One Of A Kind Show - Toronto

The One Of A Kind Show is gearing up to begin it's Christmas show on November 24th at The Direct Energy Centre. One of the best places to find unique gifts for others and yourself, the Christmas show tends to be larger than the show held in the Spring. This show also has a longer run time giving avid shoppers like me ample time to get ourselves organized to make it down there. With the crowds that tend to turn out for this show, you might want to break your visit up into 2 or 3 trips. Get a re-admit pass when you leave and you can return on another day without having to pay admission again. New this year is a late shopping night on December 1st. The show will be open until 11pm. Might be a good time to attend since prime hours seem to be the weekends.

I have only attended the Christmas show once before. Plans to attend last year were sidetracked with my unemployment status in December. This year I am making a point to go as I also missed the Spring show. I have some standard favourites I want to check out and also see what new and exciting vendors have taken up attendance at One Of A Kind.  If it is your first time attending, it can be overwhelming as it is a large show. What works for me is to walk the entire show, make notes on the booths I want to buy from, then go back to them after I've seen everything. I find this method also keeps my spending in check. I do try to be a responsible Not A Shopaholic.

For more info visit the One Of A Kind website:  http://www.oneofakindshow.com/toronto/index.php

Some of my can't miss booths at One Of A Kind include:

Coach House Shortbread Company - I have a complete weakness for shortbread cookies and the ones from Coach House are the best I have ever tasted. The best part of visiting this booth is taste testing before you buy. No matter what I sample I always end up buying the same flavour. I don't even remember what kind I buy I just know I like the one in the orange packaging. If they ever change the colour I will be lost. I'm sure whatever you buy you will love. I cannot leave One Of A Kind without Coach House shortbread cookies.
http://www.shortbread.ca/homepage.html

glamjulz - The very first time I went to One Of A Kind I bought the most beautiful necklace from glamjulz. I remember the woman behind the counter saying it was one of her favourites and I assured her I would give it a good home. To this day I still get compliments on that necklace whenever I wear it. That necklace also started my obession/fascination with glamjulz. I have bought several pieces from them since, including some custom made pieces, and have attended a few of their end of season sales at their showroom in Burlington. I will definitely be stopping by their booth this show although I don't know what is left for me to buy from them. Knowing me I will think of something.
http://glamjulz.com/

My first necklace from glamjulz. The photo doesn't do it justice.

At The Wroot Of It - The coolest dishes and serving platters you will ever see courtesy of Carrie Wroot. Before you buy you will probably kill yourself laughing over Carrie's fun quirky characters, one blond and one brunette, and their appropriate kitchen and non cooking phrases. This booth is so much fun. I have come home with a triangle shaped serving platter and and oblong tray both of which I don't use nearly enough. I'm looking to expand my collection this year. Last time I was at the show Carrie was telling me she doesn't sell at retail and only sells her wares at 2 shows: One Of a Kind and CNE. These really are unique pieces you won't find anywhere else. Great gifts and great additions to your personal tabletop collection. Reading the Facebook page, it looks like there are paintings available too. Hope to check those out at the show.
No web page for this one but you can join the Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/At-The-Wroot-Of-It/106083591058

From my personal collection, serving platters from At The Wroot Of It by designer Carrie Wroot

Luxe Design (Booth W38) - What could possibly be better than jewellery as a gift? How about jewellery you can personalize? That is the concept at Luxe Design, a Vancouver based company. I have never bought anything from Luxe at the show, mostly because their booth is so busy I can't get near the merchandise. I have ordered online from them a few years ago and bought necklaces for myself and two best friends. Search my blog and you will find a post with the details.  Choose your chain, choose your pendant, choose what you want it to say and Luxe takes it from there, stamping out your request with their unique letters and numbers. Then accessorize with charms and beads to create the perfect piece of jewellery. I don't know how often my friends wear their necklaces but I wear mine all the time. On each of ours I put our names and then personalized the other side of the pendant to something special for each of my friends.
http://www.luxe-design.com/default.asp

Taken from Luxe Design website. Pendant is the same shape as the one I have.

Monster Factory (Booth E6) - Some recent readers may recall seeing my blog post from a few months ago about the Monster Factory. I first fell in love with these lovable critters at One Of A Kind and their booth is always super busy. I will definitely stop by this one and check out all the monsters. You will see people of all ages here. I bought Colin, my long time favourite from One Of A Kind show 2 years ago. More recently I bought 2 full size and many smaller size monsters for my friends twin boys. These monsters make great gifts for people of any age. My previous blog post about Monster Factory prompted some of my Twitter followers to buy some monsters of their own, as gifts and for themselves. Glad to help spread the word about this great Toronto based company. I just love them.
http://monsterfactory.net/

Top Photo: Colin, my first monster purchase. Bottom photo: Monster gifts for the twins.

*For a full list of artisans at the show, click here. 

One Of A Kind Show Toronto runs November 24th to December 4th. Shows also take place in Vancouver and Chicago. Check website for details.

http://www.oneofakindshow.com/

Not Afraid Of These Monsters

I have a secret. I’m afraid of the dark. It’s not bad now, but when I was little my Mom had to leave the light on in the hallway until I fell asleep. Even now I can’t watch horror movies or I will have nightmares. So it may seem a bit odd that I have decided to do an entire blog post on monsters.

These are not the big, ugly, scary monsters you are see on TV or in the movies. These are the cutest monsters you have ever seen in your life with personalities to match.

It was a few years ago I saw the product offering from The Monster Factory for the first time. I was at the One of a Kind show with some friends who had been there before. We walked into The Monster Factory booth and I never wanted to leave. These monsters were so colourful, odd looking and adorably cute all at the same time. Each one has a tag with their name and a description of their personality. You have never seen happier people than the ones standing in this booth looking at those monsters, including the adults like myself.

It was love at first sight when I first laid eyes on Colin. I had to go through a lot of monsters before I settled on him. Even then it was much later when I decided to make a commitment to him. Since then I have been a very happy owner. He keeps me company in my living room alongside my favourite Vancouver 2010 mascot Muk Muk. I call the two of them “my guys”. Sometimes I’ll even talk to them but if you ask me to admit that in real life, I won’t.

After Colin and I had been together for awhile, I felt it was time to introduce him to my friends. After all he was someone special in my life. My friend was over for dinner one night and I introduced her to Colin. Her reaction wasn’t what I expected. She immediately started laughing, laughing so hard she was crying and kept saying over and over again, “he looks so funny, he looks so funny”. Well excuse me, I know he’s no model but he is not “funny” looking.

Fast forward many years and said “friend” is now married and recently had twin boys. My dilemma, what to buy these 2 sweet boys so they can remember their (favourite) Auntie Christina when she isn’t around. After much deliberation I decided The Monster Factory would be the best present. It is a present they wouldn’t outgrow right away, looking at monsters would make the boys happy and I would be on my way to solidifying "Favourite Auntie" status. I settled on Donny and Doyle for the boys. Donny and Doyle are funny looking, (Colin is not!) and I thought their funny faces and odd shapes would keep baby eyes occupied for awhile. Ordering was very easy. I did it online and chose to pick up Donny and Doyle when they were made. The Monster Factory emailed me when the order was ready and I headed to downtown Toronto to pick them up.  I added miniature versions of monsters Kyle, Todd and Mr. Jefferson. It really is difficult to limit yourself to only one or two.

Donny on the left, Doyle on the right

Mini Monsters starting left: Todd, Mr. Jefferson, Kyle

Now Donny and Doyle are sitting in my living room waiting to be given to their new owners. I know I bought them for the twins but I don’t want them to leave me. I like having this monster family around. Sadly the day will come when I have to give them up. I feel good knowing they are going to a good home. I'm sure the twins will love Donny, Doyle and friends as much as I do.

Monster Factory is a collection of plush monsters (I don’t want to call them toys) created by a group of 3 friends who have been building their monsters for years. Each monster is made with love in their downtown Toronto studio. Visit their website or visit them in studio (by appointment) or find them on Facebook or Twitter to tell them which monster you love.

Ps. I also get startled when there is a thunderstorm. I’m not scared though. Colin is here to protect me.

The Monster Factory
471 Richmond St. West, Suite 201
Toronto, ON
Ph: 416-913-6673

Written by Christina Wallaert