Unique Fragrance lets you design your own perfume

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Unique Fragrance, a website that allows you to design and blend your own custom fragrance online. Well, I tried it out.

I won't go into all the how-to's, although they are very simple, because they are documented here. Suffice it to say, once you go to the website, you choose "Design your Own Now." From there, it walks you through several questions and you have to make a few decisions. The process takes just a few minutes.

For instance, the first question asks you to describe your style of scent. The choices are:

1. Casual - You like natural freshness with lemon accents.
2. Feminine - You prefer warm notes, a powdery and aromatic fragrance with floral highlights.
3. Glamorous - You like scents with timeless natural essences, fruity notes mixed with exotic; a sweet floral scent.
4. Sensual - You enjoy nights out; oriental notes; a combination of floral and fruity.
5. Natural - You prefer an everyday perfume with aromatic natural notes and fresh accents; warm and energetic.

While I like all of these, depending on the situation, I had to choose one, so I went with Casual.

Copyright Unique Fragrance

Next, it asks what type of scents you prefer:

• Fruity - raspberry mango and coconut, perfect for summer.
• Natural - mint meets tart; think of sweet green tea
• Fresh - fruity and tart notes like apple blossom and cedar; perfect for daytime or a refreshment after sports
• Citrus - pineapple and orange blossom; perfect for every day
• Mediterranean - oranges to roses 
• Extravagant - green tea and iris, sweet-tart bouquets

Copyright Unique Fragrance

Again, they all are scents I enjoy (I secretly really want to know what "Extravagant" smells like), but I narrowed down my choice to Natural.

Then, you get to choose up to six different ingredients. The website recommends 11 based on the answers you provided to the previous questions, but it really gives you 50 scents to choose from. I stuck to the 11 they recommended to avoid combining scents that should never be combined and from those, I chose five:

• Sicily Lemon
• Bourbon Vanilla
• Tangerine
• White Musk
• White Jasmine

That's it!

Now, you get to choose your bottle shape and size. Prices start at $69.90 for 1.7 fl. oz. in short or tall bottles in a variety of shapes. I chose the Falcon Bordeau with a snazzy red cap. The most expensive option is $189.90.

Copyright Unique Fragrance

Lastly, you get to name your perfume. You get two lines for your text and a maximum of 18 characters. You also have the option to upload a photo or choose from three illustrated designs if you want more than text on your bottle. You also get a choice of six different fonts for the copy.

My unique fragrance arrived in just two weeks. It came in a shipping box with crinkle cut black shredded paper, making an attractive presentation.

The perfume bottle was packaged in a black gift bag, suitable for giving.

Inside the bag, the bottle is wrapped in black tissue paper and tied with a black fabric ribbon.

I love my finished fragrance. It has a unique scent, unlike anything else in my perfume collection, and I think I'll be enjoying it very much for years to come.

Bottom Line: It may be rather hard to answer these questions if you were doing it for someone else. It was hard enough answering some of the questions for me because all the choices were something I'd gravitate to; choosing just one, wasn't easy. That said, I would definitely try it again and if I knew the person I wanted to gift a fragrance to well enough, it might be easy to narrow down the choices. If nothing else, it is a pretty unique gift that anyone would be sure to appreciate.

To read more about Unique Fragrance, click here.

Preserve your family memories; turn them into one-of-a-kind art

We all want to preserve our memories, especially those of our ancestors. It seems the older I get, the more important it is for me to honor my ancestors by preserving their stories and achievements so that my child and my child's child can remember them. No one wants to be forgotten. No one wants to think their time on this earth meant nothing. So I feel it is my duty to preserve what I can of my family's history. Sounds corny now, but believe me, this is a feeling that gets increasingly stronger the older I get.

All that said, it isn't always easy preserving the past when you're missing pieces of it. That was my problem. Here's the story in a nutshell:

My grandfather owned a bakery in Oak Park, Ill., called Dangels' Pastry Shop. It was a pretty healthy business as evidenced by the number of employees shown here in front of the shop.

Here's a photo from inside the bakery.

Aside from these two photos, both of which are lacking, dates. I don't know much. I do, however, have a couple of antiques from the shop. Both are antique check writers.

Not surprisingly, my dad followed in my grandfather's footsteps and worked in the bakery business, only he specialized in cake decorating and worked for years as a cake decorator with Dressel's Bakeries in Chicago among others. Additionally, he had his own business on the side where he designed and manufactured cake decorations for sale to bakeries. For a short time, he had a shop front in Evergreen Park, Ill. where he provided wedding cakes. His business was called Dangel's Decorating Specialties.

I don't have anything from this business, not even a photo. When setting up my office, I wanted something of his; something that would be a testament to all his hard work and be a constant reminder for me and my family of what my dad accomplished.

The answer came to me in Second Chance Art & Accessories. Amy and Derek Manning, owners of the Minooka, Ill.-based business create one-of-a-kind pieces of artwork from antiques and salvage. They sell many stock items, but they also create custom pieces on commission.

The pieces they sell, include pub and wine cellar artwork, vintage kitchen, bath and laundry accessories as well as vintage coat racks, all of which look like they came out of an old hotel, jazz club or tavern. So, I thought...why couldn't they create something that looked like it came out of my grandfather's bakery and use the name of my dad's business, Dangel's Decorating Specialties?

I contacted them and we reviewed my idea. I wanted a piece that looked like it came off the wall from behind the bakery counter. Something that would say the name of the business and look like would have been hanging above the cookies, cakes and bread behind the counter.

Amy knew exactly what I wanted. Derek, being a skilled carpenter, created a shelf-like mantle to my design specifications from old barnwood. I opted for an antique white finish over stain to keep the look lighter and more feminine...more like a bakery. They added a railing from an old brass bed, below the mantle, so that I could use it to hang jewelry that I make. 

The hardest part was finalizing the typeface for the name of the business. My father's letterhead had the business name in a casual, simple script. Amy replicated the look exactly as I wanted, painted it onto a mirror that she aged to look antique, and then painted the drop shadow on the letters in "Dangel's" in gold as an accent.

I framed the original photos and have them displayed along with one of the check writers. In addition, I have colored glass and beads in three apothecary jars on the shelves to echo the bakery theme.

Amy and Derek of Second Chance Art & Accessories do great work and I couldn't be happier with the end result, which is the perfect way to honor my dad. I'm reminded of his creativity and artistry every day when I come to work now. You can see examples of Amy and Derek's work at their website, Second Chance Art & Accessories and they also attend many fine art fairs. Click here for a schedule. Their pieces are also for sale at a number of retail shops nationwide. For a complete list of retailers, click here.

Click here to see my review of their work along with some particulars on their business. I'll be preparing a blog entry soon on their work with fun stories about how they find the pieces for their artwork and how they transform so-called trash into treasure.

Exquisite personalized gifts for baby, toddler, wedding or just because

If you are looking for a personalized gift, whether it be for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, a baby shower, wedding or birthday, consider a gift from Swell Forever.

I've written about personalized gifts before, specifically, custom pillows and artwork, as seen here, from Finch & Cotter. Now, I have come across another terrific option for custom gifts.

Swell Forever, founded by Brooke Henze, in Atlanta, GA, offers original gifts that are sure to become family heirlooms. The products are made in the U.S. and the company strives to source as much of its fabric, materials and packaging in America as possible.

When giving a gift from Swell Forever, the giver can give the recipient a lasting message that they will treasure always.

Best of all, Swell Forever is a company on a mission. Its goal is to raise awareness for children in foster care, especially youth who have aged out and children in need of an adoptive family. To that end, Swell Forever sets aside 10 to 20% of sales to go into the Swell Forever Adoption Fund.

If that wasn't great enough, check out these exquisite gift ideas.

Swell Forever founder Brooke Henze and her daughter showcase the company's Forever Shoe Collection.
Photo copyright Swell Forever.

The Forever Dress and Forever Shoe Collection includes personalizes message labels and keepsakes bags for the shoes. Retail price is $50 and up. Photo copyright Swell Forever.

The Forever Blanket Cotton Collection for baby ranges from $65 to $80 and includes a personalized message tag. It comes in two styles and seven options of French satin. Photo copyright Swell Forever.

The Millie Forever Dress with a personalized message label.Photo copyright Swell Forever.

The Forever Blanket Alpaca Collection is a throw with a personalized message tag. Price is $240 and includes the custom message. It comes in three styles/colors. Photo copyright Swell Forever.

Forever Blanket Cotton Collection runs $150-170 and includes five styles and the personalized message tag. Photo copyright Swell Forever. 

The Forever Bird Collection includes handmade glass hummingbirds. They comes with a personalized card and gift packaging for $25. Buy a Sunshine Edition and Swell Forever donates one to a family grieving the loss of an infant through Project Leo William &. Photo copyright Swell Forever.

Personalized pillows make great wedding, baby and housewarming gifts

Our daughter and her family surprised us with the most thoughtful housewarming present after we moved into our new home. I hadn't seen anything like it before and I was wow'd by the quality and creativity of the gift.

Here it is, a customized pillow from Finch & Cotter, an online retailer with its own website and a virtual storefront on Etsy. The pillow, personalized with our address, closing date and even the exact longitude and latitude, was done in sage (our colors) and is an amazing accent pillow for our home.

I absolutely love it and checked out Finch & Cotter's website for more information. It turns out that the pillows are handmade in Chicago to commemorate newborns, weddings and much more. Prices start around $25.

In short, they are beautiful, so thoughtful and creative that I can't believe I hadn't seen these before.

Check them out and let me know what you think.

All images below are copyrights of Finch & Cotter.