International Dinosaur Month!
You may have already noticed - but we’re a little bit obsessed with Dinosaurs over here at Poppins & Co. In celebration of National Dinosaur Month we’ve launched a 3 for 2 offer on all of our dino designs - that’s Birthday, Thank You’s and Christmas ranges and includes our single greetings cards and card sets. From toddlers to palaeontologists, our fun and colourful designs are loved by every person who receives one.
Our home, studio and wardrobes feature a fair few dinosaurs and my two youngest nephews are obsessed with them too. This means we are always on the look out for the best dino products out there - we very nearly made our nursery dinosaur themed too! So in further celebration of the month and making the most of a brilliant opportunity to showcase some fab independent makers, designers, small businesses and independent labels (a long with one well known supermarket!) we’ve compiled a list of our Top 10 Dinosaur Gifts and Products.
Top 10 Dinosaur Gifts and Products
1) Gantosaurus in egg from Maileg
My obsession with Scandinavian design is well and truly spurred on by the beautiful toys created by Maileg owner and creative director Dorthe Mailil. From her whimsical illustrations and wonderfully creative mind comes teddy’s in pyjamas, mice in matchboxes and my current favourite - the Gantosaurus in a spotted cardboard egg. Available in rose pink, ocher, green and dusty green this is a high quality gift that is sure to delight Dinosaur fans of any age (it’s on my Christmas list and it may or may not be for my infant daughter). A great gift to welcome a freshly hatched babe to the world- a stylish and high quality toy to be passed down the generations.
£19.95 Small
2) Rainbow Stegosaurus Earrings from Itty Bitty Fox
Itty Bitty Fox are a phenomenal small business that create the most beautiful earrings, badges and pet tags. Each item is made from sustainably sourced cherry wood and hand painted with acrylics. Dinosaur wise they have a whole range of designs - with high contrast skeleton designs available for each type of dino as well as a beautiful geometric triceratops keyring which can be personalised. My top choice had to be the Rainbow Stegosaurus earrings - as 2020 for me has been all about rainbows and dinosaurs!
£14.99
3) Dinosaur Plant Pots from Morrisons
Available in store, Morrisons have these fantastic gold dinosaur plant pots which come with a little plant included. I have two on the windowsill behind my desk so they are my main view when I am designing and working on the computer - which really brightens my mood on grey and drizzly autumn days. I might have had to replace the plants with something a little more hardy from my garden but the plant pots themselves are holding up fantastically and remain as cute and shiny as ever. This year they have added a Iguanodon and Velociraptor to the collection so I may need to expand herd a little in light of this. Velociraptors are my absolute favourite ever since falling in love with the adorable (read: intelligent and terrifying killing machine) dino ‘Blue’ in Jurassic World. I suspect we’re going to be needing some more windowsills…
£5
4) Faux Taxidermy Triceratops Head from Gill’s Emporium
Gill Prendergast of Gill’s Emporium on Etsy specialises in faux taxidermy heads. Gill’s pieces are a thing of absolute beauty - lovingly handcrafted no two pieces are exactly the same and she is always happy to hear from those with custom or unusual requests. There are animals for every room theme - I love the idea of one of these in a nursery or play room (heck, how about a whole wall of them?). Gill also creates quirky Mixed Media Sculptures which are ideal for the avid art collector and a variety of elegant Felt Wall Art. Best of all there is such variety of whacky dino products available from this bold designer (I counted 9 at my last nose around the Etsy store) that there really is something for everyone.
£70
5) Run & Fly Mustard Dinosaur Pinafore from Thunder Egg, Manchester
Thunder Egg hand pick their stock to suit their diverse customer base and always have an amazing variety of exciting and colourful clothing in stock. Currently they have lots of dinosaur related items available from contemporary labels and brands such as Sugarhill Brighton and Punky Pins. My current top choices are the great range of clothes from Run & Fly. In mustard yellow, dusky blue or dusky grey dino print there are dungarees, pinafores, skirts, t-shirts and dresses - perfect if you are in to ‘twinning’ with your other half or BFF. There are also some fab dino home wares from House of Disaster on the Thunder Egg website so make sure you check these out too!
£37.50 Pinafore Dress
6) Dinosaur Wheel Thrown Pottery from Keith Hershberger Ceramics
I’ll be honest - I can’t remember the last time I got so excited about something I found online whilst researching for a blog post. The designs from Keith Hershberger Ceramics bring together so many of my passions into one tangible product (okay a lot of products) that it made me do a little happy dance. I ended up spending a large deal of time trawling through his instagram feed and working out how much it would cost to take every piece of ceramic ware I owned to the charity shop and replace it all with the beautiful handmade designs from this very talented potter. With shipping from Pennsylvania, US. It turns out that would be a little drastic, wasteful and would probably cost more than I should currently be spending on tableware (at least in one go). However, that certainly won’t be stopping me making systemic purchases for the rest of my life! The hand thrown pieces are made from red clay with beautiful glazed designs which are fired into them. The quality of the pieces and unique designs speak for themselves - and there are more than just dinos available so anyone who loves handmade ceramics go and have a look at all the amazing pieces available to buy.
£29.94 Mug
7) Handmade Dinosaur Romper from Bear Club Clothing
Bear Club Clothing are a family run business that make the most gorgeous organic baby clothes. They use really beautiful fabrics to make unisex rompers, hats, bibs and leggings. Available in sizes from newborn to 3 years the rompers and leggings have the option of adding coloured cuffs to the ankles. Both are also ‘cloth bum friendly’ meaning that you can fit a big cloth nappy in them on your little ones bum! According to their website the folks at Bear Club Clothing are beginning to work with local pattern designers so there will be some lovely exclusive designs joining their collections soon too. A lovely find for some unique, comfy clothing for your little ones.
Romper £18.50+
8) Dinosaur Biscuit Gift Box from Katie’s Biscuit Shop
How fab are these hand iced vanilla dinosaur biscuits? We’re pretty big fans of biscuits ourselves - Sam gets through a variety pack each week without even trying (and without gain any weight I might add). These though are such a wonderful idea for a special occasion, party or as little postal gift for any occasion. We’ve have a variety of postal baked goods over recent months, partly due to the pandemic and partly due to having a baby. Baked goods feel like such a thoughtful gift to receive from someone and make you feel so loved and cared for. These dinosaur biscuits from Katie’s Biscuit Shop are also absolutely beautiful to look at and are available as either a small or large gift box. Great for a birthday or special occasion or equally perfect for a little treat ‘just because’.
Large gift box £30
9) Earthenware Dinosaur Ornament from Calamity Clay
An engineer by trade, calamitous potter Caro creates beautiful hand thrown earthenware, hanging ornaments, beads, buttons and jewellery in her home pottery studio in Surrey. Her bespoke ceramics can be personalised with text or a choice of glazes and no two pieces are the same. These beautiful jigsaw style dinosaur ornaments are a very grown up way to add a little bit of dino magic to your home, under the guise of art and culture! Caro has a small number off pieces available via her Facebook shop but is always happy to hear from customers who would like to commission bespoke pieces.
T-Rex Ornament £10
10) Dinosaur Fossil Hexagonal Wooden Wall Plaque from Bear and Rose
These gorgeous designs are unique to Bear and Rose. The beautiful oak veneer tiles are etched with beautiful dinosaur fossils, creating texture and pattern that little hands will love to explore. There are 12 designs to choose from and they could make a truly stunning feature wall in the nursery of a future palaeontologist. A beautiful gallery display to make any room look like archaeologists collection. This family run business creates so many beautiful home decor pieces, a lot of which can be personalised. I’m particularly in love with their many Christmas items which I’m sure you will be reading about in future blog posts!
Hexagonal Wall Plaque from £7.50
11) Dinosaur Greetings Cards by Poppins & Co.
Yes that’s right - a bonus one for the list! We couldn’t pass the opportunity to once again share with you our ever popular Dinosaur collection. What started as some festive dinos in ugly Christmas jumpers has now expanded to include our party ready birthday dinos and ever grateful dinos holding colourful balloons. You love all of our existing dinosaurs and we have more designs in the pipe work for 2020.
As ever - if you’ve been inspired by our illustrations and would like to see anything in particular added to the shop please feel free to contact us.
Which of the Top 10 Dinosaur Gifts and Products was your favourite? Tell us why in the comments below!
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