Inspiration: 1970s

1970s style has been making a comeback lately in fashion and homewares - think rich earthy colours such as burnt orange, sunflower yellow, chocolate brown, deep red; bold patterns and lux fabrics.

We love the colour palette and optimistic feel of the decade, these are some inspirations we've found that we love...

And here are some ways our designers, makers, artists and vintage sellers have incorporated it into Bird's Yard....

• Bird Shell's vintage clothing (which you can find in Birds and Beards) includes lots of 1970s pieces
• Finding Foreverness uses the popular dreamcatcher motif in their necklace design
• Shadow Crafts' leather earrings have a boho feel in 70s colours and create a statement
• Galabeer and the Dog have a range of vintage pieces including jewellery
• Chalk's jewellery has the neutral wood look popular in the 1970s
• Melodies jewellery incorporates lots of vinyl

New Arrivals: Mia Peony Spring Jewellery

Designed in Sheffield, Mia Peony's jewellery is always a popular choice with our customers. As well as their Sheffield range featuring the photos of Charlotte Newton, Mia Peony have lots of colourful pieces in different shapes and patterns.

Joining some of their existing jewellery are these bunny designs and spring spots and stripes.

Bunnies...

These hoping bunny stud earrings are a new design from Mia Peony

More colours are now available in these bunny necklaces. Each is double sided featuring complementary colours.

These kilt pin brooches are perfect for adding a little spring to an outfit.

Spring Spots and Stripes...

Tiny stripy studs are now back in stock from Mia Peony.

More designs of hair grips have joined Mia Peony's collection

Colourful striped bracelet from Mia Peony

Ways To Wear....Brooches, Badges and Pins

Brooches and badges are having a bit of a revival in popularity lately. Our designers and sellers have always loved them and we've had a selection in Bird's Yard all along. Recently they seem to have been getting very popular again, whether they be from the vintage collection from Galabeer and the Dog or the shelves of our designers. So we thought we'd share some of our favourite ways we've found to wear them.

Here's just a selection we have in Bird's Yard...

Ways to wear them...

We found this idea over on phillymag.com

Pin a brooch to a plain hat. We found this idea over at jmedwardsjewellery.com

Wear lots of badges at once. We found this idea over at Wary Meyers

Or lots of brooches at once. We found this over at A Girl, A Style

Lined up on a bag. We found this idea over at Not Dressed As Lamb

Use a brooch to hold together an edge to edge jacket or cardigan. We found this idea on Glam Radar.

Wear a brooch on the waistband of a skirt. We found this idea on Glam Radar.

New Arrival: Handicorn

When Bird saw the Handicorn, she just couldn't resist getting some for Bird's Yard! The magical pieces transform your hand into a unicorn - and who wouldn't like that?

They were so popular that most sold before they even hit the shelves - but we still have some to brighten up the shop, and your hands.

Image from McPhee

We've become quite a fan of the little creatures and love seeing what they've been getting up to over on Twitter - @handicorn - and this is our favourite post so far...

"Maybe I’ll get more followers if I tweet sexy pictures of myself..."

If you can't resist their magical attraction, you know where you can get your 'hands' on one...

New and exclusive from Our Tiny Bees...

Our Tiny Bees are one of our most popular brands here at Bird's Yard. They make a range of skincare and candles made with all natural ingredients and plenty of British honey and beeswax which is great for your skin as well as the bees and the environment.

This weekend they brought us 7 new products - and Bird's Yard is the first place to sell them (We love an exclusive!) So if you want to find...

Citrus Hand Balm
Citrus Body Butter
Citrus candle
Citrus Bath Melt
Weird Balm
Lavender Bath Melt
Lavender Body Butter


...head down to us as we're the only shop you'll find them in.

 The Citrus Hand Balm contains lots of lovely moisturising ingredients

including beeswax, almond oil and coconut oil along with a blend 

of citrus oils. 

The Citrus Body Butter contain lots of easily absorbed and 

intensively moisturising ingredients along with citrus

oils including lime, lemon, bergamot and sweet orange. 

The Lavender Body Butter is just as kind to your skin but 

with the scent of lavender (strangely enough!)

The Weird Balm has been getting people intrigued. Why's it weird?

Because it's green, has an old fashioned medicine aroma and packs

lots of ultra effective oils into a little tin.

The Citrus candle has joined the other beautiful aromas in the line

up of candles in the shop. It includes a range of uplifting citrusy scents such

as lime and sweet orange.

Persephone Book Group: 19th March at Bird's Yard

One of our most popular sections in Bird's Yard is the shelves of Handpicked Books. They find and stock a whole range of interesting, unusual and beautiful books you won't find just anywhere. Some of these books are published by Persephone who specialise in forgotten classics, mainly by women writers. They're republished in the beautiful grey covers with beautiful patterned designs on the inside and on their bookmarks. And for fans of Persephone Books we're having our first book group specialising in their titles this month.

A selection of Persephone Books at Bird's Yard

The first Persephone Books group will take place in Bird's Yard on the evening of 19th March from 6pm. It's been arranged by Evelyn from Handpicked Books and will take place 4 times a year for fans of the books to discuss their favourite titles - and of course if it proves popular it could come back more often! 

 

The March group will discuss Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson. Published in 1934 the novel is a lighthearted and fun story about Miss Buncle who writes a book, anonymously, about the small village she lives in. The fun starts as residents recognise themselves and try to discover just who wrote it. 

You can find a little review to give you a taste over at Books With Bunny.

If you'd like to attend the book group just let Evelyn know of your interest by emailing her at bookshandpicked@gmail.com so she can give you the details and we can work out how much space we'll need!

Mother's Day gift ideas

Mother's Day gift wrapping: All Wrapped Up By Alice

Nice gift wrap is a lovely finishing touch to make any present extra special. Here at Bird's Yard we have our very own gift wrapping expert who's here to help you wrap the perfect present! Zoe from All Wrapped Up By Alice has created an easy to follow tutorial to make sure that your presents are always look their best and show that extra bit of love.

And with Mother's Day soon approaching (15th March) it's great timing too...

Materials you'll need...

• wrapping paper
• co-ordinating tag
• ribbon/string
• scissors
• sticky tape

And Zoe has one more suggestion if you have an odd shaped gift:

"The most important thing to remember is we're after crisp edges and neat corners. If you've chosen a gift for your mum that is an irregular shape, you might want to consider placing it in a box with some shredded tissue, before attempting to wrap it!"
  

The steps...

There are 8 simple steps to wrapping the gift - all of which can be found in handy You Tube videos over on Zoe's blog

1. measure your paper
2. cut your paper
3. start wrapping
4. finish wrapping
5. measure your ribbon
6. tie your ribbon
7. create a bow
8. add the tag

And of course, once you know the basics you can experiment with the details trying different ribbons, colour combinations and extra details.

If you'd like a go at wrapping a present expertly now Zoe's show you how, you'll find a range of wrapping paper in Bird's Yard, including some hand printed by Zoe herself...

All Wrapped Up by Alice has seconds quality wrapping paper at just £1 a sheet in Bird's Yard

All Zoe's gift wrap is printed by hand in Sheffield

Or, if gift wrapping just isn't your thing, Zoe has a selection of gift bags and boxes available too...

Gift boxes with filling, tag and seal. All Wrapped Up By Alice. £2.50

Anniversary Gift Guide - the first 10 years

Anniversary gifts can sometimes be tricky choices - and is something we often get asked about by our customers. Should it be symbolic or useful? Generic or personal? Romantic or not? Some people like to give traditional romantic gifts connected to the idea of love, whereas others are looking for something personal but that still says 'anniversary'.

Whether giving a gift to the happy couple or to your partner, here are some suggestions of anniversary gifts from 1 to 10 years you'll find in Bird's Yard...

• 1st

traditional - paper / modern - clock   

 

• 2nd

traditional - cotton / modern - china 

 

 

• 3rd

traditional - leather / modern - glass 

 

• 4th

traditional - fruit or flowers / modern - appliances 

 

• 5th

traditional - wood / modern - silverware  

 

• 6th

traditional - sugar / modern - wood 

 

• 7th

traditional - wool or copper / modern - desk set

 

• 8th

traditional - bronze / modern - linen or lace 

 

• 9th

traditional - pottery / modern - leather

• 10th

traditional - tin / modern - diamond jewellery

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is on the 15th March and we have lots of treats she just might like. Here are just a few...

Unicorn ring £20;  Lionel mug £7;  Lavender hand balm £7.95;  Apron £26;  Pocket mirror £3;  Soap £5;  Truffles £9.60;  Bird brooch £20;  Make up bag £24;  Card £2.50;  Stud earrings from £8.

We also have some lovely gift wrap to make them extra special...

Small gift box from All Wrapped Up By Alice. £2.50. A great size for jewellery.

Retro kitten wrapping paper from Sass and Belle. £2.25 a sheet.

Whimsical woodland wrapping paper from Sass and Belle. £2.25 a sheet