Denmark’s party piece!
Throw a bright, cheerful and cheap summer get-together with a Scandinavian twist
You wouldn’t have thought the Danes would be naturals at throwing parties in the summer.
In Denmark, even in the height of summer, the temperature rarely rises above 17.5 c.
But when it comes to picnics, barbecues and drinks on the lawn, they have an eye for perfect party decorations.
Tiger opened its first shop in Copenhagen in 1995 selling stylish, whimsical home accessories and party paraphernalia at sweet-shop prices. Today, they have more than 400 shops across Europe.
There are 35 Tigers in Britain with plans to open more. They aren’t yet as all- conquering as Ikea, which hails from neighbouring Sweden, but Tiger is stalking the same route to success. Their cool, pared-down Scandinavian wares put our pound shops to shame.
Tiger founder Lennart Lajboschitz has said that he always keeps in mind the words of the customer who told him: ‘When I go into a discount store, I feel poor. When I go into a Tiger store I feel like a millionaire — I can afford it all.’
Eighty per cent of the products cost less than £5. Pound shops are increasingly shaping shopping habits. In the past five years, nearly 1,000 new pound shops have opened on the High Street — a 51 per cent rise, according to the Local Data Company. But unlike Poundland, Poundstretcher and Poundworld, Tiger invests in style — 50 per cent of what the store sells is designed in-house.
The shops inspire an almost cultish devotion, with fans posting photographs of their ‘hauls’ on social media sites.
Certain items, such as Tiger’s packs of dark, sticky Danish liquorice, are positively fetishised: eight million packets are sold across Europe every year.
The store’s summer collection makes you long for days at the beach, parties in the garden and cocktail glasses to prettify with swizzle sticks and straws.
There are candles in tropical colours — lime green, mango yellow, papaya pink — at £1 for three; Chinese rice paper lamps to hang from trees for £2; and the prettiest paper napkins printed with fish, strings of Japanese lanterns or Salvador Dali moustaches at £1 for 20.
A freezer tray that makes ice cubes in the shape of strawberries is also only £1. M&S has a jaunty summer range, too, with palm tree glasses from £3 and pink flamingo tumblers for £3.50 each as well as zesty cocktail stirrers for £ 5. Anyone who fancies themselves a barman will be delighted with Tiger’s swizzle sticks and miniature parasols; while Bake off devotees can plant heart-shaped miniature flags (£1 for 50) on their cupcakes and display their petits fours on an antique-look cake stand (£4).
Maria Mannoukas, a baker and owner of The South East Cakery ( southeastcakery.com), recommends using Tiger’s paper doilies (£1 for 12) in faded, vintage colours as a stencil through which to dust lace- like icing sugar patterns on the top of a cake.
The founders of catering company Les Deux Amies ( lesdeuxamies.
co.uk) are also Tiger devotees. Entrepreneurs Caroline and Adeline decorate their crepes and galettes with Tiger’s feathered parakeets on sticks. They are also fans of Tiger’s rolls of Japanese ‘Washi’ tape — patterned masking tapes — which attractively secure parcels of sandwiches. If you are picnicking, Tiger have a wicker picnic basket lined in red-andwhite gingham (£ 15) and a matching tablecloth (£10). Felicity Cloake, author of Perfect Host ( Fig Tree, £20), says: ‘ Picnics are the one occasion that the drinks-injars trend works for making punches or cocktails.’ H&M home has a range of lidded glass jars from £4.99 each. And they’ll come in handy for jam making, too. Filling the garden with candlelight will cost less than a box of matches — Tiger have a box of 100 tea lights for £2.
Artist and designer Lizzie King ( lizzie-king.com) says: ‘ Buy as many candles as you can afford and use jam jars, wine bottles, even pineapples — sprayed gold — as candlesticks.’
Spend your change on the party decorations — and invest the rest in strawberries and champagne.