Wednesday Wish: Birdhouse key holder

lime green birdhouse keyholder
Sparrow In Birdhouse Key Holder: £12.50, Notonthehighstreet

The little wall-mounted hooks just inside our front door where we hang our keys went AWOL during the redecoration of our little porch area.

I don’t know about you, but if I’m at home, I need to keep my bunch of keys in EXACTLY the same place… AT ALL TIMES… or else cataclysmic chaos ensues prior to attempting to leave the house!

I thought this little fella would look great perched in our porch – available in 4 colours – pink, black, yellow and green.

Gimme Five! Bird feeders

Snow currently feels like a permanent fixture around the whole of the UK. I’ve really been feeling sorry for our wildlife – especially the birds. One of last week’s Winter Watch programmes told of the decimation that happens when birds can’t get through the inches of snow to feed on seeds, worms, slugs and insects.

Why don’t you help them out? Here are five of our favourite bird feeders that we’ve found online – from the low-tech to the bird equivalent of a swanky, Michelin-starred restaurant!

Flock Follies bird feeder – Feeds the birds AND adds a burst of colour to your garden!
Roundabout fly-through feeder – Made of polished copper , this one will mellow into a beautiful verdigris.
Bottle bird feeder – Just add an empty wine or beer bottle!
Umbra contemporary outdoor bird house – An avian take on a modernist des res!
Unplugged Barcelona bird feeder – Inspired by the famous, Mies van der Rohe-designed Barcelona Pavilion.

O is for… Owl

These are the big eyes of our latest owl – in this case, a pottery money box.

They never stay with us long as these feathered friends are consistently popular in our shop.

Whether in the form of money boxes, mugs, pot stands, textile prints, pictures or book illustrations.

We’ve blogged a fair few times about the great illustrator, Kenneth Townsend. He designed the cutest owl as part of his Menagerie series – apparently the owl was his favourite animal!

Another wonderful illustrator with a thing for owls was Celestino Piatti who once said, “You can draw an owl a thousand times, and never find out its secret”.

image credit: Fishink

We’ve had a quick trawl on the web for some more owls – here are some favourites:

image credit: Vintage Kids” Books my Kid Loves

Wise Ol’ Canister, Orange: £118 – Anthropologie

Happy owl open edition print by Matte Stephens: $35 – Etsy

image credit: mmmcrafts

image credit: Shailesh Chavda

Watch the birdie!

In our last blog we were musing over the influence of nature on artists & designers. Also how nature has been interpreted in book illustrations etc. We randomly began with ‘fish’ as a sub-theme, we’re going to continue, equally randomly, with vintage bird illustrations.

_{1960s Irish linen tea towel}

_{kitchen storage jar}

The items featured are again predominantly vintage finds from the 1950s, 60s & 70s. They include artworks, books and domestic wares.

_{1960s Wedgewood glass birds}

Check out the fantastic bird series produced for Iittala by the Finnish glass designer, Oiva Toikka started in 1973. They’re still being made today having amassed a range of over 300 designs.

_{John Clappison designs for Hornsea Pottery – mugs & hen ashtray}