Up to the Building 2, 18th Floor is where we started bright and early on Friday. Our first stop after finding a cup of coffee was one of my favorites, Carrie & Co. who make the adorable wine coasters for wine glasses. They introduced several new colors and patterns; one being “Hautie Pink Animal” It’s the same look as the “Bling” coaster, but in Pink. Another is a “green” alternative, which is very neutral, and finally the last one I purchased was called “Divine Damask”. Take a sneak peek below. Can’t wait to get these in the store!
From Carrie & Co. we headed over to One Coast to search out new gift items for Baby, Tweens, Weddings, Friends, and Mother’s Day. Lolita Aprons, Oven Mitts and Towels were our first great find! For those of you who love the Lolita Glassware, you are sure to love these as well! Aprons were all the rage at market, little did we know when we started. These will make wonderful girlfriend or bunco gifts!
Hautie Pink Animal Wine Coasters
Green Recycled Wine Coasters
Divine Damask Wine Coasters
Off to baby; Scene Weaver out of South Carolina had beautiful cuddly baby blankets and “banky’s”, the little ones that babies like to hang on to, and toddlers like to carry around with them, all trimmed in silk. Some of them were even with the little animal heads. We purchased a good variety, including white for baptisms and special gifts.
Banky's
Across the showroom we saw the cutest banks, booties and hair clips, which completed our baby purchases.
Wedding gifts are the more difficult one; sure you can buy frames, but we were looking for unique items. It must have been our day because we found the best Bride and Groom Champagne Flute set, along with Toasting Glasses, and yes the bachelorette martini glass in pink that says “Last Fling”. So fun, and cute.
Toasting Flutes
Fling Martini Glass
Tweens were our next gifts to find. We have a lot of younger girls that come into the store with their moms looking for birthday gifts, and we want to add a bigger selection for them.
The day before we had spotted a showroom with very cool and trendy jewelry and handbags that we thought would fill the gap so we ventured back to get a complete presentation about their products and background. Pleasantly surprised by the inspiration of the artist and what she puts into each piece she develops, we ordered several new bracelets including the Positivity Bracelet and Friendship Token Necklace.
Token Necklaces
The Positivity bracelet began as a small goodwill initiative to encourage family and friends to stay positive in the face of everyday challenges. To date, Alexas Angels have given away over 10,000 of these bracelets. As the bracelets and message spread they decided to make them available to everyone. They also come with a little inspirational card. Look for these in the store very soon!
We also purchased the trendiest Hobo Bags in very cool patterns and colors. Not only will the younger girls love them, but I love them as well. And, the best thing is they are very light and have matching sashes! Check them out below!
Venturing across the hall we finally found a quality keychain/purse hook. Customers have been asking for these for a while, but I hadn’t been able to find a good high quality one. They are the hooks that you clip into your purse on one end and put your keys on the other. I purchased five styles and they will priced the same as the purse holders; another great gift idea!
Lolita also introduced brand new acrylic wine glass sets with matching melamine plates and cocktail napkins! Perfect for summer entertaining. You can still drink out of a fabulous glass outdoors without having to worry about breaking it. As always, the packaging of the product is awesome too!
New Lolita Wine Bags
Ok, the absolute best part of the show - meeting “Lolita” herself. She is absolutely adorable. I asked her how she came up with her idea. She said she was out on a girls night out drinking a martini. She looked up at her glass and said “this glass looks naked”. The next day she grabbed a bunch of glasses and started painting! Amazing.
Lolita, Creator and Designer for the hottest gift brand, "Lolita" Glassware, and me.
Finally, we left the 18th floor and headed over the temporary booths in Building 3 (these are only here during market). Father’s Day gifts were our mission. We found the best gifts - wait till you see them. One is a cut-out grilling spatula and tong set with the cut-outs saying “DAD”, “MSU”, “U of M”. We also picked up some great men’s aprons to go with the spatula and tong set. You know how men love their grills! The other item is a golf item that is sure to be a huge hit. I’ve included pictures below. It’s brand new and definitely sparks up conversation.
One our way back to Building 2 we found some really nice flameless candles and votives they come with a timer so you can set them once and they will come on and turn off as you program them each day. How nice!
You all know Jim Shore! Well he was at market too and I had the privledge of meeting him. He is such a nice man. He was there introducing new products including some really great recipe boxes.
Award winning artist, Jim Shore who produces unique pieces for Enesco, Dept. 56 and several others along side Me and my Mom.
I met up with my rep from Kristine Accessories who showed us the brand new Spring line-up of purses, wallets, jewelry and more, and while we were there Kristine herself just happened to be there too! We met her and she talked about her new line and the colors; pulling in the silvers, purples and even raspberry. Great gifts for friends, moms and more!
Fashion Designer, Kristine, CEO & Designer for Kristine Accessories and me
We wrapped up the late afternoon in a showroom that was serving appetizers and wine. We were drawn in by these really unique magnetic calendars. The company, Lone Elm Studios just introduced a new coordinated gift collection of nature inspired and functional products, many made of environmentally friendly materials. I purchased the Perpetual Calendars and Magnets.
In the same showroom we also picked up the best new outdoor or indoor garden item. I’ve included pictures below.
End of Day 2 - a long, but very productive and fun day!
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