Week commencing Monday, 24th January 2011
With Australia Day mid week I thought it was appropriate for this week’s gifts to be Australian related…
Saturday: The Beer Lovers Guide to Australia provides a snapshot of the Australian beer industry, breweries and bars. A range of well respected Australian writers and beer connoisuers guide you through the world of beer:
*Dr Peter Aldred – What is Beer?
*Andrew Perry – The History of Beer
*Matt Kirkegaard – The Australian Craft Beer Revolution
*Ian Watson – Tasting Beer
*Paul Mercurio – Beer & Food
*Laurie Strachan – A Menu of Beer Styles
P.S. There is even a Beer Lovers Guide iPhone app
Friday: Help save the northern hairy-nosed wombat, which is one of the world’s most endangered species. At last count there were only 115 individuals living in a single isolated population in Western Queensland, Australia.
You can donate to the Wombat Foundation or buy these three fabulous children’s book which follow the adventures of Willit the wombat.
Thursday: I’ve just recently discovered Bluecaravan, an ethical online design market based in Australia.
It’s all about lovely, interesting and edgy products – beautifully finished, made with heart, and bought directly from the designer/maker.
Here are a few items from Aussie designers that caught my eye:
*Anything from The Dharma Door – I particularly like this Dragonfly and Butterfly Garland
*From Interro a very cool wallet made from new RED seatbelt webbing
*Gorgeous handmade toys from Flying Star Toys – this elephant is a favourite!
Wednesday: The Australian blogger community is rallying around one of its own. Lori is from the Random Ramblings of a Stay at Home Mum blog. Under tragic circumstances her husband passed away on January 10 this year. This has left Lori with no income. She has two small children (aged 3 years & 16 months).
A Facebook auction has been set up to raise money for Lori and her children. You will find plenty of fabulous gifts to bid on, including toys and weekends away.
Tuesday: know someone planning some Australian travel?? Why don’t you buy them a Journey Jottings journal so they can summarise their trip and create a visual keepsake.
Monday: Make Me Iconic’s goal is to bring icons of Sydney and Melbourne to life and into people’s homes. Take your pick of cushions, artworks, mugs, tea towels and toys.
Make Me Iconic is all about giving talented, young designers a chance.
Week commencing Monday, 20th December 2010
With Christmas just days away online shopping can no longer assist you, but hopefully I can provide you with some last minute gift inspiration…
Thursday: Just saw these downloadable gift certificates on the 7pm project tonight:
“Give your mate the most precious gift of all this Christmas… save their life.”
This gift voucher entitles your loved one to a lift home by you, their designated driver. Tis’ the season for partying, and you can do your bit to make sure your mate is around to party again next year, and the year after that ,and the year after that…
Wednesday: I was in the Oxfam shop today to pick up the CD Dreamland: world lullabies and soothing songs for my little niece and discovered 20% off all toys. Here is a couple that I like:
Oxfam handcrafts are sourced from individual workers, craft bodies and fair trade organisations in developing countries. They buy their goods at a fair price and sell them in Australia so that communities may be helped in their struggle for a better life.
Tuesday: I just learnt about this fabulous initiative – Louisa from Everything is Edible is collecting donations of new toys from to send to the children currently in detention on Christmas Island. The following companies have already generously contributed toys:
Also supporting this initiative are BHF couriers who are going to send the delivery at cost price – as an individual you can support this initiative by contributing to the delivery costs via paypal here
Late this afternoon Louisa was able to announce that Virgin Blue will also be assisting to get the toys off to Christmas Island. Well done Louisa!
Monday: On Sunday I was in the Sydney CBD and was surprised to discover a fabulous range of gifts in Portmans. If you are looking for some great secret santa gifts or stocking stuffers, Portmans can definately help you out.
Here are some Paris inspired gifts that I liked:
You can also find these great little Pocket Posh Sukendo books
Welcome to my blog…
My name is Lisa – I created this blog in September 2010 to share gift and travel ideas (and general life tidbits). I have so many ideas, it seems such a waste not to share! This blog has also very quickly become my creative outlet – a new way I am living ‘outside of my box’ – living beyond my usual, my expected, my normal.
Up until 2011 I was a typical, almost 30 year old, living in Sydney working 9-5. But then my partner and I had an idea for a start up and we decided to kick off our 9-5 shoes, give our big idea a go and house sit around Australia. You can follow our start up journey over on the Open Shed blog
I would love to hear from you, so please get in touch via the comments section or twitter. I hope you enjoy Outside of the Box, I’m having lots of fun writing it!
