Handmade by Earl Whitaker · Hocking Hills, Ohio
Carmel's Flower Measuring Spoon Set
Carmel's Flower Measuring Spoon Set
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Carmel's Flower Measuring Spoon Set
Four Ceramic Flowers. Four Measuring Spoons. One Little Pot on Your Bench.
1 Tbs · 1 tsp · ½ tsp · ¼ tspCarmel Pethybridge taught home economics in Mudgee for 34 years. She shapes and paints every flower by hand, stamps the size into every handle and checks every pot with all four spoons standing before it is wrapped.
“Soup forgives you. Cakes don’t.”
“In 34 years of teaching kids to bake, it was never the oven that ruined a batch. It was the wrong spoon. So I made spoons nobody can mix up.”
Carmel Pethybridge, 69
What Arrives at Your Door
4 Flower Spoons
Hand-painted ceramic: 1 tablespoon, 1 teaspoon, ½ teaspoon, ¼ teaspoon. The size is stamped into each handle.
1 Little Blue Pot
Pale sky blue with a raised yellow butterfly and two hearts. The spoons stand in it like a bouquet.
Wrapped by Hand
Every set is wrapped in tissue in Carmel’s shed and boxed, ready to give.
90-Day Returns
Carmel’s personal money-back guarantee. No questions asked.
Six Things a Drawer Set Doesn’t Have
One Flower, One Size
The biggest flower is the tablespoon, the smallest is the quarter teaspoon. You see the size before you read it, and so does a six-year-old.
Sizes That Can’t Rub Off
“1 Tbs”, “1 tsp”, “1/2 tsp” and “1/4 tsp” are pressed into the handles before the firing, not printed on top. They stay readable for as long as you own the set.
No Ring, No Lost Spoon
Nothing to unhook, nothing to lose. All four live in their own pot, and the pot lives on your bench instead of at the back of a drawer.
Stands Up Straight
It took Carmel twelve tries to get the flowers light enough and the stems deep enough. Pull one out and the other three stay standing.
Real Ceramic Weight
Shaped by hand and fired in the kiln. The stems sit well in the hand, even for fingers that don’t grip as firmly as they used to.
Painted by Hand
Every flower is painted one at a time, so no two sets are exactly alike. Tiny brush marks are part of it.
Which Flower Is Which
Desert Rose
The biggest one, a soft dusty pink, 15 ml. Pip calls it “the grown-up flower”. For a 20 ml Aussie tablespoon, add the red one.
Waratah Red
The one that saves the biscuits: bicarb soda, baking powder, vanilla.
Buttercup Yellow
Salt, cinnamon, a little nutmeg. Usually the first one little hands reach for.
Peach Blossom
The smallest one, “the baby”. The spoon every drawer set seems to lose first.
A Metal Ring Set vs. Carmel’s Flowers
| Metal ring set | Carmel’s flower spoons | |
|---|---|---|
| Telling sizes apart | Read tiny numbers, all look alike | Every size its own flower and colour |
| Size markings | Wear off in the dishwasher | Stamped in before firing |
| Where they live | At the back of the drawer, on a ring | Standing in a pot on the bench |
| The ¼ teaspoon | Usually missing | Always in the pot |
| Kids in the kitchen | Guess and grab | “Red is a teaspoon, yellow is half” |
From a Home Ec Classroom to a Tin Shed
For 34 years, from 1987 to 2021, Carmel Pethybridge taught home economics at the high school in Mudgee, a country town in the Central West of New South Wales. Six cooking stations, a row of ovens and one rule: fill the spoon, level it with the back of a knife.
When she retired, she took a Tuesday-night pottery class, then bought a second-hand wheel and a small kiln for the corrugated-iron shed behind her house. The first set of flower spoons was for her granddaughter Pip, after a batch of Anzac biscuits went wrong because of one spoon. A tablespoon of bicarb soda instead of a teaspoon.
The flowers went to her monthly market stall as a joke. They sold before nine. For more than a year that stall was the only place to get them. Her old kiln cracked its lid in that last September firing, and at 69 she won’t buy another. What’s left is all there will ever be.
Carmel
Three Steps, the Way She Taught It
Pick the Flower
Big pink for a 15 ml tablespoon (add the red one for an Aussie 20 ml tablespoon), red for a teaspoon, yellow for half, peach for a quarter.
Fill and Level
Scoop, then sweep the top flat with the back of a knife. A level spoon is a real measurement.
Back in the Pot
Rinse it, dry it, put it back. The pot stays next to the stove, ready for next time.
Perfect For
What You Can Count On
- ✓Standard measuring sizes: 1 tablespoon (15 ml, the international size), 1 teaspoon, ½ teaspoon, ¼ teaspoon. For an Australian 20 ml tablespoon, use the big pink one plus the red one. Fill them level.
- ✓Real ceramic, shaped and painted by hand. Small colour differences from set to set are normal.
- ✓Small on purpose: the pot is 6.8 cm tall and fits in one hand. The spoons themselves are full measuring sizes.
- ✓Dispatched within 1–2 business days, wrapped by hand, with tracking.
- ✓When the last set from her final firing is gone, there won’t be any more.
90-Day Money-Back Guarantee
“If they don’t earn their spot on your bench, I want to know, and I want you to have your money back.” Bake with your set for up to 90 days. If it isn’t right for you, send it back for a full refund. No questions asked.
Care & Use
Hand wash with warm water and a soft sponge, dry and put the spoons back in the pot. Ceramic is breakable: a fall onto a tiled floor can chip or break a spoon, the same as a mug. Keep the pot dry inside. For dry and wet ingredients alike.
Product Details
| Maker | Carmel Pethybridge, Mudgee, New South Wales |
| What’s included | 4 ceramic measuring spoons + 1 ceramic holder pot |
| Spoon sizes | 1 Tbs 15 ml (Desert Rose), 1 tsp (Waratah Red), ½ tsp (Buttercup Yellow), ¼ tsp (Peach Blossom) |
| Pot height | 6.8 cm |
| Material | Glazed ceramic, painted by hand |
| Care | Hand wash recommended |
| Shipping | Dispatched within 1–2 business days, free shipping across Australia |
| Guarantee | 90-day money-back guarantee |
Meet your maker: Earl Whitaker
34 years a shop teacher. Now he builds birdhouses the slow way — one at a time, signed by hand.
Read Earl's story →
The Back Road Guarantee
If anything ever fails on this birdhouse — a joint, a hinge, the roof — Earl repairs or replaces it for free. For life. No receipts, no forms, no fine print. That's the deal he made us, and it's the deal we make you.
Before You Order
When will my order ship?
The maker keeps a small number finished and ready. Orders ship straight from the workshop within 3 business days, and you'll get a tracking number the moment it's on its way. If a batch sells out, the page will say so honestly — and you can join the waitlist for the next one.
What if it arrives damaged or I don't love it?
You have 60 days to change your mind — send it back for a full refund, no questions asked. And if anything ever fails on it, the Back Road Guarantee covers repairs or replacement for life, handled directly with the maker.
Is every piece really made by one person?
Yes. Every piece is made start to finish by one maker — cut, finished, signed, and wrapped by hand. That's why batches are small and why yours will carry a hand-written number.
Will mine look exactly like the photos?
Almost — but not perfectly, and that's the point. Natural materials vary in grain and tone, so every piece is one of a kind. What never varies is the craftsmanship behind it.
Is it a good gift?
It's our most-gifted item. Every order arrives hand-wrapped in kraft paper with twine and a signed note from the maker — no receipt in the box, so it ships straight to the lucky person.