Have You Seen This?

After being in Atlanta for the Winter Gift and Home Furnishings Market over the past couple of days, I feel as if I have seen everything, but I did come across these simple, fun little items from a company called “Tokyo Milk.”  Check out their website and do some exploring for yourself:  www.tokyomilk.com

If you have read any of my previous blogs, you know that I love bees, so when I saw these items on the Tokyo Milk website I had to include them in this week’s “HYST?”  (Have You Seen This?)  The hand creme is called “Honey and the Moon” and the soap is called “Bee Soap No. 82.”  I love the packing and the clever naming of the products.

The company also carries stationary, which has been and will probably always be close to my heart.  The lettering reads:  “Don’t fret about a couple of ‘ol gray hares!  Happy Birthday!”  Again, how clever.  I also love the old style typesetting and the graphics are great too!At the Atlanta Market, birds were everywhere so I just had to  share one of the soaps in the Tokyo Milk mini soap collection- “Staccato Mini Soap No. 13.” I love the colorful portrayal of the birds on the soap’s packaging.  To me, it’s little things such as a product’s stylish  packing  that both set it apart from other items and make me want to buy it!   Think about that as you are out on your next shopping trip.  Keep your eyes peeled for the bright, or “pretty packaged” items and how they seem to stand out.  That’s how they reel us in to drop that pretty little thing into our shopping cart!  No matter if it’s the soap for your dishwasher, a candle for your home or the colors and design on pack of chewing gum.  Companies are forever trying to find ways to make you say “I want that!”  Be conscious of this the next time you are shopping- does packaging influence you??  Things that make you hmmmm….

Have You Seen This???

Before getting into my weekly installment of “Have You Seen This?” I have to take a second and mention how excited I am to be sitting in my office looking out at the beautiful falling snow!  Can’t wait to have some snow cream for dessert later…

This week I want to tell you about a little gadget I read about  in an article by Susan Dickenson in the November 2010 issue of  “Home Accents Today”.  Even if you are not in the market for this nifty little piece of equipment, I think you will still find it innovative and just another way technology equals convenience.

“Square” as it is called, is a little, FREE,  piece of plastic that allows you to accept credit cards via your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android.  The process is simple:  The Square snaps into the headphone jack of your phone. You slide the card through the slot and enter the amount of the purchase.   The customer signs the phone’s touch screen and “cha ching”, you are done!  You can then enter the customer’s email and a receipt will be sent automatically. 

What’s the catch, you ask??  Although the equipment is free, the usage comes with a price.  The merchant is charged 2.75% of the purchase price, with an additional 15 cent charge to swipe the card.  This little piece of convenience isn’t free, but it sure is handy. 

Let’s go back, just a minute, to what I said above about those of you who may think you aren’t in the market for such a thing.  Susan Dickenson, the writer of the article, mentioned Girl Scout cookie salesman, people that do yard sales, babysitters and cab drivers.  For impulse buyers, and just for the sake of convenience, this could mean the difference between losing and a sale and getting a sale!  (For any interior designers out there, I thought how great it would be, in the case of being out at a client’s home and finishing up a design consultation, that I could get paid on the spot!  Wow!  That would be great!) 

Keep in mind, as with any new piece of technology, there are glitches to be worked out.  But, once the bumps and malfunctions are ironed away this will another device that will help us move effortlessly along the information highway.

To read more check out: https://squareup.com and http://www.homeaccentstoday.com/

Have you Seen This???

So, here we are, a new year!  My husband and I were watching something on TV last week about folks discussing their resolutions and how, this year, they would do things differently.  My husband made a valid point. “It’s just another day” he said.  “If you didn’t do it on December 31, what makes you think you will do it on January 1?”  I thought, yes, that’s probably true, so rather than make some grand proclamation about this or that and what I plan to change, I will just simply say I hope that I can be a better blogger in 2011.  Okay, now that I have that out of the way, let’s get moving!

I have been compiling things that I happen upon in magazines, on the internet or otherwise.  I would like to share these things that I think are innovative, fun or just plain cool.  Hope you enjoy!   Here’s the first…

As I am often referred to as the “monogram queen” what I saw in the December issue of Southern Living Magazine was very exciting for me and just simply put a smile on my face.  Flipping through the first couple of pages, I saw it- custom monograms attached to beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts!  What a novel idea.  I thought “this is the kind of thing that makes gift-giving extra special!”  I jumped up and ran to my computer to do a quick search for “Southern Proper Monograms”  Check it out: www.southernpropermonograms.com. 

Southern Proper Monograms, by “Mark it with a "B” is a company that makes custom, wooden monograms.  The monograms come in different sizes and font styles.  In addition to the large monogram (seen in the wreath above) the company also offers individual letters.  Your monogram arrives to you in unfinished wood so that you can further personalize with the color of your choice. 

I was so excited to receive my little surcie;  I opened it up like a little kid!  I couldn’t stand it until I got outside, spray paint in hand, to complete the little Christmas gift to myself. Once painted, I happily placed the monogram on the mirror over my fireplace.  I stood back and said, “Gosh, it’s just the simple things in life that make me smile!”  Josh, my husband, chimed in and said “Well, I really got jipped…I could have gotten out much cheaper for Christmas had I known a wooden monogram would please you so much!”  After receiving “the look” he kindly disappeared…Ha!!

I have great plans for my little monogram.  It will be proudly displayed this Spring on my front door, in a fresh lime green, I am sure!  Can’t wait!

Stay tuned for more fun things….