creative gift ideas | whimsical & uncommon gift ideas | catching fireflies blog

karla’s place motto: love & do what you like

After soaking in the sun at South Haven for 5 days, we made a quick stop in Holland on the way back to Detroit. This town has some of the cutest shops around including the oh-so-sweet Karla’s Place. You know a shop is going to be lovely when you see this motto behind their checkout.

In Karla’s words… “I can’t describe myself as a mountain climbing, bungee-jumpin’ kind of gal, but I would describe myself as adventuresome. I have found the biggest adventure is to live the life of my dreams. I encourage others to consider, ‘If failure wasn’t an option, what would I do?’ It’s amazing what you can learn about yourself when doing what you really, really, really want to do. Creating Karla’s Place has been a great experience allowing me to learn each day, show my creativity, listen to others’ stories, and encourage others to be fearless. It’s not what you ‘do’ or the title that defines you, but what you are ‘doing’ in your community and in your own life that makes for an exceptional life.”

No doubt that Karla is a artsy girly-girl with a vintage flair. Her display style is dynamite & her collection of goodies (many of them handmade) are hard to resist. I picked up a recycled t-shirt flower head band that I’ve already worn a handful of times :-)

Like to see shops that inspire me? Then sign up to receive these on-the-road blog posts in your email inbox HERE

10 reasons I love South Haven

Since Steve & I grew up in the Grand Rapids area, we’ve always been partial to the beach towns of West Michigan. So this year we decided to rent a little spot in downtown South Haven. We found this 2 bedroom place just a few blocks from the beach & downtown. It’s fairly easy to slip into living the good life & we really enjoyed our 5 days of get-away.

Like to see where I spend my time away from catching fireflies? Then sign up to receive these on-the-road blog posts in your email inbox HERE

mmmmm…. michigan

Now that we’re hosting Tessa, our German exchange student… it was the perfect excuse to whip up some Michigan shaped cookies to celebrate.

I used the simple recipe on the card that came with the cookie cutter set & they came out just perfect! (upper peninsulas & all)

Nothing like a geography lesson that also doubles as a sweet treat!

Like seeing what’s happening around my home? Then sign up to receive these behind-the-scenes blog posts in your email inbox HERE!

simple girl

Getting ready for a little getaway to South Haven for a few days so I downloaded this happy ditty & added it to my road trip play list.

A reveiw reads, “The Detroit-based duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott) is hard to classify. The label calls them “indie-pop.” If you were going to coin one of those annoying, overused and mostly meaningless genre mashups writers like to coin for music outside an easy to draw frame, you might call them indie-alt-digital-folk-garage-rock-pop. Regardless of what you call them, you can feel how much fun they’re having the whole time, and just like laughter or Hep C, it’s highly contagious.” -Jeff Gonick

Like discovering catchy tunes that make you want to that you can tap your toe to? Simply subscribe to this blog and we’ll email you our latest and greatest music finds.

the vacation frames go to…

(I think the summer heat is making our Berkley manager, Danielle a little extra cheeky… look for the jazz hands ;-)

Thank you for participating in our Vacation Frame Giveaway. I’ve been to a few of your favorite stays & am looking forward to exploring some of the new ones mentioned too. Also, thanks for spreading the news to your friends through facebook, twitter and email forwards. Word of mouth has always been our best form of advertising and we couldn’t do it without YOU!

We have three lucky winners!

Jennifer shared on facebook & her favorite spot…” Ludington State Park — that’s where me and my hubby got married too :)”

John shared on facebook & his favorite spot… “Glacier Bay, Alaska. We haven’t found our favorite Michigan location yet.”

Marie’s favorite spot…”Contentment is wanting what you already have. On that note, I love to staycation in my own backyard… inground pool, beautiful landscaping, lots of family and friends to enjoy it with!”

Don’t want to miss out on future fantastic firefly giveaways? Be sure to stay in the loop by signing up here and we’ll email our fun-filled blog posts to your inbox.

personalized vacation frame giveaway

Did you hear that Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was voted the most beautiful place in America? I have to agree! But we want to know where YOU like to spend your vacation time? Wherever it is, we’d like to make a custom frame that celebrates your favorite place. ($36.50 value)

So how can you score this frame for free?

There are 3 ways to enter – you can do 1,2 or all 3 to better your chances.

1. Comment at the bottom of this post and tell us: Where’s your favorite vacation spot?

2. Spread the word about our giveaway on your Facebook page by clicking the Share on Facebook link below then comment on this blog post saying that you did.*

3. Tweet this link: http://bit.ly/Personalized-Vacation-Frame-Giveaway

-then comment on this blog post saying that you did.*

We’ll draw 3 lucky firefly fans names on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 and post it on the blog.

Have fun, good luck and thanks for playing!

Don’t want to miss out on future fantastic firefly giveaways? Be sure to stay in the loop by signing up here and we’ll email our fun-filled blog posts to your inbox!

only 2 weeks of summer left!

It's sad but true. How are you & your kiddos going to make the most of it?

Find these terrific treasures & more online & at our Berkley & Rochester locations. Hope the rest of your summer is a BLAST!!!

Our German Daughter Arrives in 4 days!

So… a couple of our friends hosted exchange students last year & really enjoyed the experience. I always thought that exchange student programs were for parents with high school aged children but it turns out that host families can range from single adults to empty nesters to families with kids of any age.

After my friend said goodbye to her Chinese daughter this June, she decided to become a volunteer coordinator for Youth For Understanding. That’s when we began receiving emails from her filled with interesting exchange student profiles from all over the world.

As Steve & I get older, we find ourselves asking this question more often – “Will this enrich our lives & will it enrich the lives of others?” And after thinking a while about what it would look like adding a 15 year old daughter to our life for 10 months, we decided to dive in and say YES to this new & exciting adventure.

You’d think I was having a baby the way my nesting instincts have kicked in… but I had so much fun putting together her room (filled with catching fireflies finds of course)!

Even Tuesday is preparing by practicing taking naps on Tessa’s cozy chair.

There’s no doubt our weekends will be filled with many fun outings & everything we normally do already seems more exciting because we’ll be sharing it with someone that has never experienced it before.

We’ll introduce Tessa to all of you soon. Of course she’s arriving the weekend that Dream Cruise descends on Detroit so it will be interesting to try to explain this phenomenon that takes place 1 mile from our home:-)

If you’ve ever thought about becoming a host family, YFU has been amazing & easy to work with & if you live in Oakland County… they’re still trying to place 8 students before the school year starts.

Some of the kids still awaiting placement include:

Tennis and piano are passions of 15 year old Phillip from Germany –who was actually born in the USA ! Phillip’s parents returned to Germany when he was seven – and he has always wanted to come ‘back home’ to learn more about the land of his birth. In Germany , he lives in a small, picturesque village with his parents and a rabbit. While he achieves high marks in all his subjects, he is very good at chemistry, English and French. But he does more than study. He’d like to continue playing tennis which he often does with three of his friends. His next favorite activity is playing the piano. Luckily he enjoys this because his parents enjoy listening to him play. Other activities that he likes are meeting with friends and playing board games, listening to music, or simply sitting and talking. He likes to be around people who laugh and have a good sense of humor. His traits of being reliable, sympathetic, cooperative and sociable will make him a good ambassador as an exchange student.

Haruna, 16, from Japan will make your home more beautiful with her flower arranging talents; but she will also fill it with her smiling and infectious happiness. A Girl Scout for six years, this young aspiring occupational therapist enjoys reading novels, watching and participating in sports including soccer and track and field. Haruna loves biology. The youngest of four children, Haruna has two older brothers and an older sister. She also has a lovely cat named Cocoa . Her teachers appreciate her sense of responsibility; strong will and determination that helped her accomplish her goals when she ran for class president. Has travel experience is to France and Canada . She hopes to feed her desire to learn more about other cultures by becoming part of your family. Would you help Haruna realize her dreams?

Just call him Daniel! Hyun-Nyoung, 16, from Korea enthuses about the big lake near his home where his family likes to go biking or hiking–when they’re not visiting the mountains, or the family farm. His favorite sport, soccer, makes him feel “challenged, energetic, powerful, and confident,” and he loves opportunities to play with friends. Daniel’s admiration for a special teacher has made him dream to become a chemist or a professor. This was also fueled by his principal who encouraged Daniel to be a delegate at a science competition. Daniel shows a good deal of admiration for his parents and younger sister; his responsibilities at home include cleaning, vacuuming and dishes, but his most important job is to study (even if it takes away from his sports). This friendly, easy-going and warm-hearted guy is looking forward to learning American cooking and would like to share Korean recipes with you! Willing to attend religious services as often as you do!

“I am crazy about sport,” says WeiQi, 16, from China . Daily you’ll find him involved with basketball, ping pong, billiards. He loves Shaquille O’Neal because they both share a good sense of humor! In fact, his teacher says you’ll “notice from the first second WeiQi’s humor and humility.” Music is another passion as he enjoys beatbox, guitar, singing, dance, etc. He is described as a friendly and warm young man who comes from a large family (six members!) which travels throughout China together and enjoys climbing mountains. At home, he helps with the family dog and also likes to help his mother cook. During the week he attends boarding school, so he has experience being away from home. He wants to come to the US to learn to be more independent, self-confident and to make good American friends. He hopes to “bring you a lot of joy.”

Like seeing what’s happening around my home? Then sign up to receive these behind-the-scenes blog posts in your email inbox HERE!

kitchen makeover 99% complete

I’m happy to say, I can bake a cake, wash a dish & boil pasta again in our snazzy new kitchen. Now we just await our new smaller dining table & chairs, then we’ll do a little house tour of our cozy home soon.

Like seeing what’s happening at my home? Then sign up to receive these behind-the-scenes blog posts in your email inbox HERE!

creative connection countdown

It’s been a long while since I missed the summer New York Gift Show, so I’m a little sad that I won’t be able to see my artsy friends I always hang with in the big city.

“Have fun eating at 5 napkin burger, over dosing on pinkberry & taking in the latest broadway show ladies!”

But luckily I get to meet up with Michelle Allen, Leigh Standley & Amy Peters this September at this wonderful workshop/conference, The Creative Connection.