God Save The Queen

It's self-present time! Every now and then I get to have something too. I want a Diamond Jubilee souvenir  tea towel that I can frame and display in my kitchen to commemorate what I suspect will be the only 60th ascension anniversary celebration I am ever going to get to be a part of. I'm not into fine china and original art is beyond the budget currently so a tea towel in a simple box frame is the inexpensive, yet devastatingly effective, solution to my needs. That said, I have prepared a wishlist and  here are my top five designs:

1.  The Design Mould at Hirst & Hirst Living £10.00

Superb colour palette, the feel of a fine art print, a lovely rendering of St Edward's crown and makes appropriate and clever use of the wartime propaganda style without looking like yet another clone of the "that poster". Love. Love. Love.

2. Have A Gander on Folksy £9.00

Playful and eyecatching; I love the corgis and the monotone and distinctly patriotic feel. Incidentally, there are four other unrelated tea towel designs in their Folksy shop that are also little magic works of art and would also look fabulous in my kitchen. I particularly love the Bacon and Champagne ones. 

3. Sophie Allport £5.00

Exquisite illustration and I particularly love the little splashes of red and the subtle understatement of the handwritten script. Beautiful!

4. Victoria Eggs in collaboration with The Tea Shed £12.50

Here we have a beautiful landscape design available in a range of colours. I love the explosion of vintage fonts and the fact that they have the feel of old bank notes. Something a bit royal to read while waiting for the tea and cucumber sandwiches. 

5. Rachel K Designs £tbc

Finally, this design for a commemorative tea towel and four others like it we're featured in the blog of Birmingham-based designer Rachel Khor on 15th April. They are not currently available in her Etsy shop (at the time of writing) but the originality of the design and the pretty simplicity of it makes them well worthy of this list. Have a meander. This design is available as a set of four A4 poster prints for £17.99

God Bless You Ma'am!

On the 21st Day of Christmas...

I'm trying to find things that you can also find on the high street now since most of the Christmas postage deadlines are now either upon us or past. How about this Set of 4 Mini Dishes £16.80 by Sophie Conran for Portmeirion. My love affair with this range of crockery and glassware began four years ago when I chose it as my wedding china and I use every piece of it. My mother gave me these bowls last year to further the collection. They are so diddy measuring 3.5cm x 9cm and yet so versatile. I use them when cooking to house prepared ingredients. I have one by the range with rock salt and pepper in it for seasoning cooking. They've been out a parties with snacks in and used at dinner parties for condiments. Made in a style that makes them appear hand thrown they come packaged in Christmas green paper and Sophie Conran's distinctive mint green, spotty boxes, they are a lovely present. In fact, unlike a lot of crockery ranges, most of the items in the range stand by themselves as things of beauty.  I found them on County China & Glass the but range is also available at John Lewis and stockists countrywide. 

Showcase: Rigby & Mac

Just one more day and the countdown to Christmas officially begins so it's time for another great British shopping showcase. Rigby & Mac is a very stylish store made all the more perfect by the fact that it's eclectic range of products means it is possible to cater for many different tastes. I've had a good browse and come up with some inspirational finds for the holiday season.

1. Leather wrap-around bracelet £24.95

Personally, I'd like this in tan or olive. It's clean and elegant without being too dressy. I think it would look wonderful with a casual shirt, jeans and boots for that priceless "what, this old thing?" look. All in all, an excellent, modern present for a young woman. 

2. Numbered hook wall rack £55.00

I love this but then I am a total sucker for anything with ceramic knobs on it! The driftwood panel is so understated and provides a lovely contrast for the smooth, creamy hooks and sage green stencilled numbers. I can see this in the hallway of a period house adorned with colourful coats and scarves. It would make a great present for friends with big families by giving everyone their own peg. 

3. Mini kit £9.95

My godson's family recently moved to the country from the suburbs. Now they live right next door to a large section of Dartmoor National Park so, for his birthday in August, I sent him a kite not dissimilar to this so that he and his gadget-mad dad could go out and spend some man time together on weekends. Apparently, it has been a huge hit. A lovely gift for a small boy or girl and a the perfect thing to get everyone out on Boxing Day to walk off the excesses of Christmas dinner.

4. Ribbon watch £16.95

Both timepiece and fashion accessory, I bought this for a friend's daughter's 6th birthday last year and she absolutely loved it. Apart from the excitement of being able to match her watch strap to her outfits everyday (they grow up so fast!), it was a good way to keep her up to speed on telling the time and makes a great first watch.

5. Silver plated preserves lid £15.50

This is a highly unusual bit of silvery fun and would be perfect for someone who, like me, likes to make a bit of a feature of their condiments and sauces on a big lazy susan in the middle of their kitchen table. It comes in two styles: strawberry and orange (my favourite) and is presented in a gift box but I would probably send it packaged up with the jam or marmalade pot too.

6. Sophie Conran measuring utensils £22.25

We started our Sophie Conran for Portmeirion collection with our wedding gift list. It is the most beautiful pottery and we have collected many pieces since...but we don't have these! Adorable little measuring jugs with handwritten measurements on the inside. Like most of the range, they look like little sculptures, display beautifully and would put a big smile on the face of any enthusiastic cook.    

Secret Santa Struggles - Seconds

Judging by the popularity of my Secret Santa Struggles post, it seems that there is quite a lot of searching for inspiration going on out there for  that ever elusive office christmas gift so I've come up with a few more suggestions for consideration. All for under £20. Let me know if you plump for any of them. I'd love to know how they were received.

1. Home Made Cookie Stamp £10.00

The thing I love most about this lovely little stamp from Velvet Brown is that the when you're not using it to make bold, beautiful impressions in your baking, you can hang it up in the kitchen to be admired as the lovely piece of design that it is.

2. Harrington & Squires Perforated Paper Calendar 2012 £16.50

I nice gift for someone who likes to organise with style. Presented curled up in a gift box, it hangs on a string with a pretty green label and a peg to mark the date. So pretty!

3. "The Bloody Keys" Keyring by Berry Red £5.00

I have given this as an office present before and it provoked total hysteria because he was my boss and was constantly misplacing his keys. I suppose you have to read the situation before giving someone something that tacitly criticises them but so long as it's done in the right spirit and looks as good as this lovely thing does, you'll probably get a sly look and a big hug like I did. 

4. Ella's Kitchen Company Jam Caddy £18.00

There's always one person who comes in to the office and heads straight for the toaster. Like coffee, there are just some things people can't start the day without. This is a lovely gift idea for such a person. I'd probably fill it with some really nice jams, marmalade or some other of their favourite spread. Otherwise, why not use it as a mini-hamper. Send some nice brown paper through the office shredder and pack in some goodies. We had a guy at work who loved those little pots of Gentlemen's Relish, Anchovy Paste and little truckles of cheese encased in colourful wax. This would be a great way to present stuff like that. 

5. Huge Paisley Storage Bag £6.00

Again, from Berry Red, this may seem like an odd choice but these are great presents for mums with growing families. I buy so many of these for storing blankets, linens and my daughter's clothes when she has outgrown them. They are sturdy, pack in so much and their square shape means that they stand by themselves and stack fairly well when full. This is the prettiest pattern on one of these I've ever seen. Lovely for storing things 'in sight' when the attic is full and a good idea if your Secret Santa is supposed to be something 'silly' and inexpensive. 

Emboss Yourself!

How lovely are these! I was browsing 'The Works' in town today and came across a nice little set of stencils for capuccino and cake making and found myself remembering how much I wanted to find an embossing set for decorating my daughter's Christening cake earlier this year. And voila . . . there is one via the caviar of kitchenware bloggers Kitchen Critic. Letter press cookie cutters.  I love the range of typesettings and it's a steal at £14.99 from Firebox. Stamping magic ! Incidentally, I got by by in the end by using a letter shaped cutter and the results weren't half bad but I would have made more of a splash with this. I suppose there's always her birthday...