"I Had No Idea it Was Saint Patrick's Day"

This was a direct quote from the valet guy as he pulled my car around last night...

My response: "Right, it's not today, it's tomorrow sir."  

Today is the day where most everyone can celebrate like they are Irish. Bust out the green, the beads, and the shot glass on a necklace!

I'm Scottish, have been to "the homeland," have an infinite/undying love for bagpipes, and everything tartan.

But every Saint Patrick's Day, we (meaning my entire family when I was a wee lass), partied like we were Irish. During said time when I was a wee lass, I was introduced to two things that remind me of St. Patrick's Day, no matter what the month or day.

The first is a completely zany movie entitled Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Netflix has it categorized as a "family, feel good" movie. In all honesty, it is a feel good movie--family, on the other hand, I'm not too sure about...

After hashing it out with my Mom today, it was decided that it teaches children the following: 1. How to survive in an Irish pub brawl. 2. The aftermath of what happens when you kidnap a leprechaun. And 3. Be afraid--very, very afraid of banshees.

Crucial life lessons, of course!

Cue Darby O'Gill and a leprechaun dance party...

The second is a song entitled "The Night that Paddy Murphy Died." My Grandfather adored this song--I can remember him singing it at any opportunity that presented itself. Any opportunity. At age 7, I knew the lyrics by verbatim--including the part where,"They put the bottle with the corpse to keep that whiskey cold." You know...normal things a 7 year old should know.

Great Big Sea - Night Pat Murphy Died

To my family back in the mitten, enjoy the Bay City parade and all the shenanigans that go along with it tomorrow--I wish I could be there! And to our friends, Happy St. Patty's Day from the Gals!!

Mele Kalikmaka

Car Antlers - Absurd Holiday Trend

Sending some jubilant cheer to our friends at Melissa and Doug!

First off--whoop whoop and a fist pump!! The Gals are officially out of the shop until January 3rd! I had this surreal, exuberant joy while leaving work today--it was as if I was in third grade and starting Christmas break. Stay tuned...we have some amusing activities planned for our time off!

Now on to business. Has anyone else seen a HUGE influx of reindeer antlers (red noses on the grill optional) on vehicles this year? What is going on with this epidemic? Did The Gals totally miss out on some sort of amazing retail trend?

This past week, we were out and about delivering some holiday gifts, when we spotted a car with reindeer antlers. The festive car flair (complete with small jingle bells, mind you) stuck out on this yellow car like a sore thumb.

Cue brief, snarky, sleep deprived commentary:

While pulling into a parking garage, no more than 15 minutes later, we were catapulted into a reindeer car antler breeding ground.

We were flabbergasted by the astronomical amount of antlers. Most logical thing to do...take pictures of every single holiday car trend victim.

And no joke, this is quaint 3 story parking garage...

Yuletide Nitwit #1 - Complete with stick figures.

Yuletide Nitwit #2

Yuletide Nitwit #3

Yuletide Nitwit #4 - Above mentioned Lexus from video...

Yuletide Nitwit #5

As you may be able to tell--it was just a downright nasty rainy day. Can only imagine how incredibly waterlogged those car decorations were.

Our apologies to any of our readers, but we DO NOT get it. What is the pleasure in "festing out" your car with such an inane accessory? Why would you want to outfit your car to resemble an animal?

Are we the only ones...or is this an utter festive faux pas?



Festive Tunes - Margaret's Pick for 2011

T-Minus 2 days, 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Does anyone else feel as if it has been the holiday season for an extremely extended period of time this year?

Continuing on with our favorite festive tunes...

Madge's Pick: "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

Why is it Madge's Pick: "I have a few reasons. 1. It's really a beautiful song. 2. I think it has a bit more to do with the 'Christmas Spirit,' rather than most of the Christmas songs out there. And 3. It doesn't directly pertain to Christmas."

Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson - Winter Song

Side Note: After watching the video, I really think the two girls in the video freakishly resemble Jenny and I...if I had brown hair.

What does Margaret really, really want for Christmas this year?

New slipper boots. Desperately.

 Homespun Gifts

"Madge's Hot Mocha Cocoa"

Every year, during the holidays, I find myself in a dilemma. What kind of gift do I give our sales associates? It seems trivial--but you are purchasing a pretty vast amount of gifts, and for individuals with varying tastes and styles.

In the past I've purchased...

• Unique coffee mug with Starbucks gift card - atypical.
• Gift card - boring.
• Scarves in assorted colors - gets pricey.
• More gift cards - whole lots of boring.

I love receiving homemade gifts and goodies! Especially in today's economy, it makes me appreciate that someone spent time creating/making a gift, rather than going out to a large retail establishment and picking up something ordinary.

This year I came across a delicious hot cocoa recipe--added my own twist, espresso (because who doesn't love anything with coffee in it?), and made lovely gifts for our sales associates!

Madge's Hot Mocha Cocoa:

In 12 oz mason jars layer ingredients in the following order:

• 4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
• 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
• 2 tablespoons of espresso powder.
• 4 tablespoons of powdered milk.
• A pinch of salt (making sure to throw a bit over your left shoulder).
• 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips.

I decided to add a bit of flair to my mason jars by tying small bow out of some red/white and green/white "floss" (yup the stuff you used to make friendship bracelets out of). And using an old school mailing tag, labeled each jar and on the back gave the simple instructions, "Makes two servings. Mix with hot water and enjoy!!"



A fabulous and tasty handmade gift--one that is a cinch to make and easy on the eyes, LOVE the layers!

Festive Tunes - Jenny's Pick for 2011

As in most retail establishments, for the past 21 days we have listened to our fair share of holiday tunes. Our playlist has been bombarded with everything from Bing Crosby's Christmas Classics to Merry Mixmas.

We decided to share the tunes that we have grown particularly fond of this year.

Jenny's pick: "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas"

Why is it Jenny's Pick: "I love the made up words and carefree attitude towards adopting one of nature's largest animals."

So what does Jenny really want for Christmas this year?

A new iPhone. As you can see...it has seen better days, much better days. And it is now interfering with her "mobile communicating."

3 Days, 5 Hours, 17 Minutes.

Appreciation of a Well Wrapped Gift

Simple yet classic gift wrapping. Brown kraft mailing paper. Azure blue yarn. Old school mailing tag stamped with blue snowflakes.

Classy, cost effective, and a welcome change from your typical wrapping paper.



DIY Weekend - Monogram Wreath

Your "Not-So-Typical" Holiday Wreath Tutorial

Confession: The Gals are not really feeling the holiday spirit this year.

Typically by this time in December trees are up, ornaments and stockings hung, and both of our houses have festive holiday nick knacks scattered about (buying for your own store has its downfalls at times..."Must order this, it would look fantastic on my mantle!").

None of the above mentioned items are out at either of our humble abodes.

Over lunch on Friday we were trying to figure out what is different this year from than the rest...

Could it be that we were staging holiday merchandise and decorating a tree in October?

Could it be that my car read this temperature on my way home from work on Friday?

Or could it just be that while pumping gas this week they had non-stop Christmas music on...at the pump? Really BP, was that necessary?

Whatever it is, I decided I would try to get out of my "Bah Humbug Holiday Rut" this weekend. What better way to do that than get my craft on!

One word. Pintrest. If you don't know what it is...you MUST click on the link. If you do know what it is...you'll understand that this website may kick start an addiction. A while ago I "pinned" a wreath that screamed make me!

Two Gals Tutorial: How to Make Your "Not So Typical" Wreath...

To begin, items you will need....

Step 1: Begin by creating a small line of glue, attach your twine at the bottom of your cardboard letter.

Step 2: With a kung fu grip, start wrapping twine around the letter. The great news--the initial line of glued twine will build your foundation, in other words...no need for further gluing until you reach your stopping point.

Step 3: Continue to wrap. Glue twine to letter until you come to a point where you will have to start on a different section. With this project, I wanted to keep the twine in straight and clean lines. Upon further dissection after I completed the project, it may have been best to just go with the flow of the letter rather than focusing on the horizontal lines.

Step 4: Addition of flair! Create a bow.

Step 4.5: Attach said bow.

Step 5: Addition of EVEN more flair, paper rosettes! Using an old book, slice 3 pages out (side note: The Gals hit up estate sales and used book sales at our local libraries all the time. Old book pages can be used for SO many things!)

With a pencil, create a spiral pattern. No need for perfection here, your pattern can be different sizes and widths. It will give each rosette a varied look.

Cut out spiral pattern. This is what your final outcome should look like...



Step 6: Taking the center of your spiral, begin twisting the old book page. Once you get started, the paper will just start to twist on it's own and you will see the rosette forming.

Step 7: With a glue gun, attach paper rosettes to letter. I wanted to make sure that each rosette was different from the other. So I adopted a "Let Go and Let God" philosophy at this point. I kept one rosette very tightly wound and with the other two released my grip and just let the paper do it's own thing.

Step 8: Using the same ribbon from the original bow--chop approximately 30 inches. Find middle section, tie a bow, and glue the "tails" to your twine wrapped letter.

Final step: Hang and enjoy!

For anyone who loves a monogram or a wreath that is different from your typical holiday door hanging...this is the perfect project. May I add, the repeated wrapping of twine was very cathartic--and it only took me about an hour and half to create!

Total cost of  "Your Not-So-Typical" Wreath: $15

Very similar wreath seen on popular purchase handmade items website: $35 + shipping

The crafting did increase my jolly meter, a bit. Still a bit torn about putting up a tree. I'm thinking of decorating this bad boy, which I saved last Christmas after a neighbor left it for an untimely death at the dumpster. Yes, I trash picked it...but look how it has flourished!



Thoughts on hanging a few small ornaments on "Polly the Poinsettia?"

So Little Time, So Much To Do..

Dearest Two Gals Readers:

Today, we promised you our "Holiday Gift Giving Guide." Due to the production and creation of the look book, the extremely late hours putting together our holiday floor set, as well as sleep deprivation; we will unfortunately not be able to deliver on our obligation.

But have no fear--we will have it posted next week!!

Still contemplating if this should be our Two Gals holiday card...

Please accept our sincerest apologies and enjoy the following video of a few exhausted and delusional Gals whoopin' it up!

xoxo,

The Gals

I'd Much Rather Be Sleeping...



After a late night merchandising...I was looking forward to sleeping in before having to do repeat it all again tonight.

Instead...

Heaven Help Us...

Tonight we start our pilgrimage to the land of holiday floor sets. Commence the brewing of uber strong coffee.

Upon research, the patron saint of business women just happens to be St. Margaret Clitherow.

Coincidence? We think not...

St. Margaret Clitherow

St. Margaret Clitherow, pray for us. Lead us to be strategic in our planning and effective in our visual merchandising. Grant us inner peace and strength. Watch over the several hundred glass ornaments and our hands, as to not break as many as last year. Above all, please make this the most profitable holiday season the store has experienced. We ask this in your name, Amen.

Where in the Wide World of Retail Have the Gals Gone??

4th quarter is upon us and it's in full swing! Despite Jenny's wishes, I fondly keep reminding her of this, as pictured above.

This year, The Gals thought it would be a scathingly brilliant idea to create a "look book" of what we will be offering our customers this holiday season. We attended a focus group at the January Market where many smaller boutiques had done something similar and had increased their foot traffic in their stores from anywhere between 34-64%.

That's a huge increase. Massive. Extraordinary. Astronomical. 

We want that increase and decided to take on the task! Bring it!!

We broke down our merchandise into categories to be showcased, chose a neutral background, Jenny just happens to own an amazing camera that would photograph our product beautifully, and gathered the merchandise. But wait--where would we stage such a photo shoot? Oh why, at Margaret's house of course. Cause there is nothing Margaret loves more than clutter...scattered all throughout her house...

We were organized, as you will see from the pictures--everything was labeled with post its (in which some of the merchandise was accidentally photographed with said post its on them because we were so used to looking at them--whoops!), had a concrete game plan, and even staged my dining room as if Martha Stewart was coming for Christmas dinner. Did I mention there was a Christmas tree as well?

We were certain it would take us 2 days to finish, tops.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Try 5, 8 to 10 hour days!!

Lessons learned:  We now have a new found respect for professional photographers--you use muscles you didn't know existed just to get the perfect shot. Staging merchandise to be photographed is much easier than it looks. No matter how much coffee you may consume, you will be exhausted. And lastly, you may be so incredibly pumped up on creative juices, but you will hit a wall at some point where you just need to either take a power nap or crash onto the floor...

Two Gals Proudly Presents...How to Create a Look Book...

So excuse our bit of absence from the blogging world. The look book has been edited, is complete, looks flippin' fantastic, and has been sent off to the printers to be mailed and distributed to all our customers.

Although it was an incredibly colossal task--that in all honesty, at one point I thought to myself, "What the heck did we get ourselves into?" It was a great learning experience and could not have been more proud that we were able to produce the confection that a medium sized styling team would!

Please enjoy some other photographs that didn't make it into the video...

P.S. I couldn't have worked with a better Gal on such an amazing project! "Duck Sauce," my friend, "Duck Sauce."



Happy Devil's Night from the Gals

Tis true--there is such a night. For all our friends and followers up north, you know what we are talking about. The night before Halloween is fondly referred to as "Devil's Night." After moving down south, I tried to have a conversation with Jenny about Devil's Night...she looked at me like I was crazy lady who once ran with a passel of hooligans.

Urban Dictionary defines it as the following:

Devil's Night: An activity done the night before Halloween, where idiots torch abandoned homes. Originally started in Detroit.

"You're scared of Halloween? What about Devil's Night? Now that's something to worry about!"

The quote is spot on--it says it all!!

Even my home town just recently got a shout out about the shenanigans that occur on this eve!

So to all our pals in the "Murder Mitten..." remember to bring your pumpkins inside, lock up the kiddos for the evening, and keep us posted with what the arson count is at!!

"I 'Fested Out' Your Car..."



Snowflake Sweatshop



"Batty for You"

Haloween just happens to be the Gals favorite holiday. After some major brainstorming sessions, we came up with our theme for 2011...zombie apoloclypse came in as a closer runner up, followed by graveyard nation.

We needed something witty with just enough spookiness. Viola--batty for you!

We always enjoy putting together a new display--one that has to deal with a fanciful holiday, and especially one that takes a great deal of planning; surveying the merchandise purchased, getting a grasp on how it will work in the space, doing some crafting, and creating a floorset that can be followed.

Enjoy Two Gal's Batty for You Halloween display...