Christmas Shipping

Final Update Thursday 17th December. I am sending all non-natural orders up to and including Christmas Eve. Natural bird toys to be sent within south east Queensland may be made and sent on 21st and 22nd December. Due to longer times in transit between Christmas and New Years, I will not send any naturals to any other areas from now until the new year. This includes natural orders to SE QLD that aren’t sent by the afternoon of 22nd December. I will start making fresh naturals again from the 4th of January 2021. Any natural orders placed during the holiday period, will be made in a fair order from then.

Update Wednesday 16th December: I do not recommend ordering fresh, natural bird toys this close to Christmas, unless you’re in Brisbane or close-south east Queensland areas. I will still make and send natural orders to other areas, though these may be in transit for longer than usual over the Christmas and New Year break. The green Gumnuts may therefore deteriorate before arrival. You can request in order notes for me to only use dry gumnuts and other dry seed pods, to reduce the problems that can be caused with fresh toys sitting in transit for too long.
It is best to order pre-made and non-natural toys for the next 2 weeks. Express shipping is available. Fresh naturals will be best sent from the new year (though I may have some back log from the break).

Update 8th December: Now that we’re a week into December, we’re really seeing the effects of high demand and last-minute Christmas purchases. To ensure your order arrives before Christmas, it is best to order pre-made items (not the made-to-order natural bird toys or custom Snuffle Mats). All courier services and Australia Post are reporting extremely high parcel volumes, causing delays of 2-5 days in most areas. While I’m working hard and even longer hours than normal, still sending many orders same or next day, any orders containing items needing to be made (eg naturals and custom Snuffle Mats) may take a week or more before they’re sent.

As of 8th December, I have a few very large natural orders at the front of the queue, as well as a number of smaller naturals after that. Due to the time required in gathering and cleaning the parts, plus making the toys, I estimate that I won’t be finished with these until at least the 16th of December. All natural orders placed from now *may not* be delivered before Christmas. You’re very welcome to still order at any time, with the knowledge that they may arrive after Christmas.

10th November 2020: It’s nearly the middle of November and Christmas is looming closer! All of the shipping companies are working hard to minimise the delays and for the most part, they’re doing very well! High demand and some restrictions caused by Covid 19, mean that parcels may be subject to delays with all carriers, including express services.

Orders that contain items that are already made are generally sent same or next business day and I am processing orders very quickly. Any orders that contain items that I need to make, will be sent once the items are complete. All handmade toys are made in a fair order and depend on availability of parts, which I am constantly gathering and cleaning (but also constantly using).
You are always welcome to contact me to check wait times on an item and many items are pre-made and ready to send.

While I will be making toys and sending orders right up until Christmas Eve, it is best to order during November if you are in either a rural area or South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory or even Victoria, to avoid disappointment.

While ‘made in a fair order’ normally means chronological order, sometimes a Gumnuts Galore ordered 3 days after a Pinecone Paradise, may be sent earlier if I have plenty of Gumnuts but few Pinecones available at the time. Pinecones take time to clean and quite a few days to dry. Likewise an order of 1 small natural toy may be made and sent before an order containing a lot of natural toys, which I may not have the right prepared parts ready to work with right away.

In the case of Snuffle Mats, a custom Snuffle mat can be made very quickly if I have enough of the right colours already cut and washed, but if I happen to be low on a colour and need to cut, wash and dry more before making the mat, it can take longer. If I’ve got no other Snuffle Mats on order, I can sometimes make a mat overnight and send it the next day. Other times, I can have multiple already on order and there be a 2 week wait while I make them all. Check for whether your preferred colour is showing ‘in stock’ or ‘on backorder’ as in stock items are made, ready to send.