, we're entirely fed up with making packed lunches, and we are steadily recycling the school jumpers - where we started the year with 6 in the house, we are ending term with 2 (and occasionally 3...!) Who knows where the other, well labeled jumpers ended up...?

So roll on Friday, and roll on the Great British Summer... here at MSW we are well prepeared, withe games for the rain and toys for the sun - we've even got a fine selection of toys which we think are super duper for having in the back of the car or in the plane and train - toys which make those long journeys fly by!

Dawn x x

And The Winner Is.......

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:51:00 +0000

We had so many wonderful entries to our father's Day Competition - Dad's are fab, and sometimes have an impossible job, and that's a fact. (Ever tried saying/doing the right thing for a lady who has had less than two hours sleep...?)

We had to pick a winner, and it was a toughy, but without doubt our Hero Dad was Lee Amey...we loved his wife Diane's post on our facebook page, and here's why:

Finn and Lucy's Daddy is really special because he makes them smile and loves them to the moon and back, but he is also a great hero. Finn has Apert's Syndrome and his Daddy has been my rock for the past 2 years. He is a strong wonderful man who remains positive when times are difficult. Over the last year he has raised £10,000 for Finn's hospital and RMHC by running from John O'Groats to Lands End, climbing the Three Peaks and running a marathon in Rome. Not only that but he has also served two tours of Afghanistan this year too. He is the greatest Daddy any little child could wish for because he's fun, caring and has the best hugs and reads the best stories. Lucy,Finn and bump love their Daddy LOOOOOOAAAAAADS xx

Congratulations and Happy Father's Day to Lee, and congratulations to all the other Dad's who make the world go round...

MSW x x x x

Win a £30 Voucher for having a Cool Daddy!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:44:00 +0000

Daddy's are amazing... and to celebrate these pretty fantastic people we'd like to hear your stories of Daddy heroics - wrestling with nappies, working out the engineering of breast pumps, erecting the birthing pool in a matter of minutes with NO instructions, building lego towers with no children in sight - you tell us about your super heroes, and one lucky winner will win a £30 Voucher to spend online in the store....

Simply visit our Facebook Page and upload your story - we'll announce the winner on Father's Day

Lots of Love.... My Small World x x x

You Know You're a Mummy When...

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:58:00 +0000

LOVING all your facebook posts on this thread, chaps. We put this up as a little bit of light hearted fun this morning, and some of the posts have had us in stitches - please join in the fun - we're in the middle of our end of year accounts (the least fun bit of being My Small World-ers) and this is really keeping the office smiling!! (Gemma's post made Dawn's tea come out of her nose!!)

Facebook - My Small World Toy Store

MSWxx

Free Boris worth £8.99 when you spend £30 or more!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:42:00 +0000

Our My Small Bookclub title for this month is the brilliant Calm Down Boris, a book which has been quite literally making children shriek with delight as they follow his over-enthusiastic adventures down at the park. He's orange, hairy and loves to KISS!!

It's been a big hit in our house, so much so that during a particularly fraught breakfast, as toast burnt, milk was spilt, toothpaste was smeared on the very last clean school jumper and I reached exploding point, Fred gave me a hug (toothpastey jumper and all) looked me earnestly in the eye and said 'Calm Down, Boris....'

...I almost laughed.

Everyone needs Boris. Oh yes the do! And, until June 10th we'll send you Boris for FREE when you spend over £30.00. Just use promotion code FBBORIS

Dawn x x x

My Small Gardener...

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:15:00 +0000

Join us in store for our fab gardening club...the beans we planted last month are sitting on the windowsill in their glittery pots, making a bid for freedom, and this week the famous Tab the Gardener will be helping our tiniest gardeners create a hanging basket, full to the brim with blooming loveliness...

The fun starts at 10am, until 11am, where we'll be having a story, planting our baskets and generally having a great, green fingered time of it!

£4.00, and suitable for all ages! Call on 01225 938338 to book your place, or take a chance and turn up on the day -

See you there!

MSW x x

My Small (Royal) Scribble...

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Its our art club tomorrow - especially for 1 - 4 year olds! Starting at 10am, finishing at 11am, with all sorts of sticking, glueing and colouring in between - we'll be making crowns (of course..) and quite possible a whole plethora of other wedding themed goodies....

(I'm actually very, very excited about Fridays Royal Extravaganza, especially since I have learnt that the lovely Ben Fogle's been invited to THE WHOLE THING - which must mean that Wils and Kate have great taste in friends, at the very least. Its all I can do to stop myself grabbing a tent and camping out in Parliament Square, which, if you knew me, is quite astonishing!)

My Small Book Club for Nearly Schoolers!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:50:00 +0000

Thursday morning sees us kicking off our weekly clubs at the store - and this week we begin with our Junior Book Club especially designed for the 'rising 4's'... Because, if you are heading to school in September, you might want to do something a little bit more grown up, possibly with children who will be joining you in your class! So, every month, between now and September, we'll be getting together, snuggling down, finding BRILLIANT books, and, with words and pictures, you can tell us what you think about our choices....

We'll be running clubs weekly - including My Small Gardener, for the budding green fingered among us, My Small Scribble - an Art club for preschoolers, and another book club designed for 3's and under.... All very exciting, and all very possible now we are firmly at home in our beautiful big new store in Little Southgate, Bath.....hooray!!

And if you are far, far away have no fear....behind the scenes we are busily redeveloping the website, and we'll be a hosting an online bookclub so you can join in the fun....Woo Hoo!

Lots of Love,
Dawn and the MSW Team x x x

January dull? Not here!!!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:17:00 +0000

Cold, dark, damp and a bit miserable. This may describe the weather, but here at MSW we are busily discovering lots of new shiny toys for you...travelling far and wide to bring you the absolute best we can find. We've already discovered some absolute peaches, and can't wait to shout about them - in the meantime, apologies for our stock levels - we had our best and busiest Christmas ever, which means we are rather depleted. However, if you need a pressie for a special birthday, give us a call and we'll have some lovely suggestions for you, and may even find you something extra special which hasn't found its way onto the web just yet!

Happy New Year!

MSW x x x

That's All, Folks!!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:12:00 +0000

We have now passed our guaranteed last posting date for Christmas...we can still take orders, but can't promise they will get to you by Christmas Eve...If in doubt, give us a call! And in the meantime, big hugs and kisses from all of us here at My Small World - we have loved the challenge of delivering pressies all across the Uk this year, and look forward to discovering lots of new and shiny toys for you to enjoy in 2011.

Have a beautiful, sparkly, white, playful Christmas, and a warm and cosy New Year!

Dawn, Iris, jen, Wendi, Lizzy and Katy

xxxx

Last Christmas Delivery Dates...

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 20:35:00 +0000

Its going to be a White Christmas...official! And while this is tremendously exciting it also means that we are putting in place contingency plans to ensure that every parcel gets to its rightful home in time ...

We are moving our last order date to guarantee Christmas Delivery forward to Sunday 19th December. This means we will have a full week to track parcels and re-arrange delivery times as neccessary.

We will be able to take orders after this date, but cannot guarantee Christmas Delivery.

Deliveries to Scotland and Newcastle have now been suspended by our courier company - conditions in these areas are poor, and set to deteriorate in the coming week... if you have placed an order to these destinations we'll let you know how things are progressing...

If you are worried, please call us on 01225 338668 - remember, we can track a parcel from the moment it leaves our door 'til the moment it reaches yours, and we'll be able to give you clear updates on progress...

Kindest Regards....and Happy Christmas!
(And thanks for making this our most successful December ever - we really appreciate your faith and loyalty!)

Animation Sensation!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:06:00 +0000

We've got our hands on what might be the next big thing when it comes to family pressies...an animation kit, complete with camera, which you simply plug into your pc to create your own animation film...Aardman eat your heart out!! We know it's not quite what you might expect from us, but anything which helps kids get creative is celebrated wholeheartedly by us!!

So you can see how utterly brilliant it is we are holding FREE animation sessions at our Southgate Store. We'll be busy animating from 3pm til 5.45pm; we'll bring the equipment - you just bring your imagination! (And although you can't buy them online yet, we'll have packs to sell on the day, (at £49.95).

See you there!

My Small World gets Bigger!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:13:00 +0000

Its all very exciting!!! On 30th October we opened our doors on our newest store. Its in the stunning Southgate Shopping Centre in Bath!! We are in the cutest bit - a covered arcade called Little Southgate which runs between Boots and Debenhams. We love it - and we know you will too!

We love the fact that there is so much more room for buggies and playing. We've installed a very low display table so that even our shortest visitors can properly get their hands on the toys. And at last we've got a dedicated book corner...a big thrill, because you know how mad we are about our books!!! We (and countless pregnant and breastfeeding Mums) are looking forward to the soon-to-arrive armchair, and everyone is mad about our stunning Stevenson Rocking Horse - as yet unnamed, but we are running a competition in store to come up with the perfect title! (Even Mums can ride it...!!!)

The reactions we've had have been amazing, and we owe a lot of people big kisses and hugs for being My Small World Heroes - from suppliers who pulled out all the stops to get us our beautiful toys in time, to our amazing team here at My Small World who worked their little socks off...(Big Heroes include Martin from Haba, who called in favours from across Europe to get us our delivery in time, and then drove down from the North with his beautiful wife Julie to deliver our amazing display unit; they even stayed 'til Midnight to unpack and price the delivery. And brought wine!

We can't wait for you to come and visit...as always, its a work in progress, and how you feel about what we do has a big impact on us. We want to make the new store as beautiful, intimate, quirky and funky as our original, just with more space to play...

lots of love

Dawn and the My Small World Team!

Phone Lines Down! So Sorry!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:35:00 +0000

Hi Guys...Our phone lines are temporarily down - we are not able to 'Talk Talk'! Bear with us - its getting fixed. In the meantime, just send us an email and we'll call you right back!
(Its sales@mysmallworld.co.uk by the way!)

Dawn, Jen and the team xxx

Grow Pumpkin, Grow!!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:23:00 +0000

Check out our My Small World Pumpkin!!! It's the biggest one ever, and we are trying to work out exactly how we are going to transport it to the shop...this one might just beat us, so we may have to carve it in Situ!

I know Halloween isn't everyone's cup of tea...but despite the cynicism, I absolutely adore this cheeky little festival. I've just written an article about the delights of Halloween japes, which will be published in Bath Life at the end of the month...I'll put a link here so you can read all about how Halloween gave me by biggest dose of Parental Guilt ever...quite an achievement!

For those of you who find the whole pumpkin carving/dressing up thing just too stressful, or too tough to squeeze in to your hectic working/family schedule, we've found some great shortcuts..

These great candle bags look fantastic lining your path or steps - almost as good, if not better, than a pumkin. And we've loved the craze for Chinese Lanterns, but stopped stocking them when we discovered the trouble the wire frames caused when landing in livestock fields. However, our friends at Light-A-Lantern have created a fabtastic eco-friendly version made with the lightest of bamboo frames, which means it doesn't matter where they land! And, better still, they've created a set of five funky Halloween ones....what a fantastically magical way to bring to a close a sugar fuelled evening!

Have a fab evening, whatever you do!

Lots of Love
MSW xx

Champagne and Tissues...

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:31:00 +0000

Yes, it has happened again! Some of the children who first visited us when they were babes in arms (and some when they were just bumps!) have, in the last few days, started school. So, as usual, with a lump in our throats and armed with huge amounts of champagne (donated by our friends at Waitrose) and big boxes of tissues, we threw open our doors to welcome parents who had just dropped their child off at school for the very, very first time. Some were teary, some resigned, some positively joyful, but all left with goodies bags for their children and big hugs from us.

And in the meantime, we've been beavering away planning our new season; we love Autumn - windy, crisp, misty and beautiful. It begs us to get out on our bikes, grab the kites and the hot chocolate and find a handy hill! (We've also been sorting out a Halloween night to remember at The Glove Factory - think 'Big Egg Day', but in the dark, making spooky food, reading stories, creating spooky artwork and going on a spooky walk... we can't wait - more details to arrive soon!

Big Love!
Dawn, Iris, Jennie, Wendi and Lizzy x x x

Holiday Sanity Savers...

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:56:00 +0000

Holidays are brilliant. But long journeys and long days mean that you might just need a little extra inspiration to help keep your family entertained, so we've put together a great selection of slip-in-your-suitcase and keep-handy-in-your-hand-luggage goodies, designed to make trains, planes, automobiles and restaurants as brilliant a part of your holiday as the beach and the pool!

We've just returned from our Summer holidays and come back to the driving rain, so we are well aware that once again this Summer isn't what we were quite hoping for, but I still think there is room for much fun and frolics to be had...we curled up on the sofa yesterday and got stuck in to Which Witch? ...the most brilliant, funny (if a little dated) book for the 7 year olds and up. If you need something for slightly younger children, but want wit and great illustrations, check out 'Iggy Peck, Architect' or' 365 Penguins'...our favourites.

....and we must tell you that we have welcomed the gorgeous Jennie to our team, as manager of our Bath store. She's as passionate about toys as we all are, and proved it by taking one of our Scorch puppets with her to The Rocky Horror Show - our kinda lady!

What World Cup?

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:25:00 +0000

We are trying hard to be nonchalant about the World Cup, but can't help getting a little bit excited about our brilliant budkins Football set...the ref even looks like a cross between Des Lynham and Jimmy Hill....!!!

Shivering Among The Bluebells....

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:12:00 +0000

We've added some fantastic outdoor toys to the website over the last few weeks, including the brilliant recycled Horse Swing...I want one so badly, but am lacking the mature tree i need to hang it from...!!! With all this glorious outdoorsy fun to be had...magnifying glasses, tyre swings, flower presses, binoculars, balls it adds insult to injury that the weather is so blimmin' cold - we had three weeks of visits from children in suitably sunny attire, only to have returned to tights, coats and scarves...NOT FAIR!!

We are hanging out for glorious summer - we feel certain it will be here (although with a nagging doubt that perhaps it has already been....)

Lots of Love

Dawn, Iris, Wendi and Lizzy x x x

It really is Spring!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:41:00 +0000

Friday April 9th. Officially the first day of spring in that the children went out without vests. And I went out without sunblock in my bag so we ended up very rosy indeed!! (Can you believe it!!)

We made it through what has seemed like the longest winter ever, and now things are really beginning to perk up....hence the addition of lots of fantastic gardening equipment...brilliant hardwearing forks, rakes and spades,buckets, balls...they will be in the webstore soon! (...and sssh! We will also be starting a SALE very soon....simply because we want to free up space in our stockroom for all the amazing summer stuff we have arriving. Some of my personal favourite things in the store will feature....and I'm trying to be brave - its a true Spring clean, and I am comforting myself with the knowledge that you will totally LOVE what is arriving!!

Dawn

Easter...It's not just about Chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:54:00 +0000

Plans are coming together for The My Big Egg Day, which will be the first time we've taken My Small World out on tour!! We are getting together with our friends at Glove Factory Studios in Holt for a day of pure child heaven...we'll be colonising their sculpture courtyard and huge field for Easter Egg Hunting, huge egg painting, Easter basket making, vintage tractor climbing, easter egg boules...it's going to be the business, even if it rains!! Click on the image on the homepage and it will tell you all about it and where to buy tickets. The Glove Factory is an amazing workspace and studios for Creative Businesses...take a peak at www.glovefactorystudios.com. Brings a whole new meaning to the idea of going to work!!

You can find lots of goodies for Easter now...no chocolate, but plenty to smile about, even for the little tiny ones!

We are still beavering away uploading all our new finds...and they'll keep on coming from now until Christmas....(sorry...did I say Christmas...!!)

Speak soon!

Dawn

New Toys Galore!!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:33:00 +0000

We've been spending the last few weeks visiting our suppliers and spending time in Paris and London searching out the very best new toys for 2010. January and February is always an amazing time for us...and we can't wait to show you all the brilliant new toys and games we've discovered.

As usual, Djeco and Haba have developed superb new wooden toys and games for 2010, and we spent a good half a day with Moulin Roty oohing and aahing over some amazing new soft toys...keep an eye out- they will be with us very shortly!!

Lots of love,
Dawn, Iris, Wendi and Lizzy x x x

Let It Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:06:00 +0000

At Last! We've watched with envy as the rest of the country experienced a White Christmas while we simply shivered in sub zero temperatures and had to make do with a thick dusting of frost...and now, at last, it looks like Bath is going to be covered with more than a dusting of the white stuff...so we are hoping that school is shut tomorow, and we can pack a flask of hot chocolate and get on our sleds!

On a practical note, this may mean that, because of the snow and ice and because we don't want to put our gorgeous delivery drivers in peril, some parcels may be a little delayed, although as always we'll keep in touch and let you know exactly what's going on.

We are also working on a new page for the website... properly wintery toys and games to keep your children rosy cheeked and full of beans while they are outdoors, and warm, cosy and thoroughly absorbed while they are inside...watch this space!!

And finally....THANKYOU!
We just wanted to say a big thankyou to all our customers...we had our busiest Christmas ever, and, despite the snow, delivered 94% of our parcels within 36 hours of orders being placed. 3% were delivered after this time due to customers who were out at the time of delivery (we simply try again the next day!) and 3% of orders were held up for a few days while we waited for out of stock items to be delivered to us. The remaining 1% of houses were snowbound!!! ...but thanks to the fortitude of our drivers, and to fab customers who walked up country lanes to meet our couriers EVERY ORDER WAS SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERED FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

Bath Christmas Market Heaven!

noreply@blogger.com (My Small Blog) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Hooray...we've been busy kitting out our stall in the Bath Christmas Market and it is now full to the brim with our most incredible LED Glowlights....Lizzy looks like a fairy in the midst of heaps of gorgeousness! We LOVE the market...it makes us feel like Christmas is almost upon us...Bath comes to life, with carol singers, mulled wine, Victorian Carousels and, this year, new Street decorations which will be turned on by the very handsome Nicholas Cage!

If you get the chance, come and visit...and bring us some mulled wine!

Lots of love,
Dawn, Iris, Wendi, Lizzy, and Ali xx