Strawberries, the quirky way to enjoy the sunshine!

I am so excited to see strawberries being used as a design inspiration for so many products in many shops. They seem to be everywhere right now and they are such a cheerful fruit, don’t you think? They make me think of sunny days and sunshine, they bring me joy, and a good strawberry is up there as my top fruit to eat…and let’s not mention my absolute favourite cocktail, the strawberry daquiri (a good one with champagne is possible!). I found this bunch of strawberry goodness on one of my favourite websites Joe Browns so I already know that the quality is exquisite on these. They do have a William Morris Strawberry Thief range too, but I think I’ll let them have their own post!

It seems that the juicy little strawberry can present itself in many ways too. Just look at these three, all able to hold flowers or utensils or whatever you’d like to display in them, but they all look so different! I have a soft spot for the strawberry vine vase, it looks like it belongs in the Mediterranean. The rich red colour goes so beautifully against the green leaves and white. And then you have the proper plump strawberry design of the jug, this is what I think of when I think quirky and novelty! And the sweet planter, I just want to fill it with ice-cream and fresh strawberries!!

There’s a stunning range here of the novelty version of the strawberry, the design most seen in shops, they literally look good enough to eat! The mug is the shape I look for in a mug, it’s curved around the edges which stops heat escaping, perfect for people who are always on the go and forget that they have tea!! And the strawberry pot is screaming out to hold some strawberry jam, although you could go a bit crazy and add a random flavour jam, mix things up a bit and make your life a little bit more exciting 😉 I like that Joe Browns advertises them with sweets inside, I could have that on my desk with secret stash of sweet treats hidden in it! I can already see a big slice of cheesecake ready to be devoured on the strawberry shaped dessert plate, it wants cake, any cake served on it and I’m always here for that!!

And here are the random extras, the stunning candlestick with it’s adorning strawberries, a few of these would brighten up any dining setting, I’m thinking al-fresco meals out on the picnic table, it could be quite romantic, Summer starlight and candlelight, perfect! And then we have the handbag, this might be my favourite strawberry in this collection. I would 100% buy this, wear this and use this bag myself. It’s a classy little strawberry, but appeals to those of us who love something a little whimsical and playful.

Hope you liked seeing these. I might add some more stunning strawberries here so watch this space!

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Weird & Unusual People I’ve Met Online

If you’ve clicked hoping to see more information about my new “book” I’m sorry to say, but it was an April Fool joke. Please don’t hate me!!!! Sorry sorry sorry!

If you think this is something I should actually work on and create though, please let me know as I actually started to believe it was real myself and now I’m disappointed that it’s not! If I have enough thumbs up and plenty of you are willing to share your whimsical tales with me to include, let’s do this!

Unique Ladies Jackets perfect for a Quirky Spring

When it comes to quirky clothing, one of my favourite websites to browse is the wonderful Joe Browns. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of them before now, but I wanted to showcase a few of their gorgeous jackets. They have such a great selection, whether it be denim, leather, velvet, you name it, they’ve got it, and in funky colours or adorned by stunning embroidery. Be prepared to say “oh I love that” “oh I want that” oh I need that” quite a lot as you scroll down!

Quirky Pancakes for Pancake Day or just because!

I have pancakes on my mind, it’s Pancake Day / Shrove Tuesday and I’m already salivating at the thought of my tea time pancakes. Hopefully I will have the ingredients I need to make them by then, if not, my boy will march me to the shops to get whatever we need!! It is one of my favourite days, it’s guilt-free indulgence, don’t you think? I mean, we’re just respecting our culture and traditions, nothing to do with being gutsy!!

I have a gorgeous little shop on Etsy called LittlePancakeCo who have such unusual and unique pancake mix flavours, I thought this was the perfect day to showcase them. Just remember they are pancake mixes, you’ll have to make them this look good yourself!!

I would find it very very hard to choose which flavour to go for in all honesty. I would love to try the rocky road, the chocolate orange and the apple crumble more than the others, but I’d be quite happy doing a taste test on all of the above. I’m all for trying unique flavours, but what I like about the flavours chosen here is that they are not too weird for pancakes! So which one would you like to eat right now?

Funky OTOTO Novelty Practical Gadgets

This is a brand appreciation post. I just love OTOTO, they encompass everything I love about a product in their designs, they are practical and novelty in a funky, quirky way. Over the last few years, we have started quite a collection of OTOTO gadgets in our house, the kitchen in particular, Mr Quirky has given me some as gifts and I have for him too. We haven’t doubled up yet, but this is a cool brand I will keep revisiting when gift-buying, they are amazing!

Let’s start with a new one, the Croc Chop, I haven’t got this, but I want it! In fact I will add it to my non-shop shop when I get a chance so I can add to my Wishlist! I have a problem with my fingers, hands and wrists, they are very weak and can be painful if I do something too strenuous with them such as peeling and chopping certain vegetables, this vegetable chopper would make life so much easier for me. I absolutely love cooking, but my issues make it hard for me to do exactly what I want to cook sometimes, this crocodile-shaped gadget would be a game-changer for me! I love the shape, the use of the croc’s teeth as the chomper, I mean chopper…genius!

A gadget we all need in our homes or picnic baskets at some point…the trusty bottle opener / corkscrew! Now, why would anyone want to get a plain one when you can get a bat or a parrot?! These are both cool in their own ways, the bat “Vino” is dark and mysterious, and the Parrot “Pinot” is bright and colourful, complete opposites but they lend themselves to this kind of design amazingly! Which one are you drawn to?

Next up are these super unique cooking aide, they are spoon rests that double up as lid holders / steam releasers too. There are three designs, I already have Agatha the witch, she helps me make my potions and encourages my cackling whilst I cook! You can also get Buddy the adorable dog (which you can get in a set of one or set of two), or Red the funky crab! They are so different!

If you know a keen baker who likes to get quirky in the kitchen, this gorgeous cherries measuring spoon set is the perfect gift for them. Even the leaf is a handy egg separator! It’s vibrant and just really cool, I don’t even bake but I want one!

Let’s talk about one of my favourite cooking ingredients, garlic! I add garlic to most things, either from fresh, puree or granules, sometimes I even add a cheeky combination of all for extra flavour! We love garlic so much in this house, I bought this Gracula (Dracula) Garlic crusher for Mr Quirky for Christmas and it does not disappoint. It’s so easy to use and clean. It doesn’t take much effort to crush and press at all, and you can crush the garlic to the consistency you prefer! It was a very good purchase and I highly recommend it! I found a couple of other OTOTO garlic gadgets too, the Rockula matches the Gracula with the same Dracula head, but it’s on a rocking grater which allows you to rock and crush the garlic or grate it. I also found the Garligator which I think is a fabulous name, this alligator shaped tool works much in the same way as a standard garlic crusher, and it squeezes out like a mince or puree, it’s just way cooler than the standard one obviously!

I do believe every kitchen should have a pair of scissors, they are useful for so many things and at least if they are your kitchen scissors, you know they are cleaned regularly for all different types of food prep. I genuinely love this Elizabat bat-shaped scissors, it’s such a perfect design. It’s ergonomically designed to fit in your hand and it does look more comfortable to use than other scissors. This is going on my Wishlist!

This post is a work in progress but it is too cool to keep hidden so I’ll just add “to be continued” here until I’ve got everything on….!

Woodland Hares

I think this might be one of my favourite festive ranges ever. I love the dark forest green colouring with the vibrant splashes of reds, browns and yellow illuminated by the dark background. I have already bought the blanket so I guess I’ll have to start ticking off the rest of the range slowly but surely! I love that it looks festive, but it’s only the colours that give that impression, the majority of these items can still be used all year round!