mc happy meal wreath

My talented friend, Michelle Allen posted this clever wreath of miscellaneous happy meal toys on her blog recently and it gave me a good chuckle.  I love thinking up unusual ways to use things that are destined for the trash can… and I have to say this crazy wreath takes the cake.

Here’s how she did it:

"To make it, all I did was take a styrofoam wreath, covered it with colorful fabric, tied a ribbon around it for hanging and used a glue gun to glue layer upon layer of toys. Make sure to use plenty of glue so it holds up for many years. I did try to pay attention to it having a top to it so that most of the toys were right side up."

I also like the idea of painting some Ikea shadow boxes and stuffing them full of small toys or items your children don’t play with any more and mounting them in a series of three in their bedroom or playroom. 

It’d be a very MoMA statement on todays consumer culture and blatent branding.  Plus, on a lighter note…they’d look pretty cool.

real detroit weekly 3.21.07

Super Fly

by: Michele Felix of Real Detroit Weekly

Spring fever is in the air and that means it is time to get into catching fireflies.  This whimsical gift gallery is swarming with imagination and is the model canvas for everything retro and unconventional.  Around every corner you will find something that is sure to bring a smile to your face and that is because catching fireflies has something for every occasion, including weddings and birthdays and even just because.  Pet lovers will dig all the feline and pooch accessories adorning the shelves while gift givers will enjoy everything from photo albums and frames to handmade jewelry, wall art and pop-culture items.  Browse the bundle of joy room or the glam gallery for some fun and feathery finds or get nostalgic in the kitchen parlor with its selection of retro dinnerware and bar accessories.  Complimentary gift-wrapping is also available, so don’t forget to ask.

Now you can have your cake in style and eat it too.

Serve up your pet’s favorite canine cuisine in these one-of-a-kind dog feeders by sculpture artist, Richard Kolb of Yardbirds.

Now even man’s best friend can enjoy the finer things in life with these pesticide-free stogies.

cool mom picks feature

Kristen of cool mom picks found our mysterio tee quite amusing.  She writes, "Anyone can print out a baby registry and dutifully purchase an infant bathtub and bouncy seat. But we’d rather find something that breaks up all the cliched "oohs and ahs" with a hearty guffaw at our friends’ showers.

Take these hilarious Mysterio Predicts the Future infant tees at Catching Fireflies — will baby be a Romance Novelist? or a Criminal Mastermind? You won’t know until you open up the bag. Yes, you’ll be taking a walk on the wild side when you order this gift because, like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get inside.

This is the perfect gift for that special friend with the excellent sense of humor. Or maybe it’s not really that funny after all. There are certainly worse things than having someone with endless access to donuts in the family."

Thanks cool mom picks!

keen on keane

I’ve been listening to Keane’s older CD Hopes and Fears during my recent blog entries and thought I’d share one of my favorite songs Somewhere Only We Know.

The Rolling Stone review reads, "On its surprising debut album, seemingly underpowered Brit trio Keane (piano, drums, vocals) reconfigures the high-romantic aesthetic introduced by Radiohead and mainstreamed by Coldplay as the launchpad for a serious hookfest. Hopes and Fears contains more hooks than most pop groups manage in their careers; the album brims with unabashedly grand, sun-breaking-through-the-clouds gestures. Tim Rice-Oxley’s piano playing, like Chris Martin’s, is at once percussive and expansive; drummer Richard Hughes executes the strategic fills with pomp and circumstance; and when singer Tom Chaplin lets loose with his extraordinary tenor, he seems to be channeling Freddie Mercury. There’s no letup, from the ascending opener, "Somewhere Only We Know," to the monumental closer, "Bedshaped," on which Rice-Oxley makes up for the absence of guitar with a synth solo of power-ballad-y theatricality. Cynics may find this nonstop ear candy hard to swallow, but what’s the point of resisting such delirious beauty when submitting to it feels so good?" – Bud Scoppa

(more…)

it all comes together – berkley makeover

Day five was spent hanging windows and the start of putting together displays.  Here’s Danielle getting a start on the jewelry cases.

Even Piper helped out with the bath and body section.

Day six (the last day before our Saturday re-opening) was a very long day… a sixteen hour day for me to be exact.  That’s the reason why I’m sharing these photos with you on Sunday evening.

So without further ado… here are the fruits of our labor.

This is what you’ll see as you walk in the front door… an Easter explosion.

On your right our colorful doors are filled with fun cards and magnets.

On your left is a collection of some of my favorite ‘higher end’ artists including Mark Orr, Chris Roberts-Antieau, Duane Scherer, Kathleen Taylor and Rebecca Puig.

We also have a couple more doors full of shelves showcasing more seasonal goodies.

As you work your towards the middle of the store there is another table filled with a mixture of artist wares.  (If you look closely you can still spot my late night snack nestled in the display)

Right behind that table is our snazzy new pet section that Danielle put together.

And our bath and body section is so large now I had to take it in two shots.

The vanity that used to be in the old bath and body section got moved into the girly room and is now filled with all kinds of great finds for the young at heart.

We also added a window above our retro dining table in the kitchen.

All our jewelry cases are now bright colors and lined up in a row for easy perusing.

Our pink church pew proudly displays numerous handbags and above tiny tokens, dainty necklaces and thin headbands fill our cabinet.

More handbags, jewelry, headbands and key chains… Plus our six short shelves dedicated to guys goods. (After all we have to give them something to amuse themselves with while the ladies try out handbags and model jewelry)

And we can’t forget our candy jars!  On Saturday a little boy noticed the candy wasn’t in its normal spot and disappointedly said to his mom, "They don’t have the candy anymore."  I reassured him we’d never do that and promptly showed him the way to our new candy table.

Here’s the other side of the candy display.

The tile doors turned out great.  Each of the artist’s names are written above their work.

Well that’s it folks! 

Our makeover debut on Saturday was a huge success.  We had 65 cargo bags to give away with purchases totaling over $40 and we ran out of them by 2 pm.  I just want to thank all of you who came out to support our efforts.

I overheard a customer on Saturday telling her friend, "This store just makes me feel so happy."   Those kinds of comments warm my heart.  It makes me happy to bring joy to others… it’s the best job I could ever imagine having. 

sherbet colored world – berkley makeover

Day four was spent painting new and old displays and adding the last coat of poly-acrylic to the back half of the store.

Jessica is painting our new tile display and Ashley is giving our plain-jane wood jewelry cabinets a fresh look.

Day five things start taking shape…

All of our greeting card ‘eaves troves doors’ are now located towards the front of the store and also act as our window display backdrop.  Once we stock the cards, I’ll write the card categories (birthday, wedding, baby etc…) on the scalloped chalkboards above.

This is what it looks like when you first enter. The tile display will have the artist’s names written on the chalk board above each door.

This is the beginnings of our new expanded bath and body section.

And the starts of our larger pet area.

I can’t wait to fill up this crazy combination with delicious goodies.

The colorful jewelry cabinets fit right in with the new mix.

Tomorrow’s agenda: hanging windows, creating additional displays and arranging products… there’ll be more photos soon!

pretty/modest feature

Jen of pretty/modest searches high and low for pretty things and she thought our fanciful beaded bag was beautiful.  Her blog entry reads, "One of my favorite stores back in my pre-marriage home of Berkley, Michigan was the cheery and eclectic Catching Fireflies. That it was within walking distance (maybe a mile away) from my apartment made it that much more tempting. From whimsical little knickknacks (like pretty picture frames) to jewelry and even fabulously retro kitchen goodies, this is my kind of store! I really miss the ability to stroll over on a sunny afternoon to peruse the massive cute at this charming little shop – but thanks to the power of the internet, I can still look and shop via their online store.

There are so many pretty things in the shop it’s hard to pick just one, but this cranberry beaded handbag is too lovely not to share. It’s a perfect color (you know how I feel about red handbags) and the embroidered flowers add that little extra something for a dressy, classic look. A 46" silver chain is included in case you want or need to hang this delicious treat from your shoulder, but I like the silver handle – very ladylike and demure.

As the lovely ladies at Catching Fireflies tell us, this really is perfect for a night on the town or a day on which you just want that extra-special accessory to cheer you or add that additional insight into your personality. Not only will the bag look great with a cocktail dress, I think it would look equally fabulous with a pair of jeans and a crisp blouse or a 50s-style day dress."

Thanks so much for featuring us and sharing your walk down memory lane Jen.

firefly frenzy – berkley makeover

On day two of our renovation I hung big window signs to let folks know what’s shakin’.

Meanwhile, I got busy covering the front half of the floor with a second coat of paint and adding some fun fireflies to the mix.

I enlarged our firefly mascots, Luci & Flair, and traced them in a variety of places around the store. Then I painted the different body parts one color at a time.

Pretty soon they were dancing all over the place.

I had lots of fun adding the mouth and eyes to each firefly.  It’s funny how those simple additions create such personality.

On day three we moved all the goods from the back of the store to the front so we could paint the rest of the floor.  Here’s Steve and Danielle prepping the baby section.  Now that the floors are almost done, the fun rearranging begins… stay tuned.

berkley makeover – phase one

As soon as our doors closed this Saturday Danielle, Steve and I started dismantling the front half of the store to get ready to paint the floors.

going…

… going

…gone

I can’t believe we moved everything and did a first coat of paint in just 5 hours!  Tomorrow – round two

a gal’s best pal

I hate dry cleaning bills, don’t you?  Think of all the extra fun goodies you could spend that money on instead!   

These two savvy entrepreneurial women, Shannon Larkin and Courtney Rovira, had those same thoughts just a few years ago and they solved their problem by creating these little pink sponges that magically remove deodorant marks off clothing.  I know it sounds too good to be true, but I kid you not … these sponges will become your best friend.