journal

happy valentine's day!

every year, when valentine's day comes, we try to do something loving for each other.  it’s the perfect opportunity to craft special cards and bake something spoiling and delicious for the family to enjoy together. often we cook a meal and sometimes we go out to a favourite restaurant.  one year my daughter made a thyme-scented, heart-shaped shortbread.  she was only 10 years at the time - and it was easy to make, delicious and the best valentine’s present we could imagine!  hedgehogshop sells non-stick heart shape moulds which are perfect for baking family treats on valentine’s day. 

teresa

shop the blog

 

chinese new year

this is china’s most important traditional festival, and in recognition of my husband’s heritage and our mixed-race family, we love to celebrate it at home.

traditionally, a few days before chinese new year, the whole house is cleaned from top to toe to get rid of the old and welcome in the new year. then the house is decorated in red and gold with lanterns and paper cuts. when our children were small they used to wear their best chinese outfits and we would spend an afternoon cutting our own decorations and colouring chinese letters to hang in the house. my husband goes to the flower market to buy mimosa, which is in season now and smells sublime. we hang red decorations from the branches and its fluffy yellow heads are a gorgeous natural substitute for gold.

2017 is the year of the rooster. roosters are healthy active people who enjoy sport. they are observant, hardworking, brave and talented. our boy is a rooster and will enjoy being centre of attention for the weekend. we’ll be celebrating with a chinese meal at home, fortune cookies, loud fireworks to scare away the evil spirits, and ‘lucky money’. these are little packets of money in pairs of red envelopes usually given by married adults to children to wish them good health and a good year ahead.

there are lots of chinese events in london and other cities, including lion parades, which are fun for all the family. these are some activities for children which have caught our eye:

dance performances, mask making and calligraphy workshops at the v&a museum of childhood, bethnal green, london:

www.vam.ac.uk/moc/events/chinese-new-year/ 

make paper cut decorations, a zodiac mobile, listen to chinese fairytales and join in a dragon dance at the museum in docklands, london:

www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london-docklands/event-detail?id=99617

happy year of the rooster!

teresa

Shop the blog

 

hello!

welcome to our journal.

here we would like to share a few things about family life. we hope to inspire you to encourage your children to open their eyes to the world around them and find their inner creativity.

it happens to all new parents…we had our first child in the early ‘noughties’, our priorities changed and we became totally involved in the world of babies and children and began acquiring all the paraphernalia needed for playthings, story telling, birthday parties, outings and days at home. we searched for good quality toys which were well made, long-lasting, often made from wood, aesthetically pleasing and educational. i realised that we were very particular in our tastes and minded what our children played with.

then, about six years ago, i felt the need to change my lifestyle. i had run my own design and creative consultancy for many years – it was time for something new. we had developed a knack for finding traditional toys that took us back to an earlier era when children’s play times did not revolve around computer screens and mobiles were just telephones. ‘less is more’ became our mantra and we became very discerning about what we bought. this search took us to unusual places, and we found things in car boot sales, on our trips away, in markets and even at the hardware shop.

some of our earliest ‘finds’ were tiny size espadrilles and abarca sandals, and little traditional spanish woven baskets just like my own. also a pair of bright red enamel espresso cups, the perfect size for toddlers’ hands, a small racing green enamel bucket and a child-size wheelbarrow. our children played with these little versions of adult things for many years and now their younger cousins are playing with them. this search for well-made, practical, attractive and often educational playthings became quite a mission. it inspired me to put all the things we found under one roof to share with other like-minded people. hedgehog was born.

hedgehog has evolved to offer a broad range of classic products for everyday life, play, travel, baking, arts and crafts, party time and more. our children are now teenagers but we still love to search for beautiful, practical and well-made things for family life, and hope you enjoy following us.

teresa

shop the blog