Seldomly have i been longing for spring as much as i do this year.
Then again: don't we all?!
Well, the season of bright green is around the corner, and although we have yet to round the bend on Covid, we can at least spot a brighter day on the horizon.

Since spring is the perfect time to sow wildflower seeds and create a haven for both your own eyes as well as your local pollinators, we're adding 'Seeds of Love' wildflower labels to each order of at least €15,- for the next month!

Each Seeds of Love labels has a seed pack containing about 2-3 grams of wildflower seeds, more than enough for 1 square meter of wildflowers.

We order our seeds in bulk at a bee-loving company in the Netherlands and created a personal mix with an assortment of local wildflowers.

When you place an order for at least €15,- in our webshop this coming month (until April 21st), you'll receive one Seeds of Love gift tag for absolutely free!* 

No need to click on anything or fill out a discount code, simply place your order and we'll make sure to add a wildflower label to the package when we ship it! 

It's our way of saying thank you for supporting our small sustainable business. <3 
​
Also, we love to spread colorful patches of nature across Europe to create a more bio-diverse environment and help our most important allies in nature: pollinating insects.
Because sadly, our flying friends need all the help they can get (click).

We designed the labels to double as a gift-tag, adding an extra bright floral touch to any present. 

Would like to receive more seed-pack labels?
We've just added the Seeds of Love labels to our webshop as well, so order away!

*​(Please note: EU only, due to regulations about shipping seeds)

Also, move to the back of the manual, and there it is: House of Thol, Overasselt - The Netherlands.
A shout-out to the super tiny village we're happy to be based in. ​

Knowing that people all the way across the glode, in a country like the US for example, will see 'Overasselt' on there, gives me an inexplicable amount of joy.
Many Waterworks users might not even read the manual, let alone notice the village.
Yet, if i get only one person to ever google Overasselt, the Netherlands because of this, it's all worth it.

Read all about Waterworks <here> or buy <here>.

At the House of Thol headquarters, we're starting the New Year with a productivity challenge: How to get things done with two wild childs in the house in need of love, attention and home schooling?

In order to keep our sanity, we're down to rigorously prioritizing our workflow.
Luckily, i designed a Weekplanner a while ago that can be super helpful in this situation, especially because of its prioritized to-do section.

Can use a little help in your everyday productivity in these juggling times? <download the planner here>

Happy 2021 everyone!

The Bee Happy Flower cards are now available in both postcard (A6) as well as notecard (A7) size!
Because sometimes, smaller is better.

The notecards are perfect for a few sweet lines to a loved one, either to accompany a present or to send via snail-mail.
Their smaller size make the notecards stand out, and the matching kraftpaper C7 envelopes are the sweetest thing ever.

similar to the larger sized postcards, the notecards are printed on recycled paper containing wildflower seeds.
We went for a new paper variety that has a mix with silene, chamomille, gillyflower, clover and clarkia (EU seeds only).

How 's that for a green and special Holiday card?
The cards cost €2,-, (or €2,50 with the envelope) and are available in the webshop now!

At House of Thol we always design and make the things we miss to make our everyday easier and greener.
Slowly and steadily we're building our collection, creating more solutions for a green daily life every year.
It's now gotten to a point where we've outgrown the three-fold folder and created the very first House of Thol catalogue.

We designed the catalogue specifically for ShowUP, the trade show for Home and Gift taking place September 27th and 28th (<click for more>).
Because we wanted to print on eco paper, we had to take a little extra lead time into account, and as a result the catalogues arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Check out the online preview via the link below, or send us an e-mail to request a hard copy of the catalogue.

In the Netherlands we're as a nation postponing the Christmas cheer until after December 5th, when our own Saint Nicholas heads back to his palace in Spain.
But boy, then it does start in earnest. The Weekend following Sinterklaas' departure, it's absolute mayhem in every garden centre selling Christmas trees. 

Personally i love the Holidays not so much because of the religious significance, but rather because people all over the world go through lenghts to spend time with the people they love.
No matter what (if any) religious meaning you attach to this time of year, the way this season helps get people together is a reason to celebrate on its own.

And it's not just about seeing everyone you love in person, this season is also about sending your best wishes to friends and family.
​How about sending them some flowers as well? Not actual flowers of course, they'd wilt in the mail, but wildflower seeds caught in a Holiday card.
​
​Especially for these festive times we designed 4 new Holiday Growing Cards.
​The cards have been printed on Growing paper: 240gr recycled paper that contains wildflower seeds.

 To germinate the seeds, lay the paper in moist soil, place in a sunny spot, cover with a thin layer of earth and keep moist. 
Depending on the kind of seed in the paper, you'll see the first tiny green leaves pop out of the earth after about ten days.
​
Order now and we'll send along a matching Bee Happy envelope for free!

<See all growing cards>

Here at House of Thol we're very fond of being able to wrap presents in a stylish unexpected way and are big fans of public domain works of art that we can use.
Last year we launched two types of custom wrapping paper for our Flower Constellations: The gorgeous dark flower painting by Dutch Master Rachel Ruysch and the vibrant original by Ambrosius Bosschaert the elder . 
​Both beautiful floral Dutch Classics.

About a month ago we finished the design of the official Helios Packaging: the brass growing disk comes in a small eco-cardboard box that is lovely to gift.
And because it is such a suitable present, this calls for great wrapping paper.
Since the Helios is not so much about Flowers as it is about plants and greenery, we scored the Public Domain for colorful paintings that are all about growth. 

Instead of going for just one, we opted for two different wrapping papers to choose from right from the start. 

Find out more about the works by Henri Rousseau and William Morris below.

Henri Julien Félix Rousseau only started painting in his 40ties and never received official training.
Although he is now seen as an inspiring avant-gardist, his naive style got ridiculed during his lifetime.

Rousseau painted many jungle-themed works, but probably never left France or saw a real jungle. 
He was an avid visitor of the botanical gardens though, and loved being surrounded by tropical plants.
The animals he painted were inspired by texidermy settings of wildlife. 

This painting of monkeys in a tropical forest from 1910 was probably one of his last. Rousseau died in Paris on September 2nd 1910.

Currently William Morris is best known for his Ats and Crafts textile and wallpaper designs, whereas in his lifetime he was better known as a poet. 

Though officially trained as an architect, Morris started a firm focussed on interior decoration with several associates in 1861. He took over as sole owner in 1875, renaming the company 'Morris&Co'. 
The company flourished during the Arts & Crafts period (1880-1900), and stayed in business until 1940.
Many of the Morris&Co prints are still in production.

This 'Fruit' (or 'Pomegranate') wallpaper pattern was designed in 1865/1866, and is one of the first paper designs William Morris brought to market.

Father's Day is around the corner! 
And although it might seem all fathers need new Americana accessories for their BBQ, we know for a fact many dads love to let things grow.

That's why we busted our behinds to get the Helios out there in time: the new durable tool to help you grow your pits, bulbs and cuttings on water.
Read all about our Helios Constellation here.

Is your dad more of a houseplant fan?
Why not gift him a Waterworks-set to help keep his indoor greenery happy and healthy.

But that's not actually what this post is about: As a little something extra, we added a few new Father/Family-themed Growing Cards to our collection.

With these cards, you're not only sending your dad a sweet message, you'll also give him something to grow.

The cards have been printed on Growing paper that contains wildflower seeds.
To germinate the seeds, lay the paper in moist soil, place in a sunny spot, cover with a thin layer of earth and keep moist. 
Depending on the kind of seed in the paper, you'll see the first tiny green leaves pop out of the earth after about ten days.

Mothersday is around the corner! 
​Does your mother like flowers?
​Gift her a Flower Constellation this weekend so she can create stunning floral masterpieces every time while saving on flowers.

Because we are huge fans of mothers in general, (and ours in particular), we designed special Mother-celebrating Bee Happy Growing cards for Mothersday.

With these cards, you're not only sending your mom a sweet message, you're also giving her a delayed bouquet of flowers. ​

Want to dave time and have your present sent directly to your mothers' address?
We can do that! Simply fill out the correct address at check out.

We can even write your mothersday-card for you. Let us know what should be on the card (max 5 lines) and we'll make sure to write down your message as neatly as we can.

Remember <this blogpost> about Rachel Ruysch a little while ago?
We asked you which painting you liked most, so that we could turn it into wrapping paper.

Well... the votes are in, and the winner is: Painting number 3!
Over all, most people liked the bright colors and explosive composition in this painting most.

Out of the Rachel Ruysch painting, we created this lovely wrapping paper that fits perfectly around the Flower Constellations. 

The Netherlands is historically known for quite a few things.
Of course there's wooden shoes, cheese and wind mills, but what about Flowers and Golden Century painters?

​(We'll go ahead and gloss over the stuff the Dutch are infamous for, meanwhile hoping that soon we'll get over our adoration for pirates and invaders.)

We came across the beautiful Flower still life paintings by Dutch Artist Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750), which we absolutely loved. (The dramatics!) 

Here's the plan: we'll use one of these paintings as our Christmas gift wrapping paper for the Flower Constellations.

After months of eager anticipation they're finally here: The Flower Constellations!
And they're everything as wonderful as we'd hoped.

After receiving the final pieces of the Flower Constellations puzzle last week, we rallied friends and family and spent the Weekend wrapping constellations, printing labels and preparing packages.
Which means that the Flower Constellations are now ready to go!

For all Kickstarter backers and the people who pre-ordered in our webshop: your Flower Constellation order is packaged and ready to be shipped this week.

This first period after launch, the Flower Constellations will be available exclusively in our own webshop.
Get them there now, or in a store near you pretty soon.​

<Buy Flower Constellations now>

Hi Everyone!
We hope you're enjoying summer as much as we are?
We've just returned from a little sunny break with the kids and came back to the best of the best: 

The Flower Constellations are in the house and they're looking good!
​Photographs of all Constellations will follow soon of course, we just didn't want to wait any longer to let you in on the good news.