Archive for ceramics
Pears at teatime
As I was flicking through this month’s edition of Livingetc, I was delighted to spot the pear teapot pictured above. It’s not something you see very often, but as it happened, I had seen another last week, so pull up your chairs and pop on the kettle dear readers: here comes a special pears at teatime blog post.
The receptacle above is from Matalan, and you can grab yourself one instore, or online (here) for a mere £10. Total bargain. The website explains that there is a range of coordinating items available, and all the kitchenware, including the teapot, is microwave and dishwasher safe. Definitely a crucial selling point in our house.
Just for harmony’s sake, it might be pleasing to add one of the above Twinings green tea with apple and pear bags into said teapot. I haven’t sampled this flavour yet, but it is on my to-try list. If anyone has any reviews of this variety (does it actually taste of pear, for example?), then please feel free to leave a comment below.
And if you like pears, but prefer a more sleek, minimal, Italian approach to your tea set design, then perhaps the Alessi Fruit Basket Teapot above is more your cup of tea (sorry, ahem).
Speaking of cups, if you missed the blog post all about pear print mugs and cups, just click here. And if you absolutely have to run with the whole pears at teatime theme, then you’ll need a wipe clean pear print table cloth to mop up dunking disasters (unless that’s just me?). This one is from Tesco direct and it’s only £12.
Now, has the kettle boiled yet?
Pears on china
Who knew there were so many pear-printed mugs out there? I’ve found a selection of my favourites, and thought I’d share them with you.
The one above is a Cath Kidston fine china tea cup, designed exclusively for Churchill China. You can buy them on Amazon here, for a mere £4. Bargain.
Next up (above) is this bone china cup from the dotcomgiftshop – a steal at £5.95. Very Orla-esque, but original nonetheless.
I couldn’t not include this classic Lotta Kühlhorn design for Scandinavian brand Koloni (below): perfect in its very pearness, and at only £7.95 from Illustrated Living, totally unmissable. (Check out an earlier blog post all about Lotta Kühlhorn’s apple print chopping board here.)
At £10.50, the mug below is a smidge pricier than the others, but the unusual chunky pear design makes up for it: quite a change from sleek Scandinavian curves, this Alice Apple pattern is something out of the ordinary. You can find them on Alice’s website here, and don’t forget to check out her other products on Etsy too.
Finally, to finish, it has to be the Orla Kiely pear mug – originally designed for Target, but available all over the interweb. I found this one chez Illustrated Living (again) for £7.25 and was sorely tempted (again).
Pear ceramics by Yoyo, Orla Kiely and Noun
Once again, I am drawing inspiration for this post from another of my favourite online reads – Yukkiie – a blog that “celebrates design that is out of the ordinary and unique”. I am head over heels in love with a recent post all about pear-shaped pots from UK-based company Yoyo ceramics. Now there are some pretty horrific ceramic pears out there (as a quick google image search will reveal), but Yoyo offer something practical (I like anything with the label ‘kitchen tidy’ – you can only hope), wholly aesthetically pleasing, and polished shiny bright too. In fact, totally out of the ordinary and unique. Seriously, this pear would cheer anyone up, especially if the rest of the kitchen looked anything like mine…. This is a piece you could truly focus on. Plus, Yoyo also do a fabulous tea and toast set, again, with a retro-tastic pear print which would mean you had to finish your marmite crumpet pretty quickly in order to fully appreciate the delectable design underneath the pools of melted butter.
Of course, another classic ceramic pear objet for use in the kitchen would have to be Orla Kiely’s supreme pear design canister (see here for an earlier blog post about the Orla Kiely pear print chair). I think I’d store some ginger nuts in this container, or possibly, for a true colour explosion, some pink wafers and party rings to boot.
And then there is Stephanie Sheldon’s shop Noun, which stocks these utterly adorable ceramic pear vases, which quite frankly, you’d need a clutter of to really hammer home the perfection each one exudes. You can check out the Noun shop blog here – it makes up for the fact that Portland, Oregon, is really quite a long way from Surrey.
Flying ducks stacked owls
I’ve been meaning to write about Brisbane blogger Kyliept for ages – there’s a particular post of hers that I love: in yet another snippet of her unique interior design ethic, Brisbane stylee, a pair of superb stacked owls are showcased in her living room. Above a scarlet red and white vintage fabric print of an owl in a tree, encased in a beautiful black box frame, is perched a friendly white ceramic owl. As individual pieces, each owl is gem-like: together, they are a true tour de force, and I can’t wait to find out what Kylie does next.
Donna Wilson Owl Beaker
Owlish ceramics are vastly underrated and sadly rarely available, so thank goodness for Donna Wilson. Check out this lovely beaker of hers. Despite the state-of-the-art water recycling plant where I live, we still suffer from very hard H2O, so I love anything that can take a drink without turning cloudy. Plus, you can have a glass of wine if you want, and no one will suspect it. Personally I reckon you’d have to drink something orange out of this beaker though, or else you’d ruin it’s aesthetic appeal. Mango juice? Mmmm.
Bird dish
Oh look – a bird salt dish. But I think I’d probably keep some mini eggs hidden away in this particular pot. It’s crying out for some chocolate. Or else what about a vintage pearl necklace curled up inside? Check out Oxfam’s online shop for something special, and ethical.
