The Wooden Wagon Toys

**Before I begin this post, let me say, yes, the cardboard box fills all of the descriptions of the wooden toys I mention below. But this post isn’t about the cardboard box.** Continue reading for a chance to win a $50 credit to The Wooden Wagon Toys and a discount code for happy shopping. GIVEAWAY is now CLOSED!!! Winner is Lauren Longenecker. Congratulations!!

Discount code nathalie20 is good through Sept 23, 2016.

When our oldest daughter was just a tiny human, I began collecting wooden toys for her to play with. I have long favored toys that are heirloom quality, are fun, foster open-ended play, do not run on batteries, and my all time favorite, looks great even when scattered on the floor. When you have one child, no problem. Four children, many birthday parties, and Christmases past (even though we value quality over quantity), I can’t claim to be a minimalist. Yes indeed, my children have toys.

With four children in our brood, the inevitable happened, their toys became a part of the decor. And if the toys are, as my friends Stacy calls them, aesthetically pleasing, my house always looks decorated. Win-win. The question I get asked many times over, whether online, or by a visiting friend is, “where do you get these toys?” Here it is. For nearly ten years I have been purchasing European toys and art supplies from The Wooden Wagon. This family owned company was founded by a stay-at-home dad back in 2003. On their site you will find beautiful, natural, safe, and creativity fostering toys. No batteries required. Which means, no crazy flashing lights or pre-recorded sounds. Amongst the brands they specialize in are our favorites: Ostheimer, Fagus, Grimms, and let’s not forget Stockmar & Lyra art supplies.

With all of that in mind, I partnered with the amazing folks over at The Wooden Wagon to bring you a 15% off your purchase coupon code nathalie15 good through Sept 23, 2016. Hooray! Happy shopping, friends. You also have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to their online store. There are two ways to enter. 1- you can leave a comment below telling me which Ostheimer figures you would love to have (if you win the $50 voucher you don’t have to buy the figures you mentioned in the comment, the $50 voucher is good for any purchase). 2- on IG, follow @thewoodenwagon and @nathaliebearden leave a comment and tag three friends for a chance to win. I will choose ONE winner at random on Monday morning, September 19, 2016. Reminder, this is open to U.S. only as The Wooden Wagon does not ship internationally.

My favorite art supplies are from Stockmar. Yes, they are not cheap. But, they last a long time and my children know they need to treat it with care. I don’t bring out these supplies every time we do art. Only when they are working on their main lesson books. I have Stockmar liquid watercolor paints that I got 6 years ago. They are very concentrated and dilute well. I keep the stock vials in the refrigerator.

Several people have emailed me about this little white house shelf. I bought it years ago at a junk store and painted it white. But, you are in luck. I received an H&M catalog today and saw this little white shelf. Looks pretty cute! The Jenny Lind bed is from my last antiquing trip to Round Top, TX. Best $50 I ever spent. Fox lamp is from Target, from four or so years ago. Knitted cloud pillow from Bla Bla and Liberty of London pillow made by me. The side table is also from my antiquing trips. It was an ugly orange rattan color and I painted it white. Y’know, painting stuff white makes it new! haha! Well, mostly. I don’t paint beautiful antique furniture, though. I’ve got my limits.