A GIFT GUIDE: THE UNDER FIFTIES
In the picture: Ash Herb Block £25, Oak Plate £22, Cobalt Candle Holder £40, Small Bottle Vase £40, Ivory Dinner Candles £8
YES, THE UNDER £50’s
We thought it might be helpful to pull together all the lovely gifts that we have that are under £50. And, of course, if you’re on our mailing list (you can sign up here) then UK POSTAGE IS FREE (always).
Not to bang on boringly about it, but it IS really nice to note that everything; every. single. thing.* is designed and made in the UK and Ireland and largely made by hand or crafted by experienced crafts people.
[*well, apart from the book An Atlas of Rare & Familiar Colour and I wrote a journal entry about why we made the exception, Adding A Book. Breaking The Rules]
Given that this bowl is perfect for cereal at the start of the day and tapas at the end of the day it’s a very handy thing to have in your kitchen cupboard. The fact that it is beautifully made by hand is a glorious added bonus. Made in the North of England from iron-rich speckled stoneware and glazed in a ‘Nori’ seaweed colour. No two will be the same, you wouldn’t want them to be, they’re made by hand after all! [also available in white.]
Colour: Nori
Size: height 7cm x diameter 14.8cm
Notes: Hand washing will extend the life of your handmade ceramics.
This is a mug to cup your hands around. And it’s a beauty. Hand thrown in iron-rich stoneware, local to the Sheffield area in the North of England where these are made, each mug is glazed (almost but not entirely) in a simple tin-white glaze. A little foot ring of stoneware is left visibly unglazed on each mug and the makers mark is stamped into the base. You know this of course, but no two mugs will be the same, they’re handmade, so that’s the whole point! [also available in a ‘Nori’ (seaweed) colour]
Colour: white
Size: height 8cm x diameter 9cm. Capacity: 250ml
Notes: It’s best to wash by hand to prolong the life of your ceramics
An everyday mug, but so much more than ‘a basic’. Hand thrown in iron-rich stoneware, local to the Sheffield area in the North of England where these are made, each mug is glazed (almost but not entirely) in a simple ‘nori’ glaze. A little foot ring of stoneware is left visibly unglazed on each mug and the makers mark is stamped into the base. Of course, no two mugs are identical. That’s the whole point of handmade things, right! [also available in white].
Colour: Nori (seaweed colour)
Size: height 11 cm x diameter 7.5 cm. Capacity: 325ml
Notes: It’s best to wash by hand to prolong the life of your ceramics
A simple side plate. Each one hand-thrown in Sheffield, in local iron-rich speckled stoneware and then glazed in tin-white, only the foot ring remains unglazed. Gosh your bread and butter never looked to good. [also available in ‘Nori’ seaweed colour]
Colour: white
Size: height 2.5cm x diameter 20cm
Notes: Hand washing will extend the life of your handmade ceramics.
This is for the cheese lovers. The striking ‘spalted’ grain of these Beech boards is actually caused by a fungus. Although the fungus ultimately damages the tree, it does make stunning grain markings. These boards are beautifully made and have a handy circular hole allowing you to hang the board when it’s not in use. No two boards are the same, but they are all equally dramatic looking.
Wood: Spalted Beech
Size: diameter: 26.5 cm
Notes: When cleaning do clean with soapy water, do not immerse the board or leave it to soak. Always dry off, and from time to time rub lightly with food safe oil for protection.
The striking ‘spalted’ grain of these Beech boards is actually caused by a fungus. Although the fungus ultimately damages the tree, it does make stunning grain markings. These boards a beautifully made and have a handy circular hole allows you to hang the board when it’s not in use, or you can stand a bowl in it and use if for nuts, grapes, crackers, whatever your cheese board needs really! No two boards are the same, but they are all equally dramatic looking.
Wood: Spalted Beech
Size: l: 45cm x w: 20cm
Notes: When cleaning do clean with soapy water, do not immerse the board or leave it to soak. Always dry off, and from time to time rub lightly with food safe oil for protection.
Our Rippled Sycamore boards are made by hand in Norfolk. They are made from a storm fallen tree that was ‘rescued’ from Halesworth in Suffolk. They make wonderful cheese boards, would look great with charcuterie, work perfectly as bread boards... Basically they’re an excellent all-round serving boards. Each one is different as the grain varies, which makes them unique too.
Wood: Sycamore
Size: l: 45cm x w: 20cm
Notes: When cleaning do clean with soapy water, do not immerse the board or leave it to soak. Always dry off, and from time to time rub lightly with food safe oil for protection.
Look at this grain! These wonderful serving boards are made from Holm Oak which gives the boards their distinctive grain. The Holm Oak is resistant to salt-spray so are often planted as windbreaks in coastal areas, however they can’t tolerate frost and suffer in hard winters. These special boards are made from a storm-fallen tree. They are dense and hard wearing. And utterly unique and special. Every board is different and each grain pattern varies from one board to the next.
Wood: Holm Oak
Size: l: 29.5cm x w:15.5cm
Notes: When cleaning do clean with soapy water, do not immerse the board or leave it to soak. Always dry off, and from time to time rub lightly with food safe oil for protection.
Utterly beautiful, super smooth coffee scoop. Hand carved from Sycamore and finished with food safe organic flax seed oil mixed with beeswax. Each scoop is slightly different to the next, the natural flaws in the wood are what give each scoops its character. This is THE gift for a coffee lover, if you know that person or if that’s you then you really need this. That’s it really, now, will it be sycamore or walnut?
Wood: sycamore
Size: l: 9cm w: 5-6cm d: 2-3cm [sizes are approximate and vary from scoop to scoop]
Notes: When cleaning do, wash quickly in soapy water, do not leave it to soak. Always dry off, and from time to time rub the scoop lightly with food safe oil for protection.
Working with arborists, with sawmill offcuts and with storm fallen woodland timber means that you never know exactly what you will get. Slow Made Goods, based in Norfolk, takes the very best of the woods available and these walnut scoops are carefully hand-carved, highly polished and finished with food safe organic flax seed oil mixed with beeswax. Each scoop is slightly different to the next, the natural flaws in the wood are what give each scoops its character. So the question is, will it be the dark walnut scoop or the soft sycamore scoop for your coffee ritual?
Wood: walnut
Size: l: 9cm w: 5-6cm d: 2-3cm [sizes are approximate and vary from scoop to scoop]
Notes: When cleaning do, wash quickly in soapy water, do not leave it to soak. Always dry off, and from time to time rub the scoop lightly with food safe oil for protection.
Elegant long handled oak spoons, ideal for coffee beans, grains, seeds… These make great gifts for those who are happiest in the kitchen.
Wood: Oak
Size: l: 17cm (handle 11cm, scoop 6cm) [sizes are approximate and vary a little from spoon to spoon]
Notes: When cleaning, do wash quickly in soapy water, do not leave it to soak. Always dry off, and from time to time rub the scoop lightly with food safe oil for protection.
Classic dinner candles. Perfect for making simple table settings look effortlessly stylish. Each dinner candle is hand ‘drawn’ - a traditional candle making technique that has been used on the St Eval family farm since the early days of kitchen-table candle making. These candles come in a box of 6 and each candle can burn for up to 10 hours.
Colour: Available in Ivory, Rose Quartz, Atlantic Green and Bedruthan Blue
Size: candle height, approx 20cm
Notes: 6 unscented candles per pack. The burn time, approx 10 hours.
We’re not advocating that you take to ‘running through the town’ (in your nightgown or otherwise) but this is a Wee Willie Winkie candle holder if ever there was one. This beauty is made of fine bone china which is the strongest of ceramics and the clever saucer catches any waxy drips preserving your surfaces and tablecloths. And of course, it is handcrafted here in the UK and the indigo rim is hand painted. It makes a great gift too as the packaging is great.
Notes: Fine Bone China with an indigo rim
People are funny about coffee, aren't they? They have habits and rituals. Let this strong and delicate mug join your coffee club. It's a beautiful piece of design that sits well in your hand, the 'dimple' detail gives texture to the smooth glazed surface and makes the hand-painted blue handle all the more striking. And, it comes in a lovely box, making a wonderful gift for a coffee-loving friend.
Colour: White Fine Bone China mug with a deep blue hand-painted handle
Size: height 7.3cm x diameter 6.9cm. Capacity 7oz
Notes: these can go in the dishwasher, but they're bone china so do be careful.
This is a solid, classic bread board. Made from a single piece of oak, each board has an English leather handle attached and held in place by two tiny brass pins and the makers mark branded into the surface. This is a kitchen essential and a great gift.
Size: length 35cm x width 20cm
Notes: wash and dry immediately, do not leave to soak.
This is a ‘does the job and does it looking good’ sort of a product. A beautiful block of ash with a simple leather handle tacked in with lovely brass pins. I think this would make a great housewarming gift (it’s the kind of thing I’d love to receive!)
Size: length 20cm x width 12cm x height 4cm
Notes: wash by hand and dry, don’t leave to soak.
It is very difficult to make handblown glass. Fact. It’s a fight against heat and time, which is why these tumblers are so so special. Each one hand blown and ‘scribbled’ on with white glass is inevitably (wonderfully) slightly different to the next.
Size: approx h: 9cm x w: 8.5 (but they are all fractionally different)
Notes: Hand wash - whatever you do, do not put these beauties in the dishwasher!
Simple but never plain. Feldspar Studio have designed a soap dish that will fit neatly into any bathroom. Made by hand in the UK from fine bone china, this soap dish has deep ridges ensuring that your soap won’t go soggy in a soap-suds puddle as the air can circulate more freely than usual. Fine hand-painted Cobalt lines on the rim and ridges give the dish a sketch-like appearance.
This wise old bird is made from sustainable Irish beech and is sure to delight the young and the old with its characterful balancing act.
Size: height 17.5cm x width 7.5cm
Notes: 'Owl' comes boxed (box length 17.5cm x width 12.5cm)
Not suitable for children under 36 months
A handy little jar for kitchen things, sugar, jam, spices, tea leaves. The joy of craft is that no two pieces are the same, each one of these is ever-so-slightly different depending on where it was sitting in the kiln. The white tin-glaze lid has a simple English leather cord handle. It is glazed inside with a white tin glaze and remains unglazed on the outside. Designed by Sue Pryke, these are slipcast in a small rural factory in Nottinghamshire, using traditional hand processes to make and fire.
Colour: terracotta with white tin-glazed lid
Size: h 8.5cm x d 8.5cm
Wooden Ash plates made by hand in Ireland. These plates are good in the kitchen, perfect for picnics and brilliant at BBQs. And of course, they don't chip when you drop them in the sink. Each plate is different with some being more grainy than others, they are all, without fail, lovely!
Available in two sizes: small and large.
Size: diameter 26 cm
Notes: wash and dry the plates after use. Do NOT leave to soak. These plates are individually turned by hand. Each one will vary slightly from the next as no two pieces of wood are the same.
Each one of these striking designs in this tea towel set is initially hand-painted before being printed onto cotton in the UK. One design shows the meandering line of the river and the other the flotsam, the river debris, that floats out towards the sea.
Size: 45cm x 70cm
Notes: The set includes one of each tea towel design. Wash at 40 degrees.
Designed over 100 years ago this watering can has earned it’s description as a classic. The shape is strong and the balance, whether full or nearly empty, is perfect. Each one made from powder-coated steel is still soldered by hand in the UK. It’s a treat for you and your plants. Now the only difficulty is which colour…sage, cream, galvanised steel or copper…agghhhh!
Colour: Cream
Notes: h: 16cm x l: 35cm x w: 11.5cm and has a 1 litre capacity
Brutalist AND beautiful. It's not an easy thing to get right. But Havelock Studio have nailed it with their delicate treatment of this sturdy material. Every coffee table should have a stack of Origami Concrete Coasters to protect the surface and perfect the look.
Size: diameter 9.8 cm x depth 1.2cm
Notes: the coaster has a cork base to protect the table. Clean by hand with warm soapy water. Do not immerse in water.
Boiled eggs. The perfect breakfast delivered in the perfect vessel. This clever concrete egg cup has a fine edge and the 'cup' is convex meaning that any size egg nestles comfortably inside. The egg cup is also hollow which makes it light. Each one is hand poured into bespoke silicone moulds ensuring a uniformity of shape but individual patination means that each egg cup is totally unique.
Size: 6cm
Notes: each one is finished with a food safe sealer to prevent staining. Wash in hot soapy water. Not dishwasher safe.
A simple cylindrical hand-thrown vase in a gentle mottled glaze reminiscent of sea mist in the morning. What a simply beautiful way to display a hedgerow handful. Available in two sizes.
Size: height 14cm x diameter 9.5cm
Notes: hand wash with soapy water
![Pink+White Flat-Lay Notebook [A5 size]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c49ca84b40b9d7552d047d9/1594044247839-D2P27QXYE1OKI58EUS79/pink+%26+white+notebook.jpg)
For list makers or diary keepers or endless doodlers, this soft cover notebook is made with a lay-flat binding. The lay-flat binding means that you can open your notebook, easily work across two pages simultaneously and the book will rest open at your chosen page...so you don’t loose your place (once you’ve used these notebooks you can’t go back.) These are designed and made in the UK, and have 128 soft white pages that are sewn at the spine for durability. Printed with vegetable based inks. We have four colours to choose from, navy, grey, blue+white and pink+white.
Colour: Pink+White
Notes: A5 size / 128 plain pages / FSC certified paper stock
![Blue+White Flat-Lay Notebook [A5 size]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c49ca84b40b9d7552d047d9/1594043565749-P798CAK4JSPRYMD80J5L/stack+of+notebooks-mug.jpg)
For list makers or diary keepers or endless doodlers, this soft cover notebook is made with a lay-flat binding. The lay-flat binding means that you can open your notebook, easily work across two pages simultaneously and the book will rest open at your chosen page...so you don’t loose your place (once you’ve used these notebooks you can’t go back.) These are designed and made in the UK, and have 128 soft white pages that are sewn at the spine for durability. Printed with vegetable based inks. We have four colours to choose from, navy, grey, blue+white and pink+white.
Colour: Blue+White
Notes: A5 size / 128 plain pages / FSC certified paper stock
This is a first for Simple Shape - a book*. A staggeringly wonderful book. If you like colour, if you like collections of things, if you like stories and anecdotes, if you like typography and graphic layouts, this book is an absolute must for you.
The blurb: ‘The Straus Centre for Conservation and Technical Studies at the Harvard Art Museum, specialising in the conservation of works on paper, paintings, sculpture, decorative objects and archaeological artefacts, possesses over 2500 of the world’s rarest pigments. Visually excavating the extraordinary collection, one inaccessible to museum visitors, Atelier Editions’ kaleidoscopic monograph examines the contained pigments, paint-binding media and organic source materials’ providence, composition, symbology and application within the larger field of chromatics.’
[*it’s important to acknowledge that contrary to our principal of stocking designs that are made in Britain and Ireland this is not printed in the UK. It is however such a strikingly wonderful book with such exceptional production values that we decided it was acceptable to include it in the Simple Shape collection.]
Notes: Paperback 18cm x 24cm
224 pages including 200+ art plates
Raise your baking game. Literally. This is the most elegant cake stand I’ve found, and WOW! it makes a cake look incredible. It is made using elegant fine bone china (which, despite its deceptively fragile appearance, is actually the toughest ceramic). It has a wonderfully wobbly edge which is hand painted in cobalt blue. It comes boxed too so makes an excellent gift for a master baker but also means it can be safely stored in between bakes. (…proper pictures coming very soon, with cake, for now these snaps hopefully give an indication of the beautiful form.)
Notes: Fine Bone China with a cobalt blue rim
Size: h: 9.5 cm / w: 24 cm