Hello, Y'all!
After months of planning, we launched the beginning of the Christmas season for Southern'spirations last week! Starting with our ornaments, our goal this year was to have 90% or more made/designed in-house. Last year, we went on wholesale shopping trips and filled our cart full of all the cute ornaments, decor, and items we could find. However, this year we wanted to be different, and with COVID limiting our trips and ability to pick in-person items, we decided to dive into designing our own!
We want to be proud of where our products come from and take the time to build relationships with our vendors to make sure everyone wins! We also want to focus on giving our customers and wholesalers the best price possible on quality products. I found high-quality U.S. manufacturers for things like our wrapping paper and fabrics, and we looked no further than our favorite small printing business that currently does our dishtowels, mugs, wine charms, and more right next door in Pawleys Island for our ornaments.
For this blog, I thought it would be fun to dive into the thought process behind each ornament we launched this year and any behind the scenes of how we picked the final designs, starting with one that is already a fan favorite, the red truck. My mom (and business partner) and I did some research, and the classic red truck was still hot for this year, but I wanted to make it my own. After a lot of brainstorming, I came up with the final design: a classic red truck with my corgi, Eloise, popped out of the window and a blue-and-white gingham bow flying in the wind on the tip-top of the fluffiest and fullest Christmas tree.
The “Joy to the World” ornament pays tribute to my belated grandma that taught English, citizenship classes, and Bible study to international individuals. She loved the "It's a Small World" ride at Disney and cherished a little music box that pictured international children holding hands around a Christmas tree and played “Joy to the World.” I know this is one ornament she would have loved to have on her tree.
The scripture ornaments are some of my personal favorites. After the year 2020 has been, I wanted to make sure that along with festive fun, we share and focus on the true joy and best gift, which is Jesus. Growing up, my grandpa would read the story of Christ’s birth on Christmas Eve, and I wanted to pay tribute to that tradition.
There are three ginger jar ornaments, just classic blue and white Southern charm meets grandma chic. They were a no-brainer after over a year of the ginger jar prints being bestsellers. We just knew we had to make a set of ginger jar ornaments!
The “Merry Hunting” is a fun metal ornament for Christmas and hunting season (which I am learning is a holiday in itself.) The “Gone Fishing” ornament, also made for the man in your life, is perfect not only as an extra-large ornament, but as a wall decoration year-round for your man cave, lake cabin, or beach house.
The “Happy Place” ornament was a last-minute addition after a road trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway back in August. I wanted to embody my “happy place” in the form of an ornament for anyone else that shares a love for the mountains.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to the craft queen (my momma), we have so many handmade ornament options in store at Fleur De Lis and two available in our online shop, the masked gingerbread man and the cutest mini pillows with custom fox fabric!
We are also excited to announce that the weekly launches are BACK this year! Celebrate a new product dropping every Monday from October 19th to November 23rd, including our 2020 ornament, Christmas mugs, and more!!