When Esther Chaye’s ‘Arts & Crafts’ dolls hit the Momiji shop back in October, they were an instant hit. They all sold out really quickly and unfortunately, some of you missed them.

But don’t be sad if you couldn’t find them, here’s a chance to win one of the coveted dolls.

There are loads of Chéries, Teds and Purrls in the picture above. All you need to do is count them.

Email us and tell us how many there are. We’d like you to structure your email like this;

Hi Momiji,

I think there are XX Teds, XX Chéries and XX Purrls in the picture.

If you guess the right number of Teds, we’ll put your name into a hat of fellow accurate Ted-guessers. We’ll draw a name out of the hat and the winner will win a Ted doll.

We’ll do the same for all 3 dolls, so if you get more than one right you’ll have more chances to win!

We've only got one of each doll to give away and we'll be announcing a winner on Monday morning so get your guesses in to us by 9am Monday 20th (UK Time)

Good luck and happy counting

We know it’s not even Christmas yet, so it seems a bit loony to be banging on about Valentine’s day already, but we like to keep you up to speed with new stuff.
Our Love collection for 2011 has arrived; you may spot it in your local Momiji retailer over the coming weeks, unless they decide to keep it tucked away until the new year.

Created by Swedish designer Linnéa Börjesson, the collection is a total and utter avalanche of cute.

First up is Lillan, with her big red heart and rosy cheeks.

Be still our beating hearts. Take a look at our limited edition cupid couple Plu & Pia; only 2500 sets are available in the whole universe, so they’re pretty special.

Finally we have our glass love token, presented in a pretty gift box with a heart shaped card, it’s the perfect classic gift for your valentine.

All these goodies will be available on the website tomorrow. We know that some of you will be eager to get your hands on Plu & Pia but pre-Christmas might not be the best time for you, so we’ve got a plan. There will be 50 sets available in Europe, 50 in the USA and 50 in Australia today. We’re going to hold an additional 50 in each region and release them on January 5th, when you’re feeling a bit more swoony and romantic.

Spread the love.

Last week we gave you some festive Momiji wallpaper for your technical gizmos.

You liked it so much, our friend Kipi Ka Popo has made another design just for you.

To get this little cutie on your desktop, click on the size you need below, save the pic and add as your wallpaper.

Enjoy

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Computer desktop - 1024 x 768

Computer desktop - 800 x 600

Iphone/Iphone 3G

Iphone4

iPad

It’s all gone a bit ‘Blue Peter’ at Momiji HQ as everyone is trying their hand at our fun Christmas crafts.

Today we’re going to show you how to make this cute Santa hat.

All you need is a piece of 4 1/2 “ square origami paper.

We used a sheet that was red on one side and white on the other, but if you’re feeling creative go ahead and choose some other colours.

Firstly, lay your sheet colour-side down. Fold it into a triangle.

Unfold the paper again to leave a crease in the centre of the square. Fold the bottom corner up to meet the crease in the centre.

Fold the top corner down to meet the crease in the centre and flip the paper over to the coloured side.

Fold the bottom flap up to make a triangle. Make sure the point is in line with the centre crease.

Unfold to leave a crease then fold the point up to meet the crease.

Fold the flap up again.

Fold the flap again and flip the paper over again.

Fold the bottom half up to meet the crease in the centre. There will be a pointed section hanging over the triangle’s base. Fold the top half down to meet the bottom edge.

Flip it over, the Santa hat should be taking shape. All you need to do now is fold the tip over. You can add a little pompom if you like or just leave it as it is.

Show us your hats on our Facebook Page

From Claire’s glamorous Grandma to Rich’s turkey and chips on boxing day, we all have little rituals or traditions that Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without.

We’ve been discussing our Christmassy traditions in the office and it’s great to see how we all share the holiday with our family and friends.

Gemma’s Christmas

“Ok mine is a little embarrassing but every Christmas day, regardless of how old we get, me and my 2 big bros go and get into mummy Smith's bed and we all open our pressies together. Yes I am 28 and my mum still pretends that father Christmas has been & leaves a stocking by our beds.”

Rich’s Christmas

“Nothing too extraordinary from me I’m afraid.

I always head out with friends on Christmas Eve. Christmas day is at home with the family and then boxing day I go to the football and have turkey + chips for dinner before I go/when I get back!”

Claire’s Christmas

“My glamorous Grandma always comes to visit at Christmas. She’ll be 96 in January but that doesn’t stop her adorning herself in sequined outfits. Once she’s arrived and knocked back a sherry she insists on ballroom dancing in the lounge. Her memory’s not quite what it used to be, but she can certainly remember how to foxtrot...slow, slow, quick, quick, slow...”

Kat’s Christmas

“Christmas eve, my mum makes a ham – which is AMAZING. Then it’s off to visit all my friends and exchange gifts.
Christmas day, my mum attempts to follow the Delia’s Christmas timetable but always manages to make it take a lot longer than it should. As a kid, my dad would insist that we wouldn’t open presents in one go so as to make the day last. As a kid, this was torture! We’d have our stockings when we woke up though and a drip-feed of gifts throughout the day. First thing, we’d go collect my uncle from his place after his annual xmas morning breakfast party and take him to our place. After Christmas dinner the present giving begins.”

Deb’s Christmas

“My mum and dad always buy me a Beano annual every year which they find very amusing, and me and my sister always have the ‘don’t let mum and dad see how tired you are after a night of partying’ ritual “

What Christmas traditions do you have? Post them on our Facebook page.

Our friends, Joanna Zhou, Fiona Lee and Francisca Ruff have been busy getting Christmassy and designing these paper-chains just for you.

They’re really easy to make and won’t break the fragile festive budget.

All you need to do is..

Select and download your favourite designs below.

Print off the paperchain designs

Cut them out into strips

Tape/stick one end to the other to make a loop. Put the next strip through the loop and tape/stick the ends together, you now have 2 links to the chain.

Keep on going for as long as you like or until you run out of paper. You can also alternate designs and add strips of other coloured paper too.

As always, we want to see your craft attempts, so post them on our Facebook Page.

These bold strips are designed by Fiona Lee. Download them here.

These cute Momiji strips are designed by Joanna Zhou. Download them here.

These fancy strips are designed by Francisca Ruff. Download them here.

This tasty chocolate fudge is a great treat for Christmas time.

It’s really easy to make and our Momiji intern, Charlotte came in to help make it.

Here’s what you’ll need;

1lb icing sugar (or powdered sugar)
½ cup of cocoa powder
¼ cup of milk
¼ cup of butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
I bag chocolate chips

(don’t worry if you’re not sure how to use ‘cups’ measurements, it’s actually really easy – just get yourself a mug and measure out the ingredients in that. We used a Momiji mug naturally.)

Put the sugar and cocoa powder into a large microwave-proof bowl and mix until it’s pretty even.

Add the butter and milk but DON’T MIX them in.

Stick it in the microwave on ‘high’ for about 2 minutes or until the butter is completely melted. Blend the mixture together until smooth. If you’ve got some sugar-lumps, microwave it again for a little longer until the mixture is nice and smooth.

Add the vanilla and chocolate chips, stir them in.

Pour the mixture into a greased tin/box and put in the fridge to cool for at least an hour.

Turn the fudge out and cut into cubes, or if you’re feeling adventurous you could cut it into shapes. .

Enjoy!

As always, we’d like to see your culinary masterpieces, so post your pics to the Facebook Page.

We love to get creative at Christmas time. This candy wreath is a great little craft to get stuck into, it makes a great, colourful decoration that guests will love as they get to eat a piece when they come to visit (that is if you haven’t managed to scoff the lot first!)

It’s really easy to make. As always our faithful Momiji interns were here to lend a hand.

What you’ll need

- Lots of sweets, anything with bright colourful wrappers
- Lots of ribbon
- A hole punch
- Wooden ring, or strong wire that you can bend into a circle
- Scissors

If you’ve gone for strong wire, start by bending it into a circle and twist it at the top to keep it together.

Use the hole punch to make a hole in the wrapper of each sweet.

Tie the sweets onto the ring individually. If you’ve got long lengths of ribbon showing, curl them with a pair of scissors.

That’s really all there is to it. You can hang your wreath anywhere and some people even hang a pair of children’s scissors from the wreath so guests can easily snip their candies off.

As always, we want to see your pics, so don’t forget to post them to the Facebook Page.

Massive thanks to all of you who came to the party at Royal/T yesterday; we just heard from Gem that it rocked, she was buzzing from meeting you all. Check back here soon for photos. As promised, here’s our chat with the awesomely talented Joanna Zhou, about how she created Chiyo for Royal/T.

Hello Joanna!

We’re super excited about the arrival of Chiyo. How did you set about creating her?

Chiyo is based on the super cute maid outfits worn by waitresses at Royal/T. I started out by simply doodling tons of different doll bodies on one sheet. I find that it’s much easier to come up with variation if you work quickly and messily at first because you look at the doll’s overall shape instead of getting distracted by detail. Then I pick three designs that seem to work best and draw them much larger so I can try out different expressions and outfits. These get narrowed down further to just one doll, which of course became Chiyo!

Chiyo has lots of really cute details to her outfits can you tell us about these?

I absolutely love with Royal/T’s cupcake hats, which are so fantastically Harajuku. They fit in with ‘Decora’ style where girls adorn themselves with cute kitsch accessories in pastel or neon colours. And at the same time, the LA side of Royal/T stands for style and sophistication. So Chiyo’s look is more kawaii chic, a tailored outfit with just enough bows, ribbons and beads to make it playful.

Royal/T celebrates the Japanese concept of Maid cafes; you spent some time in Japan recently – what were your favourite things about the country?

I was really awed by the attention to detail to everything. For instance if you bought a small gift in a store, they would pack it up with cellophane, stickers and ribbons. And in a bakery, every slice of cake was iced so perfectly I initially thought they were plastic models! There is such a creative energy in Japan as well and you feel that no idea can be too crazy or unusual. It’s great to see the same concepts such as a maid café being introduced to other countries.

If you had your own cafe what would be your signature dish?

One thing I ate in Japan was a moffle, basically a mochi rice cake toasted in a waffle iron. It was crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside and strangely delicious. If I had my own café then I’d love to combine that with other desserts, such as a Banoffee Moffle with banana ice cream and dulche du leche or S’Mores Moffle with melted chocolate and marshmallows.

What else have you been up to recently?

I’ve been designing manga inspired make-up for Eyeko and writing a How to Draw Chibi book. Chibi style is all about those super cute characters with big heads and small bodies, which come to think of it, have fairly similar proportions to Momiji dolls ;)! Christmas time in Vienna is beautiful and I’ve also been going to lots of Christmas Markets, enjoying the snow and feeding my addiction for Starbucks Gingerbread Lattes. I’m really looking forward to the holidays as I can take a break from my projects and just spend time with many friends who will be back in town.

Today's festive treat is a downloadable gift for everyone. Our friend, Kipi Ka Popo, has designed this lovely Momiji Christmas scene just for you.

You can deck out your computer desktop, iphone or even your iPad with festive Momiji goodness. Simply click on the screen resolution below and save the picture as your desktop wallpaper.

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Computer desktop - 1024 x 768
Computer desktop - 800 x 600
Iphone/Iphone 3G
Iphone4
iPad