It’s Mother’s Day on the 14th of March this year and I know what I’ll be getting for my mother this year: a lovely Mum’s Bag from Carry-a-bag. Mimimyne stock these beautiful bags, which are made from recycled vintage fabrics by Sally Walton in East Sussex. Sally designs, makes and hand prints her bags as well and was one of the first designer-makers to champion the eco cause of bringing a bag shopping instead of taking one away with you – and later putting it into the rubbish, from which it goes to landfill, taking many years to degrade, or ends up as litter, endangering wildlife and spoiling the appearance of our beautiful countryside. Sally has also made some limited edition “With Love” bags, which I’ll be adding to the site in the next couple of days and would also make a beautiful present.

Mum's Bag

Another present I’d suggest considering for a mother with a baby, a Heba changing bag made by a women’s charity in the East End of London. We are currently giving one of these away with the Primary Times Online and they make great gifts, with practical pockets for mobile phones, bottles and other mummy paraphernalia! 85% of the purchase price goes direct to the charity and you know you are helping a good cause, as these low-income women are learning how to use their sewing and design skills to build a great future for themselves and their families. Oh yes, and the bag is on sale this month!

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I was thrilled (as was Sally Walton of Carry-a-bag, the designer of these gorgeous bags and lots of other beautiful, hand-made bags and other eco friendly gift and homeware items) to find the Mum’s Bag and My Bag she designed featuring as No 1 ethical tote bags for yummy mummies on the excellent www.greenmystyle.com! This is what they say:

“Carrying around your baby’s nappies, dummies and rattles need not be an unglamorous affair. Here we take our pick of the top 10 tote bags that are guaranteed to spark off a yummy mummy war.

Mums Bag Vintage Fabric Shopping Bag

Mimi Myne has taken an innovative approach to the tote bag by creating one for kids. The two bags are made from vintage cotton, are fully reversible and retail at £25 and £15.”

Read the whole article Top 10 Ethical Tote Bags on greenmystyle.com

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Happy Christmas to all our Mimimyne customers, friends and fans!

This is a gentle reminder that the last posting date for second class Royal Mail delivery is on the 18th of December, so if you would like to get any last-minute gifts from Mimimyne this will be your final chance! Best sellers at the East London Design Show and the Eco Design Christmas Fair have been the Mum’s Bag and My Bag (for children) designed by Carry-a-bag (the Saturday Telegraph profiled designer Sally Walton and her husband Stewart in their “Eco-heroes” column recently). Online, Paperpod’s Aeroplane and Toddlers Chairs, Twisted Twee’s “Dad and Son” T-shirts especially the “Pint and Halfpint” T shirt Combo and all of Creative Charlie’s craft kits have been very popular.

For Londoners, Mimimyne is doing our last Sunday stall at Spitalfields UpMarket (we are in the Colour Rooms by the Backyard, which is just off Brick Lane and opposite the Vibe Bar) this Sunday the 21st December, and will have some special seasonal prices!

Jocasta Innes made some home-made pomanders for Mimimyne to sell at the Eco Design Christmas Fair last weekend, which were a hit with shoppers! They are an Old English traditional gift, used for room scenting and natural moth repellents. If you’re stuck for last minute gifts, try making one of these using the following instructions! You will need a small orange, some cloves, a knitting needle or toothpick (to make holes), ground cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice (optional, if you want to scent the fruit), masking tape and a length of pretty ribbon if you wish to hang it up. Take the orange and decorate with cloves, making a hole with the pin and studding the cloves in close together (but not so the holes touch) in a regular pattern. Ideally, they should cover the surface of the fruit to help preserve it indefinitely. If you want to hang it up, use the masking tape to mark off four strips of orange undecorated in a ‘cross’ pattern from top to bottom of the orange (take this off when you have finished studding in the cloves). This is for your ribbon, so imagine you are wrapping a round parcel and you will see what I mean! Dry in an oven at a low temperature, for an hour. If the surface is covered densely with cloves, you can then roll your pomander in cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice once a day for a week, to add to the lovely Christmassy smell. The orange will shrink to a smaller size, so do not fasten the ribbon on until you have baked it.

With thanks to all our customers at Mimimyne! Don’t forget, you can also join our Facebook Fan Page for news and updates! Have a lovely Christmas and New Year,

Love, Mimi and Myne

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