a mug to make you smile...

My poor Mum has been struggling with pain in her arms and hands for a couple of months now and is finding holding a cup or mug really difficult. Given how much tea my family drink, this is a massive problem so I was a very happy daughter indeed when I came across dombo.

Created by Dutch designer Richard Hutten this colourful children's cup features oversized ears for handles (just like darling Dumbo). These two large handles on the sides ensure that young children (and poorly mummies) can drink from it easily without spilling its contents...

Hutten originally designed the cup for his son.

"At that time, my eldest son was two years old," he says. "I thought it would be nice to make a mug where the drinking movement is really exaggerated."

Hutten initially invested in the tooling to manufacture the plastic mug himself, but soon discovered the simple shape was actually quite difficult to produce "The mug is made of injection-moulded polypropylene (PP), which is a very standard technique," he explains. "But the ears are thick and solid plastic, and the mug itself is very thin, so the mould is quite complex."

The mug is now produced by Dutch company Gispen and is available in a range of bright colours. Thank goodness for dombo, tea time is a whole lot easier again!

Queen Marie