One of a Kind Spring Show - Revisited

This past Saturday, I spent some time on my own wandering the floor of the One of a Kind Spring show. As I've mentioned before I LOVE the One of a Kind Show and never miss it (check out my review / favorites from the Christmas show right here).

As you've probably read from other bloggers, the Spring show is not quite as large as the Christmas show, and is more focused on fashion and jewelry. Needless to say, I was largely drawn to baby related items this time around (no surprise there, right?). Of course, I brought along my camera, with every intention of snapping some great photos of my favorite booths, but it died before I even arrived at the show. FANTASTIC! So, here are some of my favorite booths that I visited this past Saturday...

The creations of Lesley-Anne Green were far too cute to pass by without giving them a closer look! They were adorable and whimsical... and what can I say, anything that would look cute in a nursery is speaking to me right now.

Make sure to swing by her blog and check out all of the cute felted animals she creates. I so wanted to take one home with me for the nursery... but we're on a budget right now. So I had to take her card and save it for future reference.

I was immediately drawn into the booth of Lillian Chiu of Bamboo Lily when I saw the adorable beach robes that said "Peanut" on the back....

I loved the cute selection of baby and toddler clothes made of bamboo. What's better than something that is eco-friendly and will be super soft and breathable against babies skin? Check out all of the little outfits she has on offer over at her online shop.

Speaking of bamboo clothes for baby, I was also happy to stumble across the booth for babibu.

Again, a wonderful booth full of soft and sweet clothing and blankets for baby, that were breathable. I had to tear myself away from a tiny yellow onesie I wanted for the Peanut. Restraint people. But check out their online store... lots of cute goodies!

Liligo was brand new to the show this spring, and I loved the adorable little outfits they had, all made from vintage bedsheets. The patterns and colours were so fantastic, and I was so happy to learn that they could be used as a dress for baby, but then as a swing top as baby gets a little older. It's nice to know your investing not only in a recycled pieces that's been given a second life, but also something that baby isn't going to grow out of too fast.

Cute, right? Check out more on their website.

I left with a little something from another new artist, Electropura.

They sold baby and toddler clothes made from vintage t-shirts. So what did I leave with? This cute little Wagamama t-shirt.

Why? Ever since my first visit to a Wagamama in London, England in February of 2005, I've been collecting t-shirts of all of the one's I visit. I picked one up when we were in Dublin in 2009, but they had already stopped making them by city, so my shirt says "Wagamama Ireland". Add another one to the collection, from a city I've visited... but for baby! Excellent!

Of course, not everything I looked at was baby related. One of my favorite home decor related booths had to be Dotti Potts.

The gorgeous pottery and jewelry made me want to take one of each home. Again, I was good and just admired and brought home one of her postcards so I could shop sometime in the future.

I did leave with something other than that cute little tee as well. I made a stop into the Spa Sisters booth and absolutely fell in love with their line of baby products.

I was so excited to find something I could use for both me, and baby, without having to worry about the ingredients. It was also great to meet a twitter friend in real life. Check out their online store... they have more great products (not just baby stuff) that are all made with pure and natural ingredients. How can you say no to that?

Lastly, I couldn't not share with you the whimsy that was Wonderchild Studio.

There were gorgeous full scale sculptures, as well as tiny little 1/12 scale dollhouse scupltures that blew me away. So cute and so tiny. Loved looking at everything in her booth.

I know... baby overload. I apologize, I just couldn't help it on this shopping outting. There's always more design and decor related posts to come, but I just couldn't not share my favorites from the One of a Kind Show. I'm already looking forward to December!

Did you attend the show? What were some of your favorite artists and booth's to visit. I love knowing who to check out the next time around.

Toronto Life Home Guide 2010 - Review

As I mentioned earlier today, while I was out and about on my lunch hour, I picked up a copy of Toronto Life's very first Home Guide.

I hadn't had the opportunity to really flip through the pages as I was already waiting in line, but the cover itself was enough to convince me to give it a try. Implying that it would be a resource for the best of everything home related in Toronto, as well as provide "Toronto's most Stunning Interiors", it seemed like it may be worth the $7.95 that I threw down for my copy.

I arrived home from work tonight, sat back and starting browsing my newest mag. What's my general consensus - I'm glad I paid up.

What's the reasoning behind my decision? The biggest thing is that it is 100% Toronto focused!

The magazine is broken down into the following main sections:

• Favourite Things
• Ask the Experts
• The Essentials
• Great Spaces
• Industrial Renos
• The Way We Were
• The Directory

Pretty fantastic I must say. Though every section has something great to offer, my favourites would have to be "The Essentials" and "Industrial Renos". 

The Essentials

Toronto Life takes the most important rooms in your home (Living Room, Kitchen, Bedroom, Kid's Room and Bathroom) and devotes two pages to a spread of fantastic finds from stores right here in our glorious city! What makes it even better is all of the prices, stores names, addresses, websites, etc. are listed next to those pretty little pieces making it much easier to locate that one thing that you just have to have. Each room has a fantastic range of affordable pieces for the budget friendly buyer, along with a ton of drool worthy splurges that will leave some of us looking for the perfect "look-alike". I think it's great that they mix it up that way and support local business (of course, there are a few chain stores like Anthro and Restoration Hardware that make an appearance - but who doesn't love those stores?)

Industrial Renos

This is the section that absolutely blew me away. Sticking with lucky #5 again, we get to peak into five amazing industrial spaces turned home (a Dairy, a Fire Hall, a Roofing Company, a Truck-Building Plant and a Shoe Warehouse). With the original build date, and often use of the building listed, we're offered a quick run down of what the new owners have done to make their old industrial places feel like home. These people are not joking around, they have put together some seriously stunning homes... my favourite would totally have to be the reno'd fire hall!

What I'd Like to See Next Time

While I believe that Toronto Life did a pretty great job with their first Home Guide, I can think of one thing for sure that they could add. As we Toronto bloggers know quite well, there is a whole slew of fantastic interior design, decor, renovation, etc bloggers and other online sources out there that could totally be featured or looked to in the next issue. I mean, Toronto is one great big community of real estate loving junkies. I think rather than focusing solely on "The Experts" and people who have already made a name for themselves in the city - why not give some fabulous, intelligent and talented bloggers a chance to share some of their gorgeous interiors that they have DIY'd up so nicely. I mean, as can be seen by the Toronto blog community, DIY renovations are a pretty big part of what we do, am I right? Just think about it Toronto Life... 

I'd say, blog friends - go out and pick up a copy. Would love to get your thoughts on this issue. If nothing else, I think the fantastic directory that the good people at Toronto Life rounded up for the back of the magazine will be extremely helpful to our future projects and shopping needs. 

Happy reading!