Three for tea
Spring cleaning step one: Demote winter’s dingy dishtowels to rag duty. Step two: Renew your rack with a line of crisp cotton tea towels. Grand Rapids artist Lisa Price hand prints fresh white ones with images of the North’s favorite feathered friends (swallow, owl and wood thrush shown here – lots of other adorable animals and icons available).
$11.95 each; mix and match six for $68. Online at artgoodies.etsy.com.
How does your garden glow?Intermatic’s LED solar lights sap their energy from the sun – not electrical lines – so you can place them wherever you want to cast light at night. We love the French country garden-style light shown here, but you can choose from plenty of other styles, including – we kid you not – glowing garden gnomes.
See intermatic.com for local retailers.
Make a splash
Suttons Bay-based artist Leif Sporck’s trillium tiles are super as stand-alone art, but consider buying a bouquet of these beauties and installing them in a backsplash for
an always-spring shower.
$22 to $36 depending on size.Order direct from the artist: 231-271-5101.
Get hooked
Soap on a rope is so passé. Soap hooked to a wall above the sink, however … c’est magnifique! Especially when the sudsy stuff is Savon de Marseille – soap that, as mandated by a 1688 French law, is handcrafted according to ancient tradition with olive oil, alkaline ash from sea plants and the salty water of the Mediterranean Sea. $69 at Joie de Vie in Harbor Springs. 231-347-1400, joiedevieantiques.com.
Silver springDainty eggs cups instantly add a spring flourish to your table settings. But hard-boiled eggs at breakfast are just the beginning. For a luncheon decor, drop a fresh flower in each cup. At dinner, fill them with a nip of liquor or a sweet sauce for drizzling over dessert. You’ll find the sterling silver cups ($24 each) at Joie de Vie in Harbor Springs. Fabulous cut blooms and other unique plants and flowers – bells of Ireland, Chinese lanterns, orchids galore and more – await at Fischer Design, Traverse City, 231-933-1242.
WonderlandDon’t squint at spring’s wee seeds, buds and blossoms. They deserve your wide-eyed wonder, and this cute-as-a-bunny magnifying glass is just the thing to get you garden gazing. $47.95 at Cedar Creek Interiors, Harbor Springs. 231-526-9026, cedarcreekcollection.com.
Lynda Twardowski is assistant editor at Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine.lmt@traversemagazine.com
Note: These items were available at time of publication. Please check current availability with businesses listed.