diy firefly jars
We love firefly season but you can light up your room all year long with this easy to make glow-in-the-dark firefly jar.
My 13 year old niece, Morgan came to stay us for a few days this summer so I flew this cool craft project idea by her and she gave me the thumbs up!
You can use any glass jar you fancy. Our collection included a spaghetti sauce jar from the recycling, a small mason jar and cheese shaker from the dollar store.
Next, you start dabbing paint inside the jar starting with the bottom first and working your way up the sides until you get enough dots of paint to make a nice impact. Let paint dry over night.
Spray painting the lid is optional but it does do a nice job of covering up any wording on recycled jar lids.
Lolo helped super charge the jars with Steve’s cycling light so they would be nice and bright for our photos but leaving them in a sunny window or under a lamp will do the same thing.
I love that they look whimsical during the day as well as magical at night. Mine will be making its home in Lolo’s room… giving her a subtle glow light throughout the night.
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fanciful fairy wings
It’s been a bit since my last craft project so it was time to see what I could whip up for the Fairy Tale Gathering in Ann Arbor this past Sunday. Many of the little girls who attend this festive event dress up so I took on the challenge to make some pretty purple fairy wings for Lolo.
I didn’t want the wings to be giant since she is only 14 months and relatively new at this walking thing. After poking around our basement, I found 14″ zip ties which shaped up to be a quite delightful fairy wing base.
I positioned and hot glued the wings on a piece of felt and then covered the center with a faux flower bloom from the dollar store. I then tied two 16″ long pieces of elastic that would slip easily over her arms.
I cut up a spools worth of tulle into 7″ pieces and ‘bookmark’ tied them on the zip ties. Once the tulle fluffs were on, I trimmed them accordingly.
They were the perfect addition to this cute summer dress (on sale at Old Navy for only $9!) These wings are light weight and Lolo wore them like a champ -never once trying to take them off.
She had lots of fun being oohed and aahed over by our firefly fans as she fluttered around the catching fireflies courtyard. It’s a tough job being so cute ;-)
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birthday baby
Well, look at who is one already! Lots of things are changing so fast but one constant that remains is Lolo’s cuteness… and I can’t get enough of it. We celebrated this fun milestone diy style and wanted to share a bit about our happy-happy party.
Pinterest might not have been around when I got married, but I’m mighty pleased that I can glean some great ideas from it for lil’ Lolo. These cupcake toppers caught my eye immediately and I went to work to create my own version. I found a variety of head shots from the past year and sized them all at an inch and a half then made them black and white. I printed the sheet on a light card stock and cut them out. I found this small pad of scrapbook paper at target and used a variety of patterns and pom pom colors for the mini party hats.
I hot glued all the pieces together and put the heads on paper straws that I cut in half.
How’s that for a super silly dessert that will make you smile? I think these toppers would be fun at any age for a birthday party.
My mother-in-law was kind enough to host the party since our entire family is from the west side of Michigan and we dressed up the place in our whimsical style. (I knew that coffee filter garland would come in handy again) I also dolled up a pre-made party hat from target for Lolo’s big moment.
She hammed it up like the pro she is (maybe I take too many photos of her ;-) and truly had a most merry time.
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remembering tuesday
This adorable grey fur ball entered our lives in the summer of 1998. I was working at a wonderful day camp at Humane Society of Huron Valley and part of the camp activities included playing with some of the puppies and kittens that were up for adoption.
After just one day on the job, I knew this little lady needed to come home with me. After a quick conversation with Steve, we decided to adopt her on Tuesday. She was the first official furry addition to our little family.
Tuesday quickly became my studio buddy since I spent the weekdays at home creating handmade paper goods to sell at art shows on the weekends. She would keep busy chasing raffia scraps that fell from my work table and take naps in boxes of ribbon scraps. Cuddling was her specialty and she would cozy up to almost anyone when given the opportunity.
We adopted her sister Piper, two years later. They became buddies and we brought them to our studio and storefront in Berkley almost everyday. They even had a special column in our newsletter titled, Tuesday & Piper’s Pick.
Tuesday had many important jobs around the shop including inspecting merchandise, modeling mannequin outfits, promoting products on instagram and insuring new displays are clean and ready to be painted.
After a while Tuesday transitioned to spending more time at home. She still kept busy helping me with computer work, watching over Lolo and Gus… and reminding me it’s okay to take naps when you’re tired.
Over the years Tuesday has made many friends. Our Finnish daughter, Iitu taught her the art of taking selfies. Tessa, our German daughter insisted on taking her for walks around the neighborhood. Our Berkley manager, Danielle never passed up an opportunity to give her kisses when she visited.
Like most cats, she enjoyed nesting in cozy places… including Tessa’s suitcase. (and Tessa would have packed her in there too if she could have gotten away with it)
Even though she had all that fur, finding heat was a top priority on her daily to-do list. Any warm vent or sunny spot… she was there.
In the warmer months she would trade the heat vent for a roll in the grass or an afternoon of window watching. There was a good reason one of her nicknames was Fur considering you could virtually comb out another cat from her coat.
She was always a good sport when it came to our crazy Christmas cards.
Tuesday and Gus got along swimmingly… although I’m sure Gus envied her lap cat status as he often thinks he is a far smaller dog than he actually is.
I’m grateful we were able to capture some precious moments with both of our first babies. We’re lucky to have shared 17 years with Tuesday. Her friendly meow greeting, cozy cuddles, sweet purr and constant companionship will be missed dearly.
one rule
I have a love hate relationship with doing our Berkley store windows. After doing them for over 12 years, I’m often challenged with coming up with fresh themes that are eye catching, yet easy to implement. Once I settle on an idea, I do love the creative part of bringing everything together and the satisfaction of seeing the finished scene.
I feel that we’ve done all the typical spring themes of flowers, showers, butterflies, bikes and kites so this spring I thumbed through my trusty Curly Girl Design catalog for some inspiration.
There are plenty of her wonderful and whimsical scenes I foresee as future windows but Mrs. Peacock struck a chord with me this March… because who doesn’t need to be reminded of this beautiful truth?
So $30 of tulle and felt later I transformed our quirky ladies into pretty peacocks who aren’t afraid to stand out from a crowd.
I know this scene will bring smiles to those who stroll along our sidewalk this spring… and if you need the makings of a pretty peacock costume in October, you know who to come see ;-)
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Rochester Post Feature 2.5.15
Cupid Call to spread cheer with surprise valentines
– Mary Beth Almond
Valentine’s Day is arguably one of the most romantic days of the year, often leaving those without a significant other cursing everything related to the holiday. But for the past two years, April McCrumb – who owns and operates Catching Fireflies, a gift shop with locations in Rochester, Berkley and Ann Arbor – has been making Valentine’s Day about more than just a relationship status. She’s been taking the holiday as an opportunity to spread cheer to those who could us a little pick-me-up.
This February, Catching Fireflies will once again be sending surprise valentines to 300 nominated recipients who could use a smile through a program called Cupid Call. Through February 10, McCrumb will be accepting from the public nominations of people who could receive a free handmade valentine card that includes 14 dollars worth of “cupid cash” to spend in the store throughout February.
McCrumb said she is looking for nominees who maybe had a hard holiday season, have health problems, lost someone special or just struggle to smile. “This is sort of a sad time of year for some people. It’s winter, the days are short, and it can be depressing, so I thought it would be sort of fun to do a random Cupid Call for people nominated in our community that could use a surprise,” McCrumb explained.
Nominations – which should include the nominees’s full name, age and mailing address, along with a couple sentences describing why they need a Cupid Call – can be sent to service@catchingfireflies.com, with the subject title: Cupid Call. The nominators must also include their full name and relationship to the nominee.
Therese Tuski Scarpace of West Bloomfield, knows first-hand how a surprise valentine can brighten someone’s day. Last year, Tuski Scarpace’s husband nominated her to receive a Cupid Call package filled with a handmade card and some small gifts after she lost her longtime job.
“I was closing down a program that was my heart and soul. The weather was really bad, I was used to working 12 hours a day and I was now working nothing, which I thought was the pits, and then this box comes and I was home to get it, which was wild,” she said. “These things seem small, but you just don’t know how it’s going to affect a person.”
A year later, Tuski Scarpace is employed once again, and she keeps the gifts she received around her at home and in her new office as a reminder to think positively. “It is a good reminder to keep forward thinking. I look at that stuff and I think, a year ago, I was wondering what the heck I was going to do,” she said. “It actually turned out better than I anticipated.”
Catching Fireflies will be accepting entries through February 10.
making 2014 brighter
Now that we’re one week into the new year, there are loads of tips, ideas and solutions on how to make it better. We are in that mode too but before we cruise full speed into planning and preparing for a fabulous 2015, we want to take a moment to look back and celebrate the days we made brighter in 2014.
Remember that $63 shopping spree you signed up for at our stores? This is one of our lucky firefly fan’s stash of goodies she got with her winnings! Maybe 2015 is your year to score this happy deal? It’s one of our favorite ways to give $3000 back to our fans every year.
We grabbed our bow and arrow last February and played cupid by sending out 180 pretty packages to deserving souls nominated by their friends and family to receive a surprise care package.
Our little train depot in Rochester got one BIG MAKEOVER and we never tire from hearing how our firefly fans are loving the new space. I also want to thank our firefly team who took on this makeover like champs. Nothing like 6 straight days of cleaning, prepping, painting, moving, assembling, reorganizing and displaying!
Piper may not know how to gift wrap or check someone out, but she does greet our customers from time to time and continues to delight so many of our firefly fans as she makes her way around our Berkley location.
Winning best place to buy a gift 8 years in a row definitely brought BIG SMILES to our team. Thank YOU firefly fans for your love and support of our whimsical world!
Okay, this is more of a personal shiny moment for Steve and me… This adorable little lady joined our family and has been busy bringing joy to everyone she meets. She continues to be a curious soul who loves a good game of peek-a-book and giggles with glee when she is happy.
Many bubbles were chased and fairies spotted in our purple wheelbarrow garden all summer long at our Ann Arbor location.
We accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from Seeds of Happiness and happily donated $200 to ALS and Operation Kid Equip to help send kids back to school with the supplies they needed.
To celebrate the amazing people in our firefly fan’s lives who are fighting or have battled breast cancer we linked together over 400 pink paper loops at all our locations and donated $1500 to the Pink Fund. We also sent out $600 worth of catching fireflies cash to surprise survivors in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
We love all the festive activities the Rochester DDA puts together for downtown family fun and passing out Halloween treats is one of our favorites!
Thanks to your generosity at our holiday open house we were able to donate over 300 pounds of canned goods to Open Hands Food Pantry.
We’re always happy to offer complimentary gift wrapping and are thankful for your generosity during December because we raised over $700 worth of tips that we donated to the THAW fund!
We’ve sold over 600 mudlove bracelets this year which means we raised $2500 dollars to donate to charity water.
We also have given out over $3000 worth of charity gift card books throughout the year to over 50 non-profits and schools in our area to help with their fundraising efforts.
Thank you for letting us be light in your life and partnering with us in our charitable efforts. Cheers to another bright and beautiful 2015!
shining bright
One holiday tradition of mine is to send creative Christmas cards to all our friends, family and neighbors. Since little Lolo has joined our troop this year she clearly had to be the star of card for 2014 since it is her very first Christmas.
The inspiration for this year’s look came from uber talented moms, Adele Enersen and Sioin Queenie Liao (if you click on those links… I guarantee you a good smile session) Knowing that Lolo is only going to be this little for a short time, I had to try my hand and creating her own whimsical holiday scene.
It started out with a fun fringed tree…
Now we just needed to add some ornaments, wrapped packages, a felt star and blanket to create our silly scene. While Adele and Sioin’s images were all captured when their little ones were sleeping, I took on the challenge of taking the shot while Lolo was awake.
What you don’t see is me standing on a chair saying silly things trying to get her to smile and straightening the boxes every 10 seconds… it was a good work out. After about 70+ shots (thank goodness for digital) we got a few that were keepers.
I cropped the photos to a 4×4 instagram size and made a little booklet of three double sided messages and images. Since they were not standard size mail, I chose to send them in pretty patterned treat bags sealed with washi tape.
I also had to include a close up or two because you have to share the pure cuteness of your kiddo (because isn’t that what holiday photo cards are made for?) … and of course for wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season and bright and shining new year!
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c and g news feature 10.23.14
Local business using Loops of Love to raise money, awareness for breast cancer
By Joshua Gordon
BERKLEY — Through family and friends, April McCrumb knows three people who have had to deal with breast cancer in one way or another.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the outreach spans fundraisers all over the country.
But McCrumb is trying to reach out to the local men and women dealing with breast cancer by offering her own recognition program, Loops of Love, at her business, Catching Fireflies, in Berkley, Rochester and Ann Arbor.
“My cousin dealt with breast cancer, my sister-in-law’s dad and my friend’s mom, so with me alone there are three people in my life that have dealt with this,” McCrumb said. “Our company is supported by people who are mostly women, and there are plenty of other problems out there, too, but this made sense for us. We have been around for 14 years, and we thought it was time to do something that celebrated this month.”
Through Loops of Love, members of the community can nominate someone they know who has battled breast cancer and create a pink loop of paper that will be intertwined with other loops and displayed in all of McCrumb’s stores.
For each loop created, Catching Fireflies will donate $1 to The Pink Fund, a metro Detroit organization that helps people affected by breast cancer handle their bills.
“It is surprisingly crazy how many people who know somebody affected by breast cancer, as we have been doing this for about two weeks and we have over 300 loops between the stores,” McCrumb said. “We are able to use our stores, email contacts and social media sites to reach out so people can recognize someone they know that has gone through this horrible phase. People who may not know about it come into our stores and see the loops behind the counter, and we can explain it to them.”
And it is the chance to talk about breast cancer that made this program attractive when McCrumb and her workers were trying to come up with ideas on how to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“Like anything, when the spotlight is on an issue or problem, it does bring more money in for the cause,” she said. “The ALS (Association), they did the ice bucket challenge and that raised a ton of money. The fact that there is one month to shine the spotlight on breast cancer and that helps to boost the money raised, we want to be part of that.”
Molly MacDonald founded The Pink Fund in 2006 after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. As she stood in line at the local food bank, she said she couldn’t believe there wasn’t something out there to help families like hers.
“I could not believe there was no support to help working women like myself,” MacDonald said. “Me working was critical to my family’s survival, so I bought a book on how to start a nonprofit organization, and we have helped close to 700 people and had close to $1 million in funding.”
Now cancer-free, MacDonald and The Pink Fund look to pay nonmedical bills for men and women with breast cancer who are unable to work or who lost income because of treatments. The organization gets between 80-90 new applicants every month, and it funds every qualifying applicant for up to 90 days. The Pink Fund usually spends up to $3,000 during that time.
“I think a lot of people are very much aware of breast cancer, but they are not aware of the financial side effects of treatment,” MacDonald said. “With treatment often comes the physical and mental inability to work, but if you can’t work, you can’t collect a paycheck. Some people won’t complete treatment and return to work because they can’t afford to lose everything. We are trying to help people understand that one side effect is the financial toxicity of care.”
Throughout the month, McCrumb has been picking random, nominated people to send a care package that includes a gift card and a bracelet. Thus far, she has sent about 40 packages.
Even when the month is over, McCrumb hopes her small effort can help someone in need.
“I think it is sad that people are going through this, but it is beautiful to take this time to recognize them,” she said.
To nominate someone for Loops of Love, visit Catching Fireflies at 3117 W. 12 Mile Road in Berkley or at 203 E. University Drive in Rochester. You can also emailservice@catchingfireflies.com.
lolo’s nursery
When Lolo’s birth mom chose us to be the parents of her little one she didn’t know if she was having a girl or boy but when we found out it was going to be a little girl, I must admit my whimsical soul did a little dance.
You think I would have my fill of decorating happy places since we have three fun shops, but this space was special. There is no theme but it’s quite evident that I like my share of patterns, pom poms, posies, pennants and polka-dots (and if you couldn’t tell… alliteration ~ I do love that too;-)
If I had to name my design partner for this project, it would be Pinterest. Plenty of inspiration came from a variety of pins but I had fun making it my own.
I can’t say I’m a huge fan of slip covers but I was pleasantly surprised how this canvas stripe number transformed our old living room chair and ottoman. (plus it’s machine washable which I’m sure will be helpful when it comes to future spills)
The photo ledges are from Ikea and are perfect for showcasing the current bedtime story selection. I bought the bean bag so I could easily prop Lolo up for photos but I have a feeling it will turn into a comfy reading spot soon enough.
Once I decided on the main color of the room, I dressed up old dressers with some paint and decorative knobs. The other color inspiration came from a pack of quilting fabrics I found that featured patterns and tones that appealed to me. I used that fabric to create a polka-dot nook using embroidery hoops and a string of pennants throughout the room. The pennants were the last thing I added to the nursery… fearing they might be a little too much but I ended up keeping them (because ultimately I’m a too much kinda gal & if you’ve shopped in any of our catching fireflies locations, you know what I mean ;-)
While shopping for our store at a wholesale show this summer, I saw a pom pom mobile that stopped me in my tracks. I took a mental picture and headed to the craft store and created my own version. With the same yarn selection I also wrapped this giant M and adorned it with some felt flowers. The other pretties above the crib include our personalized baby print and a magnet board from our sister store, Yellow Door Art Market. Also since the nursery is so sunny in the afternoon, I placed one of our solar rainbow makers in the window which creates a flurry of small rainbows dancing on all of the walls.
One trend that I am loving are these gallery walls. They are the perfect way to create a little vignette of special goodies. The majority of this collection was curated from treasures I found at our sister store, Yellow Door Art Market and a delightful shop in Traverse City called The Red Dresser.
The anchor artwork’s message, “love is bigger” really spoke to me and it is also by an artist I admire and have exhibited next to before. I fell in love with Jane’s crocheted animal heads the second I saw them & am so happy she is part of our Yellow Door family of artists. I also can’t get enough of Jennifer’s little felt embroidered gems.
I dolled up the curtains a bit (and I’m sure those curtain ties are gonna have to go once she is mobile considering her super human grip she has at only 4 months) I was also happy to bump into Sarah Miller of Moon Forest Studio at an art show this fall for some additional cuteness (because… you know, it wasn’t quite at capacity yet)
I know the “something old, something new” doesn’t apply to nurseries but since my mother is a serial packrat, she did give me this sweet sun pillow that I had when I was a tot. I’m looking forward to many sunny moments shared on this chair as lil’ Lolo grows.
So there you have it ~ a small room packed with as much love and whimsy it can hold.
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