With Mother's Day fast approaching, we decided to share some thoughtful gift ideas for the special lady (or ladies) in your life: 1. Custom Photo Books: Gerald & Joan has long been creating photo books for family and friends. To us, a photo book is one of the very best gifts you can give because you are sharing special memories that will be passed down for generations. Photo books are modern photo albums and work great with iPhone photos, scanned pictures or camera images. Our pricing depends on the scope of the project, but we will do what we can to work with any budget! Contact us to learn more.

2. Dressing Table Items: Women love to feel pretty, and what makes them feel prettier than a dressing table filled with vintage perfume bottles and painted porcelain trinkets? These were handed down from Joan and are a part of our personal collection. However, we would be happy to help you find a few that would be perfect for your mom!

3. Jewelry: Women love jewelry. If you can't afford diamonds, consider a colorful vintage piece. We love brooches, beads, enamel and fun earrings. Oh, and Bakelite. Any of these pieces are perfect for summertime.

4. Party Essentials: Speaking of summer, let's get Mom ready for outdoor dining. Our favorites are vintage table cloths, painted glassware and Pyrex. If you don't want us to find a vintage piece for you, Anthropologie has new whimsical gift ideas that are equally charming.

5. Vintage-inspired photography: Need a last-minute gift idea? Dig through your archives and pop a vintage family photo in a fun frame. You can also send us a new photo, and we'll add vintage-inspired filters and a frame for you.

Need help making or locating the perfect gift for Mom? We're here if you need us!

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The word Bakelite just sounds yummy. In reality, Bakelite is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin. Not quite so yummy, right? Still, Bakelite deserves some kudos. Dubbed the world’s first synthetic plastic, it was used for a variety of purposes – from electrical insulators to children’s toys. That’s pretty impressive, and we haven’t even talked about the jewelry. Oh, the jewelry…

Bakelite jewelry is gorgeous. Produced from the 1920s to the 1940s, it was dyed every color of the rainbow and made into beaded necklaces, bangles, earrings and brooches. It was also marbled and carved into whimsical shapes such as fruit, animals and acorns. I love the sweet little cherries. I will have a piece with cherries someday…maybe.

bangles2

Bakelite is highly collectible and can be expensive. At the same time, consider what you'd pay for a piece of modern plastic jewelry (hey there, J.Crew and Anthro!). A piece of Bakelite jewelry is an investment that is classic and won’t ever go out of style. Keep that in mind, and if you find a piece that you know you’ll treasure forever, you might want to add it to your jewelry box.

These pieces are from my personal collection. To see more Bakelite, check out my vintage accessories Pinterest board.