🎄December at Squirrel & Sparrow: Opening Our Doors & Finding Our Village 🎁✨
If December had a theme for us this year, it was doors opening - literally and figuratively.
On the 6th of December, after weeks of preparation, polishing, tinkering, shelving, re-shelving, second-guessing, and consuming a frankly heroic amount of coffee, Squirrel & Sparrow Bookstore finally opened its doors to the world.
And you came. Our village came. And suddenly the quiet, empty space became a little universe full of stories, laughter, curious footsteps, and that soft “breathe out” people do when they find a place where they feel instantly at home.
Our Grand Opening Day
We celebrated with not one but two incredible author signings:
✨ Everleigh Miles, with an armful of series and incredible worlds for readers to fall into, and
✨ Courtney Merritt, who brought pure romantasy magic to our grand opening.
Watching readers meet the authors they adore - some shy, some starry-eyed, some clutching their books like precious treasure - was pure joy. If opening a bookstore is a kind of spell, that day sealed it.
The atmosphere was made even more special thanks to Leah, a local legend who played guitar for the opening.
Her music filled the mall with warmth and welcome, drifting through the walkway and drawing people in with that soft, summery, live-music glow. It added the perfect touch of heart to the whole event - like our opening day had its own soundtrack.
It was one of those small, perfect moments that made the shop feel truly part of the neighbourhood.
Saturday Morning Disney Days 🪄👗🦁
One of the unexpected delights of December has been our new Disney Saturdays. Every Saturday morning we fill the shop with Disney music, and customers are welcome to dress as their favourite Disney characters (because you know we will be!). There is something beautifully disarming about watching adults in flowing princess gowns browsing romantasy shelves, or kids in Lion King tees dancing near the counter while “Colours of the Wind” drifts through the store.
It’s become this weekly pocket of pure whimsy, and we are absolutely keeping it.
New Books on Our Shelves This Month
December also brought a flurry of new releases that swept onto the shelves like confetti. A quick peek at what arrived:
🔥 Fantasy, Romantasy & Emotional Reads
Reigning Fire – Jasmine K Y Loo
Under A Fractured Sky – Rachel Jones
Fragments of You – Jess Fuller
Blazin – Courtney Leach
🌙 Everleigh Miles: Three Whole Series to Devour
Havermouth’s Harem:
Havermouth’s Secret Keeper
The Town Filled With Alphaholes
The Damned and the Drowned
Face Eating Zombies
Harem Havoc
Witches and Sparrows
Love and Other Sorcery:
The Mage’s Heart
The Golden Dragon’s Princess
Akyran’s Folly
The Villain’s Hero
Don’t Mess With the Rock Chicks:
Vice and Victor
Raven’s Luck
Two Way Street
📸 Local Non-Fiction
Secrets of the South Coast – Tommy Salmon
🐉 Children’s Books
The Wing Thief – Lily Rose
There’s a Dragon in the Chook Shed – Lily Rose
Little December Moments Worth Remembering
December wasn’t just about opening our lovely little shop. It was also:
🎄 Christmas
A chance to pause, breathe, and spend time with family - something we deeply needed after a wild year of planning, dreaming, packing, moving, designing, and building the store. It felt grounding to step back and appreciate the year that brought us here: the challenges, the courage, the community, and the tiny miracles that kept showing up exactly when we needed them.
🌞 Summer Foot Traffic & Community Hello’s
We noticed lots of curious wanderers popping in as people explored Ocean Street for their holiday break. Some discovered us serendipitously, some came intentionally after spotting us at markets this year, and so many said, “I’ve been meaning to come in!” The shop has already become a place where familiar faces wave as they pass.
🎨 Stars Painting Our Interior Wall
One of our favourite behind-the-scenes December moments was watching Stars (yes, the amazing woman behind Scented Pages) using her artistic brilliance to transform one of our interior walls into a truly magical mural…
…And a magical Treasure Hunt for young adventurers (and grown-up ones!). Tiny magical creatures have been painted all around the shop, tucked between book nooks, peeking out from behind displays, and hidden in plain sight.
Kids can pick up a clue sheet at the counter and search for each creature as they explore. The squeals of excitement, the shouts of “I found one!”, and the determined patter of small footsteps have brought so much joy to the store.
It’s quickly become one of our favourite parts of the day, and a reminder that stories belong to everyone.
✨ The Bookstore Diaries: A Peek Behind the Shelves
If you’ve enjoyed following our December adventures, you might love The Bookstore Diaries - our ongoing behind-the-scenes journal of life at Squirrel & Sparrow. It’s where we share the little moments that don’t always make it into social posts: the chaos, the cosy, the unexpected, the heartwarming, and all the tiny threads that weave our days together.
From market stories to paint-splattered afternoons, from author visits to late-night shelving epiphanies, the Diaries are our way of capturing the magic (and the mayhem) of running a whimsical indie bookshop.
You can read the latest entries here:
👉 The Bookstore Diaries
🧵 Blue Sparrow: Crafting a Little Medieval Magic
December also gave us a chance to celebrate something close to home: Blue Sparrow, Kristen’s medieval and ren-faire–inspired clothing and costume line. From flowing skirts to beautiful gowns, and those deliciously swishy cloaks that complete the look, Kris has been hard at work to create all the magical clothing your heart (and your wardrobe) desires.
Every piece is handmade with meticulous detail, a seamstress’s precision, and a storyteller’s heart. The sewing machine has now taken up permanent residence in-store, and it’s been wonderful to watch the vision come to life… it’s almost as though a bit of magic has been stitched into the hems, too.
A Month of New Beginnings
December was full - joyful, overwhelming, heartwarming, chaotic in the best way, and honestly a little surreal.
We’ve loved every conversation, every “do you have something like…?”, every nervous new author delivery, every thrilled reader, every person who said, “I’ll be back,” and every small moment that made the shop feel alive.
Squirrel & Sparrow has always been a dream stitched together with hope, hard work, and whimsy. This month, that dream stepped into the sunlight.
Thank you for helping us build our village.
Thank you for being part of our story.
Here’s to January, new adventures, and all the magic still to come. 🐿️✨🕊️
