Ulster Weavers have launched some fantastic new products in aid of the Royal Wedding!

Here at the home textile office we are super excited about the wedding on April 29^th 2011 between Prince William and future princess Kate Middleton.

Despite the fact that the day has been declared a bank holiday so we get a day off, the great news also brings delight in the fact that we have designed these amazing Kitchen tea towels as part of the royal wedding memorabilia.

Both Cotton Tea Towel designs are extremely different so you are bound to find one that suits your taste. We’re thinking you may not necessarily use it to dry your Sunday tea dinner plates but rather store it as a keepsake; and who knows, in a decade you might even make a few bob from selling it!

Either way, the Cotton Tea Towels are a perfect way to celebrate the Royal wedding in true British style and they would make lovely pass-me-down gifts to your great grandchildren in years from now.

Even though we haven’t had a personal invite to the big day, we might even have to go buy a new hat. (Any excuse to go shopping ladies!)

William and Kate Cotton Tea Towel

The Royal Wedding Cotton Tea Towel

Winter has definitely arrived with Christmas closely around the corner. You can always tell  when people have to start de-iceing their windows on their cars to clear the frost first thing in the morning and when ‘ Frosty the Snowman’  bellows out of the radio.

So this means one thing, Christmas shopping. But what do you get that office employee who you annoyingly picked as your secret Santa but who you really do not know anything about?

A great gift idea for everyone this winter time would be a nice Bone China Mug for their hot chocolate, that they can curl up on the sofa with next to the fire or to kick start their winter mornings with a nice strong coffee.

Here at Ulster Weavers we have these fine bone china mugs that will elegantly finish off crockery collections or homeware ranges and are of high quality with attention to detail. New exciting designs in these mugs for 2011.

And they come in matching kitchen tiles to seal the deal on that extra special present to possibly gain browny points.

Victoria Bone China Mug

A more classical option with matching Apron, Gauntlett and Muff Tea Cosy.

Domestic Goddess Bone China Mug

An Ann Edwards Design with matching Tea Cosy, PVC Apron and Linen Tea Towel.

All Bone China mugs at £8.99 each.

Owls are beautiful birds of prey and are turning heads on the high street as more and more fashion designers bring out owl clothes and accessories throughout 2010.

And as Halloween approaches what better time than now to look at the wise old owl and how it has burst out onto the fashion scene.

Many people are questioning the arrival of the owl trend and where it came from. While trends and styles drop in and out of the fashion world, the emergence of owls reappeared in autumn 2009 when Marc Jacobs introduced a few owl fashion designs in his collection. Before then, owl trends have dipped in and out of fashion but the last time they were big, bold and heavily on the scene was during the 70s when everyone adorned owl necklaces, bracelets, tops and earrings. It was all the rage.

And from the high street stores to the homeware world, Paper Source and Martha Stewart have introduced owl style place cards and aprons, as well as door mats for in and around the home.

“Owls are a charming trend in home decor. They add a fun, quirky element to living spaces and they fit right in with darker, retro looks and even brighter, more natural settings,” said Aimee Beatty, Pier 1 Imports’ corporate in house stylist.

And while everyone is twittering about owls we thought we would give a little hoot about our wildlife owl collection at

Twitter Double Oven Glove by Ulster Weavers

UlsterWeavers.com. During June 2010 our designers launched a fabulous homeware collection called Twitter. Our jazzy little owl design, in a full range of cotton kitchen textiles, is beautifully printed in soft neutrals and finished with detailed appliqué embroidery on some of the products to make the owl stand out as the main feature.

Complete with an apron, tea towel, muff tea cosy, pot mitt, gauntlet and double oven glove, our Twitter collection is perfect for your home this winter and puts you right up to date with the latest homeware and fashion trends.

And it’s not just our Twitter collection that features these beautiful birds of prey; we have a collection called Natural World designed by Karen Phillips, a British professional wildlife and animal artist. The Natural World collection features a range of tea towels and shoulder bags designed with a variation of natural wildlife including a shoulder bag and tea towel of two tawny owls.

All our animal homeware collections can be found on our website ulsterweavers.com today.

Jamboree Muff Cosy by Ulster Weavers. Just one of the products in the Ulster Weavers sale.

Make sure that you don’t miss the massive Ulster Weavers sale!

With up to 60 per cent off selected items from our kitchen textile and homeware ranges you are sure to pick up a bargain or two via our dedicated online store which features all of our sale products as well as our full current ranges online and available to buy today.

From a range of cotton aprons, tea towels, gauntlets, tea cosies, double oven gloves, laundry bags and PVC bags plus many more homeware items, you are sure to find a few bits and pieces in our sale that take your fancy.

Our featured sale ranges from a selection of Ulster Weavers designs as well as designs from renowned artists and designers such as V&A, Thomas Joseph, A Little Dog Laughed, Ann Edwards and Sharon Jervis, plus many more.

The massive Autumn Sale ends on the 14^th October while stocks last, making it the perfect opportunity for you to grab a few Christmas presents for your family and friends in time for the festive season.

And with prices as low as £2.24 you would be mad to miss out on this fantastic sale from Ulster Weavers.

Ulster Weavers are soon set to launch their Christmas homeware and kitchen textile collections which mean that all of our autumn sale products must go to make room for our new stock.

Visit the Ulster Weavers Sale today to get your hands on a few bargains.

Silver Studded Blue Butterfly

August is renowned as butterfly month. As you wake up to a sunny morning or relax in the garden on a warm evening, there is nothing nicer than seeing butterflies flying around amongst your flowers and plants.

During the August season around 59 species of butterflies can be found roaming around our back gardens, fields, lakes and rivers.

However this is on the decline as more and more butterflies – particularly the rare species – are in danger of becoming extinct.

A campaign called the Big Butterfly Count launched last month encouraged the public to help track the UK’s butterfly populations in a bid to understand which species is in need of the most help.

Almost 75 per cent of the 59 species found in Britain are in decline. Butterflies such as the Holly Blue and Gatekeeper were once a common species yet are now believed to be joining the list in need of protection.

The campaign encouraged adults and children to stand in their gardens, woodland areas, fields or parks for just 15 minutes and make a record of the butterflies and day-flying moths that they could see.  

The campaign finished on August 1^st and the results are eagerly awaited to help scientists get a better picture of the fortunes of UK butterflies.

The past three years have seen a huge decline in butterflies due to lack of hot weather as well as the development of gardens and the practice of cleaning up parks and roadside verges.

Holly Blue Butterfly

The Holly Blue is thought to of moved north amid the rising temperatures, while the Blue Butterfly – once only common in the south – has started to colonise in Edinburgh over the past few years.

Richard Fox, surveys manager at Butterfly Conservation, said, “Reports suggest numbers of the many garden species and common or widespread species are down so far this year but the warm weather will have benefited them.

“This year by recent standards we had a long hot spell for the whole of June which, compared to the last few summers, was amazing and will have benefited the butterflies that were out and about at the time.

“I am sure that the various fashions for gardens not being green have not helped. For example the building of houses in gardens but also the trend for gravel or decking and paving over gardens for parking space.”

If you want to do your bit to help bring beautiful butterflies into your garden, there are a few simple steps you can take to attract numerous butterflies to your garden each day. The whole process is simple and the rewards are truly stunning as you do your bit to help protect endangered species and the environment.

• Caterpillars that morph into butterflies need specific types of plants that they can feed on. Monarch caterpillars for example love butterfly weed – often called milkweed which can be found through members of the Asclepias family of plants.
• Swallowtails love herbs such as fennel. A bronze fennel is a truly gorgeous plant that can grow into massive plantings as well as parsley and rue. If you can, plant as many native plants in your garden as well. Doing this automatically establishes a habitat garden that is good for butterflies as well as bees and songbirds.
• Adult butterflies need nectar plants to feed upon. Annuals such as pentas, petunias and zinnias work perfectly. Perennials such as Black and Blue salvia and coneflowers are also ideal. Coral and blue porterweed tender annuals in many locations and can bring beaucoup butterflies as well as hummingbirds.
• Butterflies need various sources of moisture. Place a shallow dish of water or a birdbath which can give them the minerals they need.
• Add fruit such as bananas, melons and grapes that are too ripe for you to eat to entice them into your garden.
• Butterflies only live a few weeks so make their lifespan as long as you can by keeping your garden as organic as possible without using pesticides and toxic chemicals which can kill them.

Butterfly Blue Small PVC Bag by Ulster Weavers

If you truly are a butterfly lover and miss having the dainty creatures in your garden, why not take a trip to UlsterWeavers.com the online home textiles store which has just launched a beautiful Blue Butterfly range to their already extensive collection. The bright and beautiful design of tropical blue and gold butterflies will really stand out in your home. With linen tea towels, coasters, placemat, gauntlet, pott mitt, tea cosy, small and large trays, cotton apron, an oven glove, packable bags ranging from shoulder to reusable bags, the Butterfly Blue is a fantastic blend of fashion and homeware for every age.

For more information visit Ulster Weavers.com.

Drinking a cup of tea is only good if you make it. Whether you like it milky with three sugars or strong with no milk, if someone makes you a cup of tea you are more than likely to receive a cup of tea the exact opposite to how you like it.

And if you leave it you run the risk of offending the tea maker which is possibly the last thing you want to do, so you sit there drinking almost a pint of sweetened milk when you prefer your tea super strong with no added sugar.

If only everyone had their tea the same way and there was no other way to make it. How easy would that be?

The famous George Orwell in his time had a set of tea rules that he lived by that no one should dare depart from.

George Orwell’s tea rules

• Use tea from India or Ceylon (Sri Lanka), not China
• Use a teapot, preferably ceramic
• Warm the pot over direct heat
• Tea should be strong – six spoons of leaves per 1 litre
  

  George Orwell and his famous tea rules

• Let the leaves move around the pot – no bags or strainers
• Take the pot to the boiling kettle
• Stir or shake the pot
• Drink out of a tall, mug-shaped tea cup
• Don’t add creamy milk
• Add the milk to the tea, not vice versa
• No sugar!

Orwell said that tea was one of the “mainstays of civilisation” and completely ruined by sweetening. He said that anyone flouting his diktat on shunning the sugar bowl could not be called “a true tealover.”

That’s us told!

Not only did he have a weak spot for a good cuppa, he also had distaste for scientists, so in 2003, to mark the 100^th anniversary of Orwell’s birth, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) broke down his 11-point formula to rubbish a good many of his ‘golden rules.’

And Dr Andrew Stapley – a chemical engineer at Loughborough University – found a number of Orwell’s points were wrong.

Orwell’s six-spoons of tea per pot were found to be just far too strong to drink. The RSC research found that just a single spoon of leaves was sufficient.

Pouring milk after the tea was made was seen as a no go because according to their research;

“At high temperatures, milk proteins – which are normally all curled up foetus-like – begin to unfold and link together in clumps. This is what happens in UHT (ultra heat-treated) milk, and is why it doesn’t taste as good a fresh milk,” says Dr Stapley.

 “It is better to have the chilled milk massed at the bottom of the cup, awaiting the stream of hot tea. This allows the milk to cool the tea, rather than the tea ruinously raise the temperature of the milk.”

 And this whole malarkey about no sugar isn’t backed up by the team as sugar “acts to moderate the natural astringency of tea.” In other words it just makes tea less bitter.

This would clearly anger Orwell who said that “Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter.”

 Well whatever your tea style we at UlsterWeavers.com follow these fabulous tips to ensure that all of our staff get a decent brew every day of the week.

1. Make sure the kettle is clean and well maintained. Water contains minerals and limescale that can build up at the bottom of your kettle overtime. De-scale and rinse your kettle regularly especially if you live in a hard water area.
2. If your water tastes good then half the battle is complete. Tap water is usually fine but filtered water can be a better option as it has a high amount of oxygen circulation throughout. Try to avoid using distilled or previously boiled water as the kettle prefers pure water.
3. Whether you are using a teapot or a single cup, give the tea at least 2 minutes to brew. A good tip is to ensure that the water stays hot and this can be done with either tea cosies or simply placing a small plate on top of the cup. This keeps the heat in giving you a steaming hot cup of tea every time. Be careful not to burn yourself on the boiling water.
4. If herbal and speciality teas are your thing then let the water in the kettle cool a little as finer teas taste better at lower temperatures.

Whether you put the milk in before or after or whether sugar is your thing is a personal thing, but one thing we can all agree on is that tea needs to be piping hot.

Twitter Tea Cosy from UlsterWeavers.com

A great way to do this is through a tea cosy from UlsterWeavers.com. The home textiles company has a range of tea cosies available from their online store which would look perfect in your home and a great solution to keeping your tea super hot.

Their latest collections include the adorable Twitter tea cosy, an adorable owl themed collection. Cotton with polyester wadding and a wooden based insert, this tea cosy is complete with appliqué detail making it the perfect accessory for your home.

The collection comes complete with a double oven glove, pot mitt, cotton tea towel, gauntlet and a cotton apron, the ideal way to make your house a home.

For more information visit UlsterWeavers.com today.

Sunshine + Good Company = A great opportunity for al fresco dining.

We may not have the Mediterranean climate, but when the sun peeps its way through the clouds it’s essential that we make full use of the good weather before it disappears altogether.

If the sun is shining and you want to get the tables and chairs outside – without too much hassle and preparation – there are a few tips to keeping it simple while at the same time preparing fresh, quality food.

When it comes to the food it doesn’t have to be barbequed or include bowls of limp looking salad. A good idea would be to mix a few dishes that are simple to put together with tasty accompaniments – so that you can sit back and enjoy the party too.

If your al fresco meal is an impromptu affair, why not invite some close friends around and ask them to contribute a dish or two, a great way of sharing the work load, extending the menu as well as spreading the cost.

And with al fresco dining there is no need for the fancy cutlery, crockery and dining table furnishings. Kitchen towels double up as napkins, wine is served straight from the bottle and water comes from the tap straight into a large jug. All it takes is for you to serve up some tasty food.

If you are looking for a style of food to go for then why not consider Italian dishes, full of flavour and a favourite for everyone.  

With Italian food, there are a wide range of dishes to choose from that are sure to go down a treat at an al fresco party.

Here are a few ideas that we had in mind.

Lasagna

One of the most versatile and simple Italian dishes ever to be made and really tasty too. You would find it a bit of a challenge to meet someone who hasn’t ever tasted lasagne. The dish is really simple to make and can easily be prepared without the fuss and hassle as you only need to consider one dish rather than hundreds of pots and pans all at once.

*If your guests are vegetarian, impress them by making a vegetarian lasagne.

Full Recipe…

Four Seasons Pizza

Four Seasons pizza is a tasty meal that is full of flavour and a great dish for your guests to pick at. Make sure that they like fish before you head onto cook this tasty dish as you could see your masterpiece end up in the bin.

*Why not cook some garlic bread to go with it!

Full Recipe…

Mediterranean Pasta

Colourful and extremely healthy this is an ideal meal that is perfect as a light dish but super filling and extremely tasty. A great dish for vegetarians too!

Full Recipe…

All these dishes are delicious, versatile and fairly simple to cook for someone who is still finding their way around the kitchen.

Here are a few other tasty treats that you should consider;

• Make sure you have some Italian wine chilled and ready to drink.
• Have olives and fresh bread out before, during and after the meal.
• Garlic bread is a must at an Italian al fresco meal.
• A fresh fruit salad for your guests to pick at the end of the meal.

Sorrento Tea Towel From UlsterWeavers.com

If you want to make more of an impression when it comes to your al fresco dining then why not decorate your kitchen with a stunning homeware collection from UlsterWeavers.com.

The home fashions company has a wide range of designs including the beautiful Sorrento collection, ideal for Italian al fresco dining. The Sorrento collection encompasses a deep red design with decorative black and white floral patterns, a beautiful collection for any home.

The collection comes complete with a linen tea towel, double oven glove, PVC apron, pot mitt, tea cosy, cotton apron, PVC or cotton packable bag and a canvas shoulder bag.

For more information visit UlsterWeavers.com.

Bags of Character - A selection of packable bags from Ulster Weavers

Reusable shopping bags are all the rage becoming an increasingly popular trend over the last few years.

They are a practical solution to lugging thousands of bags here there and everywhere and a great last minute accessory when you need that extra bit of space.

The packable bag craze started with supermarket chains designing eco friendly bags in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic bags they go through each month. Proving a huge success for the environment and with shoppers many stores took it that little bit further designing limited edition green bags which flew off the shelves.

Seeing the fashion high street stores began incorporating their own designs, creating trendy packable bags for their customers. The cool and practical designs took their own stand and now thousands of people are carrying around their added accessory without the extra baggage.

Taking it to the next trend level, Olive Rankin, creative manager at Ulster Weavers, has designed some fantastic, highly practical packable bags which stand out as a little more fun and whole load more interesting.

These beautifully designed packable bags come in a variation of different colours and styles to tell the world a little

Owl Shaped Packable bag from Ulster Weavers

something about you. From floral and fruity prints to animals and vintage designs, each packable bag carries its own character acting as a great additional accessory for your everyday life.

What makes this adorable accessory even more exciting is the little clip at the end so you can hook it onto your key ring or main handbag, so it’s always with you and at hand when you need it most.

This little but very smart invention makes the Ulster Weavers bag a little more practical as well as being a great fashion accessory.

The pouches which you use to store the reusable bag has been special designed as a cute and eye-catching accessory which can be easy to find in your handbag when you need that extra storage space while out shopping.

And what girl needs an excuse to have another bag in tow?

Owl pouch for the packable bag at Ulster Weavers

One of the latest bag collections is an adorable Owl Shaped Packable Bag a trendy packable bag that will look great on anyone’s arm. The black packable bag folds into the owl-shaped cover with a zip and metal clip so you can attach it to your main bag or key ring.  

The collections of packable bags at Ulster Weavers are beautiful designed and better still, they won’t break the bank. Starting at £5.99 you can follow the latest trend of the high street and what’s more you will be helping the environment by using less plastic bags which high street stores and supermarket chains are trying to cut down on. 

And if you fall in love with one of the Ulster Weaver packable bags designs and know that just one bag won’t do, then you will be pleased to hear that many of the packable bags come in a variation of sizes and styles to suit your everyday shopping needs.

Make sure that you get yourself down to UlsterWeavers.com today to find all the latest packable bags for your shopping habits.

Lola tea cosy by Ulster Weavers

Ulster Weavers have designed a stunning kitchen textiles collection taking their inspiration from retro designs of the swinging 60’s.

Designed with apples and pears in beautiful shades of sage, light blue and red, the new ‘Lola’ range is a fresh and brightly coloured collection that really does take you back to the retro styles and fashions of 60s life.

The 60s trend, is a very popular and memorable and has been used to furnish and design a variety of different products such as stationary, ceramics, clothing and interior furnishings over the last few decade. However the kitchen furnishings world hasn’t seen a 60s style like this for a while and this gave Olive Rankin, the mastermind and creative manager at Ulster Weavers, to design a complete product range based on this fantastic theme.

Every era creates its own designs and fashions but the 1960s created them faster and more passionately than any other in the history of interior design. As the 60s retro trend grew and grew, rule after rule and statement after statement were created for the trend faster than most people at the time could keep up with.

Before the 1960s, in the period that stretched from the end of the First World War into the Post War and late 1950s, the accent was on a style known as Modernism. The emphasis was a lack of colour, ornamentation and a precision of empty spaces accompanied by great slabs of furniture and pastel colour.

In fashion and design terms the 1950s, with its overhang of rationing, bomb damage and Cold War tensions, the period had been relatively austere and utilitarian. But as the country began to recover both physically and psychologically a time for more flippant, throwaway designs began to evolve.

Then the 1960s came along and undid most of the original conventions of the previous decades, forcing designers to rethink and delve back into the history of interior design to create a new look that was both modern yet had its roots firmly in the styles that had passed.

This era was seen as fun-loving dosed with a passionate spirit that added a small yet personal twist to each design creating individuality and very memorable retro patterns and art.

However, the first real link and inspiration for retro interior design was through the fashion catwalks. The Mods with their sharp looks and culture crossing music took their lead from designers like Mary Quant. Skirts began to get shorter, suits began to get funky and rock & roll was imported giving way to major bands like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

So the styles began as open plan interiors were filled with new flat pack furniture curtsey of Ikea. With inflatable furniture, bean bags, molded plastic and nylon items in bright, vivid colours the trend really took a world and mind of its own incorporating styles and trends for the 60s fashion world.

Fashions and styles were in some ways influenced by world events. The space race inspired the invention of new man made materials as well as the intense use of vivid colour.

And the whole retro design encompasses a variation of patterns and styles which can look great in the kitchen.

Lola oven glove by Ulster Weavers

The new ‘Lola’ collection comes as a complete set comprising of a cotton apron, cotton tea towel, double oven glove, gauntlet and tea cosy. All products are machine washable and make the perfect finishing touch to any kitchen.

And if the psychedelic 60s look really does take your fancy you may be interested in the ‘Kaleidoscope’ range, a fresh and funky pastel design which comes in a range of kitchen coordinates and canvas bags. The design is just like the Spirograph drawings in a variation of bright and beautiful colours and can be purchased via the Ulster Weavers website.

For more information about their products visit UlsterWeavers.com today.

Limited edition 'Two Years to Go' tea towel with Ulster Weavers

To mark the two year countdown to the London 2012 Games, Ulster Weavers, kitchen textiles licensee for this major sporting event, have launched a limited edition linen tea towel which went on sale on 27 July.

The 27 July 2010 is exactly two years until the official opening of the London 2012 Games and what better way to mark the occasion than with the ‘Two Years to Go’ limited edition tea towel that buyers can keep as memorabilia.

The linen tea towel will be retailed at just £7.50 and can be bought via UlsterWeavers.com

This is the first Ulster Weavers product launched for the London 2012 Games since the Company were awarded the licence in June this year.

The Ulster Weavers team of designers are currently creating a wide collection of London 2012 Games kitchen textiles which will go on sale in January 2011. Products will include tea towels, aprons, oven gloves, tea cosies and textile bags.

To purchase your very own ‘Two Years to Go’ limit edition tea towel please visit UlsterWeavers.com today.