French Toys For The Cool Kids- What’s New for 2019 at Little Citizens Boutique, Holywood

Little Citizens Boutique in Holywood, Northern Ireland is a repeat feature here on The World of Kitsch. Their online store has some new toys and gifts for spring, from their selection of stylish French brands such as Vilac and Djeco.

I love the toys because of their retro design, being made from wood mostly, with bright colours and 60s’-esque illustrations.

They are a breath of fresh air from all the flashing, beeping toys that try to out do each other to be the loudest and shiniest these days, and are reminiscent of a time where play was simpler.

You can order from all over the world, so have a little browse yourself on the Little Citizens site. Click any of the images below for a closer look.

Ever Wonder Where Those Effortlessly Cool Hipster Parents Shop? Not Only Can I Tell You, But I've a 15% Off Code For You To Use: Little Citizens Boutique.

There's very little I don't like amongst the inventory on the  Little Citizens Boutique website, so choosing images to share with you was tricky to narrow down. The Holywood based retailer knows good design, and have just won a silver award for best toy & gift retailer in design. They also stock children's clothing and home wares, so here are some of my favourite items from their site.

Should you love what you see too, you can use the code KITSCH15 to get 15% off orders until midnight 30th September.  (The quick buy links aren't active- sorry! It's just how I saved the photos of the products!)

All the Details for Saturday's Grand Opening of NI's First 'The Entertainer' Store- The Toy Shop With a Heart

Location of The Entertainer- Castlecourt, just at the top of the escalators inside the front door, opposite Debenhams, beside Starbucks

This Saturday (13th August),  The Entertainer Toy shop add to their 130 strong, UK-wide stores by opening their first NI branch, in Castlecourt in Belfast. The Grand Opening on Saturday morning at 9am, is sure to be an exciting day, with costumed characters in attendance for photographs between 10am and 3pm. Lego's ninja pair Lloyd & Kai will be welcoming kids through the doors, as well as Star Wars favourites Chewbacca & Darth Vader, I'm sure there will be more than one parent wanting a snap with them too!

There will be balloons, demos and a free Lego gift with Lego purchases (while stocks last). If you fancy getting there early, then you might be one of the lucky 35 first in line. They will all receive a surprise voucher each, ranging from £5 right up to one lucky person winning £100. 

Ok, so who is 'The Entertainer'? Why do I call them the toy shop with a heart? And what makes them different to any other toy shop? 

The chain is family owned, with the first store opening just outside London in Amersham 35 years ago. One thing very different about the stores is they don't open on Sundays- they want their staff to have that day for family, and they have stuck to their guns on this even when it meant certain shopping centres were less reluctant to let them open there. But it's admirable that they've not budged on what they believe, and with expansion ongoing it proves you don't have to always bend on what you think is right just to please others. 

They also have a very clear social conscience. 10% of ALL their profit goes to charities, specifically children's charities. That totalled just under a million pounds last year, donated by the chain. They are the very first high street store to enable you to 'round up' your payment to a pound, with the difference being given to charity, when you pay by card. You may have come across this when paying on eBay or Dominos before, so if your total is £13.45, the card machine will give you the option to round up to £14 and the 55p goes to charity.  Here in NI that charity will be the NI Hospice, so it's local money for local kids- a big plus.

Also on Saturday morning at 830am there will be a trolley dash for Autism NI (I have always wanted to watch a trolley dash but the thought of doing one myself terrifies me!) 

What about the store itself? What makes going to The Entertainer better than going to Smyths, or Toys R Us? Well from our sneak peek tour round the shop, it has to be one thing most obviously- price.  

As Rebecca from Head Office showed us round the bright, colourful store I kept stopping at the unbelievable prices of some of the stock. Of course your Lego, Playmobil etc is similarly priced to other stores, but for example there were little boxes of craft games for a couple of pounds or even £1, bigger than Poundland toys and perfect for party bags or stocking fillers. 

Glitter activity bucket only £4, other games £1

Braiding games £1

In fact Rebecca told me The Entertainer specialise in pocket money toys, and trying to keep things under £25. They locate branches in towns and cities, rather than the trend of out of town shopping, and like to see the store as a treat to take your kids to when you've dragged them round shopping where you wanted to! Smix will certainly be more keen next time I want to visit Debenhams anyway.

Kids will love The Entertainer more than other toy shops as they like to have lots of the toys out of their packaging so you can test them out, or have a play. Anyone of a certain age will remember the pleading at our parents to please take us to the Early Learning Centre, to get in the one Cosy Coupe, little red & yellow car they would have out on display. That would be the highlight of the shopping trip, wheeling yourself around ELC with your little feet flying. Well The Entertainer is going to be like that- but for our kids!

Wubble Bubble demo- it's now on Smix' birthday list (p.s. It's £2 cheaper in The Entertainer than on Amazon) 

They cater from newborns up

They also pride themselves on trying to be very quick to pick up the latest trends. They tend to be first to the market with crazes like Loom Bands, Moshi Monsters & more currently Shopkins, Pom Pom Wow and Bunchems. 

There has been a big trend of making Pie Face videos for YouTube, the game where a spring loaded hand with whipped cream on it is passed around in a messy version of Russian roulette. Rebecca told me the game has actually been out for 11 years, but thanks to YouTube it's outselling brand new to market games. The Entertainer have the real thing, but also some similar alternatives, like 'Splat!' for half the price at just £10. You can even buy the cream in store- I found that really amusing for some reason! I think I'll be getting one of these for Christmas 2016 in the Spence household.

You can see from my photographs there's a very clear pink & blue divide to the in store decoration. I subscribe to the notion that toys are toys and for all, so I had planned on asking them why they have a 'girls' section' and a 'boy's section'- then I noticed that absolutely NOWHERE does it say 'girls' toys' or 'boys' toys'- so it was actually my own brain jumping to conclusions, when in reality there is no gender labelling in store, and boys can shop in pink if they want and vice versa, without being labelled the opposite. 

£10 Ever After dolls

The store itself is designed to be easily navigated by pram, with slightly lower than usual stands so you can keep an eye on your child if they are excitedly running around. Another plus for busy mums and dads, is their 30 min click and collect service. Go on The Entertainer Toy Shop website, find the item you want to buy. Check it's in stock and reserve the item to pick up in store. 

This is a godsend at Christmas time and saves traipsing round half a dozen stores trying to locate that one most-wanted item on Santa's list. Reserve it, pick it up- easy. 

Now this touch I absolutely adore. The till points in The Entertainer have little wooden steps so your child can climb up and pay for their own item should they wish to do so. How cool is that? 

Finally I couldn't finish this blog without a word from Smix. What did he make of the new toy store chain? 

He liked how bright the store was, and that he could play with the Wubble Bubble. He said the labelling of the departments was good because he could easily read which section was which, and where to go to find certain toys. He noticed if you were in one section and didn't like anything, there was always something in another section you did like. He loved the choice from the pocket money stands, but he would like to see more Playmobil in store.

Sadly we can't make the grand opening by the mayor of Belfast on Saturday morning, but do tweet me if you go and let me see what's going on (@rudedoodle) With the Belfast store creating even more local jobs hiring for Christmas this Autumn, and plans to expand throughout NI, let's give The Entertainer a warm welcome this weekend.

The Ugglys' Pet Shop is Stackable Grossness

Its not too long until we will be hunting for stocking fillers & presents for friend's and relative's kids. The Ugglys' Pet Store is a stackable base for collecting the separate blocks that double as pet homes for Ugglys pets.

It makes fart noises, so obviously it sets kids off with the giggles as soon as they get their hands on it. 

The theme of Ugglys is as you would imagine, totally gross animals. Our favourite from the original series had to be the horrible pet fish called 'The Rank Tank'! He's gone on the Christmas list. He'll probably last longer than any real goldfish we've ever owned.

As you'd imagine, kids love these things. We had Garbage Pail Kids in the 80s so this is a bit like the animal version of those. You can buy them as single toys, or in multipacks, with 101 pets to collect. Some of the sets include blind bag surprise toys, which are the big thing these days.

Michael loved the pet shop, so I'll be hunting down some individual Ugglys for stocking fillers. 

Mari Kasurinen's Pop Culture My Little Ponies Are My New Favourite Thing

Mari Kasurinen is a pop artist from Finland who sculpts very impressive custom My Little Ponies. Which is your favourite?

Stink Bugz- The Ideal Birthday Present for the Kid of Someone You Hate.

I'm going to totally contradict my usual 'toys are for both genders' line here and say these Stink Bugz simply MUST be a boys' thing. The line, 'slugs & snails & puppy dog tails' comes to mind. The little jarred, plastic beasties are infused with their own unique, minging scent. They are like the anti-scented-candle-jar.

They come separately in large jars for £4.99 each, or you can get a pack of parasites for £9.99 Open the jar to release the smell, and squeeze the bum to 'shoot' the stink at someone. Our son has been torturing us all day with them. 

 It's tricky to communicate just how awful they smell. The pong doesn't fill the room if you leave the jar open or anything, but if you're being chased round by a six year old squeezing to release the stench, you'll smell it alright. The green one smelt like a rotting seagull, the black one had a marmite tinged poop smell. They are truly disgusting. 

Of course the fact they repulse Mum & Dad so much, makes them a tremendously fun and satisfying toy for a child. Michael LOVES them. He loves practical jokes like whoopie cushions or plastic dog poo, so these are right up his street. If you've a little prankster then you know they'd enjoy these, but you really won't!

With the lids on there is no bad smell, and like I said, if they do accidentally leave the lid off, the smell doesn't fill the room or anything. The only thing I personally liked about the Stink Bugz, apart from being pleased my son enjoyed them so much, was that they do look like comical, fake insect taxidermy in their little jars. Maybe when he's finished chasing Dad puffing clouds of stink at him, he'll allow me to display them with my beasties.

I'm Having a Zelfs Party & You're Invited

Tomorrow afternoon from 2-4pm I'll be holding a Zelfs Twitter party to celebrate the release of their scented collection. Zelfs are akin to the trolls we collected from the 70s, which made a comeback in the 90s, but far cuter, more colourful and cool.

Michael is having friends round for Zelf games, snacks and to try out the new range, noses at the ready! I'll be Tweeting from @rudedoodle and you can follow parties all over the uk with the hashtags #zelicious #Zelfs 

Fancy having your own Zelf party? UK Mums has printables and recipes to get you on your way. 

You can also win the new Bee Sweet Treehouse on their site. 

Realistically, Zelfs are marketed as a girls' toy, but my son has loved them since they first launched last year and already owns a small collection. Tomorrow's party mostly will be girls aged between 3 and 6, but there will be one other boy; I wonder will he prove Zelfs' marketing team wrong too and love his Zelf? I'll let you know.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day With a Build-a-Bear Workshop Friend

Yesterday we visited what is listed as my son's favourite place in the world outside of being somewhere like Disneyland- we went to Build-a-Bear Workshop, Belfast Branch. Sadly we missed out on sharing their Valentine's themed collection this year, but we made the trip to catch the St. Patrick's Day bear.

We also had the chance to make a My Little Pony Build-a-Bear, something we've both been excited about since their launch last Spring. Quite honestly I wanted the rainbow maned one, Rainbow Dash, all for myself, but from my son's first hug of the unstuffed horse, I knew I wasn't getting a look in. The My Little Pony craze is huge, with little boys as well as girls loving the new cartoon. Adults too, of those I knew who already were Rainbow Dash owners, three of those were grown adults, and one of them male!

As with our Christmas visit, Johnathon the store manager took us through the now familiar, still as magical Build-a-Bear Workshop bringing-to-life stages.

First you choose your friend, Rainbow Dash and the snowy white, shimmering shamrock festooned teddy bear. The second stage is choosing a sound for you bear. We chose the My Little Pony theme tune, and for the bear my son settled on One Direction's That's What Makes You Beautiful. The store has lots of One Direction merch for your bear to wear.

The stuffing station is next. You have an option to add a scent which goes inside the paw of your teddy. There were a couple of new additions since Christmas, a pineapple smell which we put in teddy, which smells exactly like Polly Pineapple lollies, and Icing Sugar, which Johnathon correctly compared to Drumstick lollies' scent. Rainbow Dash got an icing sugar smelling hoof.

You also choose a satin heart to put inside with the stuffing, which 'brings your friend to life'. There's an option to buy a £1 charity heart too, or a special battery heart that thumps when pushed from outside the toy. Michael enjoys helping press the foot pedal to work the stuffing machine.

Then it's Michael's favourite part, the combing, fluffing and bathing station. Rainbow Dash's tail got a good few minutes attention! 

The all important dressing step. There are beautiful capes for the ponies. Sorry for the blurry photo. Little Spike is available too, for £10.

Johnathon helped us choose a cape, and St. Patrick's Day wear for teddy, who teamed it with a cute reversible tutu (is it wrong to wish for that in adult sizes?) 

Check the tounge sticking out. Serious business this fashion. 

Another successful Build-a-Bear trip. My son honestly finds the whole experience a blast, and it is hard not to get caught up in the magic of making a unique friend yourself. In fact Michael is going to get me my own My Little Pony for Mothers' Day, maybe you're a mum out there thinking 'YES. I want a pony too', well even if you don't have an actual Build-a-bear Workshop near your home, you can order anything on their online store, including the ponies.

I can also reveal that next month they will be launching Pinkie Pie!