All the fun of the garden fair...

We had a lovely time at the Bishops Waltham Garden Fair at the weekend.  It was held at the beautiful Wintershill Hall, a proper period drama mansion surrounded by sweeping lawns and spectacular shrubbery.

After mocking up our stand in the garden the previous day we were like a well oiled machine once we'd got to our spot.  With a lot of help from our trusted team mate Norms and a good strong cup of tea courtesy of the St Johns ambulance ladies we quickly constructed our pop up shop, complete with vintage frame signage, shabby chic furniture and a cacophony of cushions.

Once the gates opened at ten there was a steady flow of people until tools down at four.  The plant stalls were super popular (particularly because of the promise of sunshine to be had the following day) and the combination of tasty treats, interesting homeware and trinkets from the other stallholders and us proved irresistible.

There was fun to be had at the falconry display too.  Any excuse to put on a big pair of gloves and hold an owl.  The team were brilliantly deadpan as the birds swooped and whirled and refused to do what they were told.

As always the face painting stall had the biggest queue, producing butterflies, puppies, tigers and pirates (and the odd tiny tear stained face when it all got a bit much).

At the end of the day we packed up in no time having had a great day gossiping and eating cake and selling a lot of Erica's new greeting cards (which pleased her no end and will be appearing on the site soon).  A good day was had by all and we thoroughly recommend it if you're around next year.

A bit of a flutter

We love these pretty butterfly magnets. Perfect as a pressy for cheering someone up on a grey day...

Smashing...

We've added lots and lots of lovely vintage glass and ceramic ware to the site today and there's plenty more to come.  We especially like this pretty pink cup and saucer with its gorgeous butterfly handle www.theotherduckling.co.uk

Flourish of the fortnight...

Pop over to our website or fb page to take part in our new competition :-) ...www.theotherduckling.co.uk

Beautiful budgie...

We've been out treasure hunting again... How's this for a little gem? www.theotherduckling.co.Uk

Da da da dum dum dum dahhhh...

(That was a fanfare by the way). We've just launched our new look website - yipeeee! It's bursting with lots of lovely new stuff and it's much easier to browse through to boot. We think it looks a lot prettier now too so why not grab a cuppa and take a peek at www.theotherduckling.co.ukIf you think it deserves a thumbs up then please let us know.

Em's wonderful work...

Our fabulous friend and furniture guru, Em-from-up-the-road, has been busily titivating some lovely vintage finds and turning them into gorgeous revamped handpainted pieces for The Other Duckling.

How's this for the beautifullest bureau ever?...

Find more at: http://www.theotherduckling.co.uk/painted-and-vintage-furniture-44-c.asp

We're venturing into the world of ceramics...

So: a bit bigger and chunkier than usual with nice smooth sides or classically sized and delicate with a bit of a curve on the rim? We're talking bone china actually and some may say 'who cares?'... but we do right now. Which do you reckon?

Happy New Year...

This week we will mostly be drinking from this gorgeous water jug and the co-ordinatingly cute embossed glasses. Whether we fill them with iced mineral water for a stylish detox or vodka martini for just making it through remains to be seen... 

http://www.theotherduckling.co.uk/water-jug-and-glasses-1070-p.asp

Our Shepherd's Hut... a tale told in pictures.

A couple of summers ago we were lucky enough to be invited to our lovely friend's perfect wedding. Mary and Graeme, being outdoorsy types, had found a gorgeous log cabin in the middle of the beautiful New Forest to get hitched in and guests were encouraged to stay the night in one of the surrounding specially kitted out Shepherd's huts.  As the only thing they were lacking was a built in babysitter, we didn't opt for a sleepover on that occasion but the seeds were sown in our minds that Shepherd's huts were wonderful things to behold, that we knew a certain little girl who would love one and we had just the place at the bottom of our garden.  Andrew has never been one to hold back so it wasn't long before a set of scaled down plans and a load of planks appeared.  Project Shepherd's Hut had begun.

There's nothing like a bit of sunshine to get a garden project going. Luckily one person seemed to know what they were doing...

A roof, some wheels, a Shepherd's Hut sort of shape... Now we're talking.

Bring a ladder, a yellow spirit level and a bucket of nails into the equasion and things really start happening.

Floor, tick.  Walls, tick.  Undercoat, tick.  Interest from neighbours, tick.

And finally we have a fully functioning, perfectly beautiful, slightly scaled down Shepherd's Hut, complete with shiny new roof, opening-and-shutting windows with flowery curtains, a set of co-ordinating steps and a coat of lovely grey weatherproof paint.  A labour of love indeed...

...and it's definitely a hit with someone...

Here's to many a happy moment spent.

If you're interested in our project, or fancy something similar - why not drop us a line, or let us know you like it?

Christmas is coming...

....Christmas is definitely on the horizon. We spotted it putting on its woolly reindeer jumper, mixing up a vat of mincemeat and stocking up on tinsel and alka seltzer. Lots of other people must have spotted it too because there's been a flurry of Christmas pressy buying at the other duckling and we re keeping our parcel force man rather busy...

All partied out...

Our rather brilliant bunny rabbit jelly mould returns to his rightful place after an exhausting week of responsibility. Good work Roger.

Click here to see some of our other fleamarket finds.

A bit of a spruce up...

We've started giving The Other Duckling a seasonal spruce up, adding lots of lovely new vintage and revamped bits and pieces and tidying up so it's easier to spot the gems.  There's still plenty more to come  but for now why not pop by and let us know what you think?

One thing we have learned...

...from the recent atrocious weather is that cucumbers like rain...

Now the weather is glorious we think we'll be needing this...

Looking for a love?

We have a couple of our gorgeous love seats back in stock now, this pretty blue one and a wonderfully worn grey version.  If you're stuck for an extra special gift for an upcoming wedding it might be worth taking a look...

Top for toy boxes...

We've revamped a couple of beautiful bushel boxes for stashing away the terrible toys... once slid away under the dresser you'd never know they were there... find some more here if you like.

Happy Easter!

The Easter twig tree is up, the Easter nests are constructed and plans are in place for the Easter egg hunt... now we just need the sun to put his hat back on and we'll be egggstremely happy.

More than a sniff of Spring...

That was just the most gorgeous weekend...anoraks abandoned and a spontaneous garden picnic in between the garden graft. These handy tubs came into their own as non spill sandwich and snack plates, perfect for placing securely on early spring sprouty grass...

Splash of spring colour anyone?

We're loving spotting the odd splash of promise-of-spring colour at the moment... crocuses popping up, a snowdrop or two mixed in with lots of rosy weatherbeaten cheeks and cold blue fingers. We're staying inside for the time being but cheering ourselves up with a set of these cute embroidered hooks - we're thinking we might pass on a few as alternative Easter gifts too...

Loved up...

What better way to greet your loved one on Valentine's morning, than with a great cup of coffee, kept toasty warm in one of these cute cafetiere cosies...