Greetings from Finland!
Springtime offers us many opportunities for celebration and meeting with friends and family. It is a time for new beginnings.
Scroll down to read about Finnish Spring & see items perfect for celebrations and to brighten your daily living. In the photo is Oiva Toikka’s most popular series of glassware Kastehelmi ‘Apple Green’ that celebrates the lovely light green of Spring.
After a long winter, Finns are longing for spring to come. As the glittering and white snow gradually starts melting, we freshen up our homes with a spring cleaning and the contrast is softened to gentle earthy tones, like grey and brown. The atmosphere of early spring in everyday table settings is represented for example by the cosy and soft tones of heat-storing stoneware dishes such as Salla, Tupa and Uhtua.
During spring there are really so many reasons to celebrate. Party table settings, as well as gifts are filled with soft pastel colours: sky blue, rosy pink, and café-au-lait beige. One of the most popular vintage series Arabia Flora, by Esteri Tomula, features small delicate flowers that perfectly evoke the feeling of spring. The style is very much like a botanical illustration, with lots of charming little details.
The short Nordic days are gradually becoming brighter, but sometimes the seemingly slow change can make one feel tired. We make up for it with bright colours: sunny yellows and the greens of spring flowers and nature awakening from its winter sleep. You will find these motifs in many vintage coffee cups, glasses, and plates, for example: Marimekko Primavera based on a design made by Maija Isola in 1974. Did you know that Esteri Tomula also designed a flower pattern called Primavera as early as 1966? Both of them have been aptly named after the Latin word for spring.
Like the folk of Moominvalley, Finns slowly wake up to spring and begin to actively go out or visit friends. Our spring selection has some seasonal Moomin mugs. Don’t forget to check out the bundle offers, if you want to buy one for you and your friend! Spring is of course also a time for falling in love. With whom would you share an unforgettable coffee moment? Check out our Coffee for Two ideas. We have lots of great gift ideas for men, such as stylish vintage glasses.
The spring song of birds makes us think about new beginnings, love and a cosy little home. Clever dishes with multiple uses are really practical, such as Kilta and Teema. Many want to find dishes that are easy to mix-and-match and that suit both men and women. The timeless original versions and colours like yellow, are a perfect fit for spring.
For many, spring is a time of graduation or starting at a new job. For Finns, design classics are the most wanted gifts. Vintage dishes are a charming choice – a little rarer and often prized as gifts. Especially beautiful flower vases and bowls, such as the Aalto Collection, Kastehelmi, Fauna & Flora are delightful and appreciated presents that will last for decades.
March:
International Women's Day (8.3) commemorates women with flowers and gifts. Congratulations and praise are given to women for their work at home and in society. It’s a great day to celebrate the abundance of female designers that have come from Finland.
The International Day of Happiness proclaimed by the United Nations (20.3) recognizes the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives. For the seventh year running Finland has come first on the World Happiness Index as the happiest country in the world, so we feel extra proud on this day.
The Spring equinox (20.3) is taken to mark the astronomical start of spring and the end of the long, dark winter in the Nordics. The sun is finally back and the days and nights are finally once more the same length of 12 hours.
31.3. We will move our clocks an hour forward to summer time.
April:
Palm Sunday (24.3) marks the beginning of the Easter festivities., Children give out cheerfully decorated flowering pussywillow branches, which are meant to bless homes, provide good harvests, and bring all-round good luck for the coming season! These branches, displayed in a large flower vase, are the focal point of Easter home decor.
Easter (29.3.-1.4) is the most important celebration of spring. Families gather together to celebrate the holidays and homes are decorated with yellow spring flowers. Finnish Easter specialties include decorations like bunnies (see the popular Arabia Bunny mugs) and easter chicks, as well as painting eggs and growing baby ryegrass in a bowl. These traditions all symbolise new life. Would you like to check our selection of vintage egg cups?
May:
Vappu (30.4-1.5) is Finland’s big spring carnival for workers and students alike. Warm temperatures bring Finns out into the parks and town squares to celebrate. The picnic basket is packed with sparkling wine and home-made sima, a lemon and honey flavoured mead; as well as sweets like tippaleipä (funnel cake) and munkki (finnish doughnuts), as well as small savoury treats.
Finns are environmentally conscious and like to celebrate in style, so often we bring real wine glasses instead of using throw-away plastic ones. Dishes are cheerfully and playfully mixed-and-matched together, and extra colour is added to the table setting with Marimekko paper napkins, balloons, and serpentine paper ribbon.
On Mother's Day (12.5) it’s time to delight our moms. In Finland, it is customary to wake up your mother for morning coffee by singing. Moms are brought coffee and cake, and lots of flowers and gifts. One traditional gift in Finland has been a particularly beautiful coffee cup bought especially for mom, as well as collectible Moominmamma items.
Helatorstai (Ascension Day 9.5) is a Christian holiday celebrated 40 days after Easter Sunday. Traditionally it was associated with burning spring bonfires to ward away evil before planting new crops, but nowadays it is known as a day for resting. Finns enjoy a day off from work and many shops as well as Astialiisa’s Shop in Helsinki are closed.
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