It’s really is hard when your trying to look for something unique when it comes to children’s gifts.  But we have come across these really cute wooden toys.  There bright and colourful and of course unique.  Lets’ start with our Marionette 30cm tall she  stands she has a wooden handle and strings attached, any child would love to make her dance.  Or what about our cute wooden puppet theatre, the set comes complete with 5 individual finger puppets.  Soooo cute!    To check them out visit www.gifthut.com.au

The Gift Hut Rompers

On Sunday 19^th October 2008, Nicole & I got together with our families and some close friends to participate in the annual Melbourne City Romp.

This event is hosted for many reasons. Firstly to raise money for the Burnet Institute (fighting the world’s most infectious diseases and cancer), secondly to have a great day out with the people you choose to participate with, thirdly to learn about some of the great places Melbourne has on offer and finally to challenge yourself.

The Gift Hut teams were made up of Richard, Nicole, Gemma and Riley Maschwitz. David, Eleanor, Tylar, Osten and Jaspa Crawford-Page and Nicole and Kayde Page.

All Melbourne Romp teams assembled at Federation Square in Melbourne to start their journeys.  All teams had a 4 hour window to get to as many checkpoints as possible and answer a challenge clue once there.

Our team was first directed to the Champions Racing Museum, once there we were given a challenge that we had to solve by searching around the museum. What Fun! When we had figured out the answer to the challenge, we had to text our answer to a special number and wait (patiently) to see if we had answered correctly. The text we received back told us how many points we had scored for that checkpoint and how much time we had left.

Our team visited many of the checkpoints including Art Play, G.A.P Adventures, Telstra Life Store, Myer Melbourne (this was a hard one to leave as you know Gift Hut Rompers love to shop), Little Collins Street Council House, Little Collins Street Walk Arcade, Chinese Museum, Her Majestys Theatre, River Terrace, Melbourne State Library and The Greek Precinct.

Our little families were extremely tired after the four hours of walking through Melbourne and our brains were definitely frazzled after attempting all the puzzling challenges.

The Melbourne Romp was a fantastic day, one that we would recommend to anyone, our families had an incredible time and we all now feel a little smarter (I did say a little).

So not only were we able to have a great day out in Melbourne, we were also able to support the work of the Burnet Institute, it was a win – win situation for us.

To check out the activities from Melbourne Romp click below to follow the link:

http://www.melbournecityromp.com/photos

To see more on the Burnet Institute click to follow the link:

http://www.melbournecityromp.com/71-about-burnet

Remember to check back – we are going to add the children’s comments about Sunday soon:-

Tylar said:- It was really great, a few of the clues were a little too hard. The good part was that you got to run and play and stuff.

Osten said:- I felt good and happy when we were in the city, I was very excited because we won some beach balls.

Gemma said:- It was fun finding and looking for clues but also tiring. 

Riley said:- It was fun and I was so exicted to go!

To view more pictures of the Gift Hut rompers taken outside Her majesty’s theatre by the Romper photographer, please click the following link http://www.melbournecityromp.com/romper_profile/2001 

For some time now recycling has been a matter of concern.  But today greater numbers of people are taking a more vested interest in there approach.  With carbon emissions and global warming being topics on the lips of everyone, people are really trying to think about how they can minimize the impact on the environment.  The greatest awareness has been through education, not only through media sources, but through the education of our children in their classrooms. Recycling and environmental studies being forefront subjects.

Education is happening worldwide.  I witnessed this first hand on my trip to Africa. I found myself in Swaziland, a country, a small country, infact one of the smalllest on the African continent.  Located in Southern Africa Swaziland, has a company that is trying its best to educate those around them. This company is educating it’s people through recycling.  The company itself creates products through recycled goods the town people collect, in turn helping residents with sponsorships and income for the community.

This exciting process all comes about through the use of glass. Clean up days are arranged in the villages nearby, where everybody in the region is encouraged to collect glass bottles. The company makes use of the nearby schools, not only promoting awareness but in turn giving sponsorship or products to the schools to help sustain them.  Not only does this create and encourage awareness about recycling and the environment, it creates jobs and a positive outlook to all.

The process itself is very interesting, once the glass is collected, it is then placed in these huge gas fired furnesses.  The glass is crushed and melted down.  Once the glass has been melted the artisans go to work blowing the most amazing sculptures.   The unique African theme is strong among each sculpture.  The techniques the artisans use are a combination of hand and mouth blown techniques.

Each sculpture is unique and no two are exactly the same.  There designs vary from Animal sculptures including that of the big five. Not to mention the assortment of glassware, bottle stoppers, and vases.  Each item made by a real person, in real time.

When it comes to giving unique gifts, people are always trying to find something that is different.  These products not only stand out from the rest because they are beautiful, but they stand out for much more important reasons. This company is trying to encourage environment awareness in such a remote county as Swaziland, this needs to be recognized and supported, not only is it teaching invaluable lessons but it supporting the communities in its region.  We need to be supportive of companies like this one, who are trying to do some good in this world.

Our world would be a better place if more companies took an interest in environmental awareness.

�

We are always on the lookout for new & Interesting things.  Check out these incredible Wire Art Sculptures.  Made with steel wire and glass beads.  Made in Africa, the artisans twist the wire into unique shapes and then bead with bright bold colours they make absolutley everything from cars and motorbikes even these cool animal sculptures.

Africa amazes me there are so many talented people!Â

New to Gift Hut!

Subscribe to our Newsletter 

 and go into our monthly draw for a

FREE Prize Giveaway.

Our First Prize will be drawn by random selection on

Monday 15th September 2008.

The winner will contacted by email and

their name will be placed here on the website.

Will you be our First Winner

We came across these really funky fashion handbags in India.  Each bag has unique beadwork and embroidery.

But what I love the most about them is that they cross over your shoulder leaving your hands free!

Welcome to the Gift Hut blog, here at Gift Hut we search the Globe looking for unique kinds of Gifts.  Africa, India, New Zealand even here in Oz.  There are lots of extremely talented people out there that make some pretty cool things, and whats better they don’t go near a production line.

Next time your on the look out for that gift with a difference why not check out Gift Hut http://www.gifthut.com.au

In the mean time we are going to use our blog to review some of the unreal things we have found.  Of course we would love to know what you think, so feel free to leave a comment. Look forward to our chats!