I wandered lonely as a cloud

About a year ago I had a murder mystery night set in 1930′s America, at the height of prohibition. To create a 1930′s vibe we drank gin and tonic from teacups, and mojitos from a soup tureen (ok, not sure about the mojitos or the tureen!). I had scoured charity shops far and wide until I had enough- incidentally the best place for vintage cookware seems to be Stornoway. Each teacup only cost me 25p or 35p with a matching saucer- I could hardly fit them in the car to get them home because of all of the tweed I’d already bought! Anyway, I ended up with quite a lot of china.

Which left me with a dilemma.

What do you do with 24 mismatched vintage teacups and saucers?

Well, my solution has been to try to grow things in them, with limited success. However, for Easter gifts I hit upon the idea of replanting small daffodil bulbs which I purchased in Ikea.

I had intended on photographing each step, but it became quite clear, quite quickly, that frankly, there was no need. I enlisted my dad to hold the compost bag for me because it was so big and heavy- but you’re unlikely to need any such assistance!

I’ve written a quick tutorial below in case you need a little guidance:

To make three you will need:

daffodils (attached to a bulb of course! Tesco are selling these for £1 for three just now)

3 teacups (or any other container you fancy!)

half a cup of compost

How it’s done

1. Select and wash your cup (and saucer if using)

2. Add a little compost to the bottom of your teacup.

now for the tricky bit

3. Gently loosen the bulbs from their pot- to do this hold on to the stems and sort of twist the pot around.

4. You will now have a terrifying, wormlike nest of roots which will be intertwined. Take a hold of one of the daffodils near the root and again gently twist until it loosens and breaks free.

5. Break off any larger roots- I’m not talking trimming it down till there are none- you just want the plant to fit in the teacup!

6. Place the bulb into your teacup

7. Add a little more compost to the top and pat it down gently- the bulb will stick up a bit above the compost

8. Mist with some water (do this regularly, but be careful, remember there is not drainage in a teacup!)

9. Done!

Any other ideas for me?