15th April 2019
If you’re anything like us, you hear Madeira, you think cake. However, each year for the last few, we’ve boarded the plane to Madeira to explore the island and spend some time in the sun. There’s a few places we wanted to blog about and tell you more about – a must visit island, it’s such a stunning place to spend a holiday with so much to it!
Madeira is famous for it’s flowers – not only within the markets but all over the island. We visited in Spring, so the island was in bloom! The parks are overflowing with beautiful and exotic plants and it looks like every bush along the streets have flowers within them. When we’ve been in January, it’s still a very green island but there’s no where near the amount of flowers in every shade and hue!
You also must visit the “Mercado dos Lavradores” (Farmer´s Market.) This is where these photos are taken – within the market you will find not only exotic fruit and veg but also spices and herbs, downstairs you will be able to find the fish market by following the smell(!) and on a weekend the whole place is filled with the sound of vendors selling their items. We spent ages wandering round looking at what everything was – many thing were new for us and some were fun to see what they looked like in the market – who knew there was so many different spices!
Outside the market were women in the traditional dress and they also were working on the flower stalls. The flowers here seem very reasonable when you consider the price of a bunch in M&S! They’re exotic and fun to look at – our favourites were the birds of paradise. You’ll see them growing round the island too, we love the pop of colour and the ‘beak’ they’re famous for. The Strelitzia variety of the birds of paradise only grow in Madeira and South Africa so we’re lucky to see them.
Outside the market, take a left and walk down the streets of the older parts of town, and visit the painted doors on Rua de Santa Maria. These ladies plus the ones with mermaids on were our favourites, though it’s fun to see them all – some had paintings of people on so we wondered if they represented the people that lived in the homes.
To make the area revitalised, the council commissioned an art project in the area so local artists could turn the previously quite average doorways into works of art. 200 doors have received attention from the artists which includes homes, restaurants, art galleries and businesses in the ‘Zona Velha’ (old town.) Using the door as the canvas is rather striking as it invites the passers by in a little more – asking the question of why is that mermaid swimming on that door and the next doorway features African styled drawings. It’s well worth a visit and achieves the aim of inviting passers by to slow down and look at the doors – making art of something very ordinary.
We took our William Morris Brother Rabbit tote bag with us on holiday. With long straps and a zip top – with a zip top pocket inside, it’s our top pick for a holiday bag. The zip adds security and the size allows you to pop everything you need to carry within; jumpers for the evening, suncream for the daytime and plenty of space for any shopping you may do!
Brother Rabbit is such an eye-catching design; it’s also sometimes referred to as ‘Brer Rabbit.’ It was inspired by the Uncle Remus Stories by J.C.Harris which Morris read to his two daughters Jenny and May. The birds within the design were drawn by his close friend and colleague, Philip Webb.
We also saw this graceful swan in the park; though there are taxis available everywhere – at a reasonable rate too, if you can, we’d recommend walking much of the island. Take your time to walk down through the park, you’ll see so much of their flowers but also these swans. You’ll also have a great vista point of the cruise ships coming into the port – we loved sitting and watching them approach and the different ones from all round the world – though watch out, little lizards are everywhere and aren’t shy when coming to say hello!
You also should head up to the top of the island on the cable cars. Not only are there stunning gardens up here but also, where the traditional Madeiran sledges are – careering down the streets, two men push two visitors down the steep streets in sledges. We didn’t try it ourselves but there’s always a next time! You can go up and back down in the cable cars and it gives a panoramic view of the island that’s like no other.
In our hotel (Enotel Lido) we got to see traditional Madeira dancing too – if your hotel doesn’t offer it, there’s lots of nightlife and you’ll be able to find somewhere that offers it. We’d really recommend it!
There’s so much to see and do in Madeira, have you been? What’s your favourite thing to do?
Posted in News by Laura
Bringing timeless elegance to the kitchen with our William Morris Strawberry Thief red oven glove and matching tea towel 🍓🕊️ The perfect blend of beauty and function—who said everyday essentials can’t be art? 🫶🏻
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#WilliamMorris #StrawberryThief #KitchenStyle #HeritagePrint #BritishDesign #CottagecoreKitchen #KitchenInspo #TimelessDesign #TextileArt #HomeDetails #MorrisAndCo #FloralPrint #OvenGloveStyle #TeaTowelLove #PatternedKitchen
🎉 GIVEAWAY TIME! 🎉
Win 2 meters of the stunning William Morris “Daisy” fabric – perfect for your next sewing or home décor project! 🌼✨
To enter:
1️⃣ Like this post
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3️⃣ Tag a friend who loves fabric as much as you do!
📅 Winner announced 1st July
Good luck! 💛🌼
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50% off Daisy heavyweight and cotton fabric?! 🌼 Oopsy Daisy we printed too much, so there’s now 50% off this incredibly beautiful William Morris design- what are you waiting for! 🫶🏻 This was the first design William Morris ever produced so it remains an incredibly special one, and such a timeless design, it’s perfect for quilting and crafting, the heavyweight is brilliant for light upholstery and curtain making! 🌿 Heavyweight is now £4 for half a meter and cotton is £3.50 for half a meter 🤯
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✨ Timeless beauty for your kitchen ✨
Our Pimpernel Green tea towel and oven glove bring the iconic elegance of William Morris into your everyday. Perfect for adding a touch of Arts & Crafts charm to your home 🌿
Available now in our shop!
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If you had to guess our favourite colour combo? 🫶🏻 Beautiful Brother Rabbits on the table today along with some stunning blue and white blooms 🤍
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#blueandwhiteforever #blueandwhitedecor #blueandwhitehome #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #brotherrabbit #preraphaelite #artsandcraftsmovement
What have you made with bias binding? 🌿 Perfect for crafting, we’ve got some amazing sales on our 50m bias binding rolls in Red Strawberry Thief, Lily and Trellis have 80% off, a 50m roll for £25- what would you make? 🪡🧵
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #biasbinding #biasbindinguk #fabricsale #fabricsales
Which is your fave; Strawberry Thief red or blue? 🫶🏻
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A gorgeous Strawberry Thief tablescape - because why not make everyday things just that little bit prettier? 🥰 Is Strawberry Thief blue or red your fave? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #uksmallbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #strawberrythief #strawberrythiefprint #preraphaelite
These gorgeous flowers steal the show in our easy little Saturday tablescape 🫶🏻 Lily is one of our favourite William Morris designs and we were so happy to be able to digitally print it now, of course it’s still printed here in the UK 🇬🇧
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#cottagecore #flowers #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #aldifinds #lily #aldiflowers
Beautiful blooms wrapped in timeless William Morris beauty 🌸✨
This William Morris floral Mallow Wine is so gorgeous and one of our faves year round 🫶🏻
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#WilliamMorris #FloralDesign #MallowWine #VintageStyle #BotanicalBeauty #ClassicCharm #TextileArt #TimelessDesign #PatternLovers #NatureInspired #RomanticDetails #FloralFabric #EnglishHeritage #ElegantAesthetic
Totally obsessed with these dreamy William Morris florals 🌸🪡
Perfect for sewing projects, cushions, curtains – you name it. Classic prints that never go out of style!
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#WilliamMorrisFabric #FloralVibes #SewingProjects #FabricAddict #VintageFlorals #HomeStyle #CraftyCorner #InteriorInspo #CottagecoreVibes #PrettyPatterns #FabricStashGoals
Every Laura’s Beau team member has a William Morris napkin on hand at all time; even on the beach apparently 😂 Dreaming of beach days in Cornwall a few weeks ago ⛱️
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#cornwall #cornwallbeaches #cornwalluk #icecream #napkin #strawberrythief #williammorris
A little William Morris floral magic hanging over the cooker today 🫶🏻 can you name this Morris design? 🤎
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #ovenglove #teatowel #teatoweldesign #teatowelsofinstagram #cottagecoreaesthetic #cottagecore #compton
Spending Friday eve arranging some fresh blooms round the house ready for bank holiday weekend 🥰 Remember our 15% discount is still running on our website, use code: SPRINGBLOOMS 🫶🏻
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#bankholidayweekend #williammorris #pimpernel #freshflowers #iris #flowerarranging #cutflowers
Cut some fresh blooms out of the garden today so we can have them decorate our table 🌷 We 🫶🏻 you beautiful Golden Lily 🌿
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#freshflower #freshflowersmakemehappy #freshflowersbouquet #williammorris #williammorrisfloral #flowersfrommygarden #flowersmakethehome #floraltable #goldenlily
Making everything a little bit prettier with florals and bows, even our coffee! 🎀 Featuring our William Morris Lily design, isn’t it gorge! ☕️
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #design #floralfabric #floralfabrics #floralnapkin #lily
Always one of our favourites, our Willow Bough blue tablecloth brings the beauty of William Morris into the home, remember our whole website is 15% off this week! Use code: springblooms 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #fabrics #willowbough #inspiredbynature #floraltable #tablecloth
Making everything in life its own little event, even a coffee and a cake 🫶🏻 Featuring our Strawberry Thief red William Morris design napkin and placemat 🍓
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #lifesmoments #atthekitchentable #smallmomentsofcalm
The easiest napkin fold is so effective 🫶🏻 Next to a dinner plate or placed on the plate with a cake fork, it’s perfect for easy yet chic presentation 🍴
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#napkinfold #napkinfolding #tablescape #atthekitchentable #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #preraphaelite #floraldesign
Our William Morris Lily design is back in stock! 🤍 A gorgeous design especially this spring/ summer it’s a timeless design we adore year after year 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #preraphaelite #floraldesign #smallbusiness #supportsmall