Simply Curated Blog

Hi, I'm Sarah Cooley, the founder and creative director at Simply Curated. This is my blog where I write about the things I enjoy and give you updates on the company. (function () { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.type = 'text/javascript'; e.async = true; e.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https' : 'http') + '://btn.createsend1.com/js/sb.min.js?v=3'; e.className = 'createsend-script'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(e, s); })();

[sarahcooley]

Mother’s Day is May 8th!

Mother’s day will be here before you know it. Here are some of our favorite gifts for Mom. 

1. Coconut Shea Cocktail Collection candle

This beautiful candle has a 75 hour burn time and comes in a beautiful 22k screen printed glass that can be used as for cocktails when the candle has burned. 

2. Porcelain Gold Feather Ring Bowl

Redraven Studios's Porcelain Ring Bowl is a beautiful embellishment for Mom’s dresser and a great place for her to keep all that jewelry you’ve given her over the years. 

3. Pink Clay Soap

This soap from Herbivore Botanicals is 100% Natural and scented with essential oils. This soap is refreshing, citrus/floral, and smells delicious. It has a silky smooth texture. 

4. Detox Dead Sea Bath Salts

These bath salts from Herbivore Botanicals are sure to help Mom relax. Also available in Calm. 

5. Travel Candles

Available in a variety of fragrances, our travel candles are the perfect small gift for the Mom who loves to travel. 

Check out more gifts for Mom here.

[sarahcooley]

Maker Gift Guide

It’s that time of year and we wanted to share some of our favorite makers with you in case you are running out of gift inspiration.

1. Abacus Row - perfect minimalist jewelry. 

2. Moglea - this stationery company is truly hand crafted. Many of their products are hand painted and each one is one of a kind. 

3. Herbivore Botanicals - while we do carry a few of their products on our site, you should check out their online store, they have a lot of awesome gift sets up for the holidays. 

4. Simply Curated - that’s us! Our candles make awesome gifts. 

5. Sycamore Street Press - If you need beautifully simple holiday cards, they have them! 

6. AHeirloom - beautiful cutting boards and other things for entertaining (perfect hostess gifts). This gem shaped cutting board is what I got my best friend for her wedding. 

7. Red Raven Studios - we carry this ring bowl (perfect for the jewelry lover that you can’t buy jewelry for). But she also makes lots of other beautiful porcelain pieces. 

8. Scout & Catalogue -  we’re obsessed with this small leather marbled wallet. Beautifully handmade. 

9. Simply Curated - Our travel candle tins are a great stocking stuffer and we recently released a Travel Candle Gift Set. 

We hope you support makers and small manufacturers this holiday season. 

[sarahcooley]

Father’s Day Gifts

We love our Dads, and we’re tired of not knowing what to get them each year. So here are four awesome gifts (that aren’t a tie) that you can give Dad this Father’s Day. 

1. Leather Catch-all - These awesome catch-alls come in 3 sizes and are handmade right here in Grand Rapids, MI. Dad can use them to store his keys, change, and whatever else he needs to keep neat. Each catch-all is made with oil-tanned leather and features a colorful suede interior. Gunmetal snaps at each corner fasten to create the form; unsnap for flat storage. $32 - $60

2. Reed Wilson Coasters - No matter where you're Dad is from there is a coaster for him! East Coast, West Coast, North Coast and the Gulf Coast are all represented. $32 for a set of 4 coasters.

3. Oakmoss + Leather Soy Candle - One of our best selling scents is a favorite with guys. This scent is a sophisticated blend of oakmoss and leather are carefully crafted with notes of black peppercorn, patchouli, musk and citrus. Your dad might also enjoy the Sage + Cedar scent. Or get them both! $32 each.

4. Lostine cutting board - These bespoke cutting boards are hewn from maple and white oak, then finished in a rich food-safe oil. Crafted from soft hand-tooled saddle leather, the loops on each board are anchored by metal hardware to hang when not in use - functional, custom art for the kitchen made by hand in Philadelphia. $62 

[sarahcooley]

I love the minimalism of the Simple Collection.

[sarahcooley]

Happy June! 

1. Today is National Doughnut Day and my instagram feed has been taken over by all the doughnut photos! 

2. I’m kind of in love with all these awesome giant pegboard ideas. 

3. I am working on my productivity this month and I found these gmail hacks to be very useful.

4. New month, new phone background! Here are a few great options from Cocorrina.

5. We’re having a sale on the whole Gift section at Simply Curated, 40% off till monday with the code “summerblowout”

6. This cozy bed was the most repinned item from my Pinterest boards this week. While the image is lovely sadly I cannot give credit because searching for it lead me to a virus :(

[sarahcooley]

Lately on Instagram

[sarahcooley]

Our Favorite Note Pads

I will always love notepads! My desk always has two or three notepads on it at any given time. Here are some of my favorite notepads in the shop currently. 

1. Palm Triangle Notepad - This was one of the first notepads I bought for the shop. If you know me, you know I’m obsessed with triangles so triangles + notepad was a win/win! 

2. Do Something Awesome - This notepad is from Moglea and EVERY SINGLE PAGE is letterpress printed with this inspirational saying! We also have ones that say Seize the Day. 

3. Mini Jotter - For those of you who like a smaller notepad this mini jotter is perfect for you. It’s slightly taller than a post-it but still won’t take up too much room on your desk. 

4. Oil Pastel Notepad - I love this notepad for it’s vibrant border but also because it has a place for you to put the subject and the date. 

5. Triangle Mountain Weekly Planner - And finally the biggest notepad of them all! This notepad is a hybrid notepad/planner. I never could commit to a real planner but this lets you keep all your to-do’s for the week together in one place that you can view at a glance. 

We have more notepads (as per my obsession) over in the Notepad/Notebook section of the online shop. Check it out! 

[sarahcooley]

Happy Friday! Here’s a quick roundup of what I was reading, doing and loving this week. 

1. I’ve become obsessed with all thinks cropped! This two-piece dress from Black Halo is on the top of my wish-list. 

2. This beautiful ampersand was made with foliage and sun paper, how cool is that! 

3. Everygirl shows us three ways to style a desk, great inspiration for all the new grads trying to get organized for their new careers. 

4. Design Sponge has a great DIY tutorial for these fabric buckets. 

5. Our candles were featured on Victoria McGinley’s discoveries this week. She did a great round up with lots of other treasures. 

6. Lastly, it’s finally Peony season! Are you excited? I certainly am! 

I’m headed back to NYC this week for the National Stationery Show and my younger sister’s NYU graduation! I’ll be posting finds from the show on our shop instagram. Follow along and you can help decide what we buy for the new season. 

[sarahcooley]

I'm loving this copper/pinkish beige tone lately. I'm coining it "The new Pink"

[sarahcooley]

What does modesty mean to you?

A while back I started a Pinterest board called Modest Fashion. It quickly became my most followed fashion board. This surprised me but I couldn’t exactly identify why. 

I grew up in a pretty conservative household and I’ve always been conscious of how I dress, how much skin I’m showing, etc. To some people dressing modestly has to do with their religion or some kind of outward regulation they are following, to others it’s just a style choice. 

I’d love to know what modest means to you, and do you consider the way you dress as modest? 

[sarahcooley]

Lately on Instagram

We’ve been busy over here lately. Here’s just a snapshot of what’s been going on over on Instagram. 

[sarahcooley]

Gifts for Mom

I was always partial to gifts that included a few mini gifts. Here are some of my current favorites that you could add to a gift basket for Mom this Mother’s Day. 

1. Porcelain Gold Feather Ring Bowl - Redraven Studios's Porcelain Gold Feather Ring Bowl is a beautiful embellishment for Mom’s dresser and a great way to keep track of all our rings and earrings (especially all the ones you’ve given her over the years). 

2. Nourish Facial Serum - Made with a blend of highly concentrated organic oils, Rosehip, Chia Seed CO2,  and Jojoba,  this facial serum absorbs quickly and leaves skin extremely soft, thoroughly hydrated, and truly nourished. A little will go a long way and this bottle will last and last.

3. Olio E Osso Lip Balm - These balms are locally produced in Portland, Oregon by hand in small batches using naturally sourced and minimally processed ingredients. Each balm has an all natural base that utilizes the time honored nourishing properties of olive and shea oils bound together with natural beeswax and grapefruit essential oil.  

4. Detox Dead Sea Bath Salts - Formulated to detoxify the body and clear the mind these salts include a blend of lavender and eucalyptus essential oils along with highly detoxifying Cambrian Blue clay.  

5. Baggu Small Leather Pouch - We love these leather zip pouches! They are the perfect size to keep money, lip balm and keys from getting lost in your purse. 

6. Tea Tree & Oatmeal Soap - This gentile soap is perfect for Mom. It’s fragrance-free and has just a touch of honey. Made in small batches by hand in Brooklyn. 

7. Simply Curated Travel Candle - Of course the perfect addition to a gift basket is our Soy Travel Candle. We’ve poured our signature soy candle into a chic gold travel tin so Mom can take a little bit of home with her wherever she goes.

[sarahcooley]

Still in love with the photo shoot we did a while back.

[sarahcooley]

Grown-up gifts for guys

We love the guys in our life, but sometimes it can feel impossible to shop for them! Here are a few gift ideas for the guy in your life that all fit the grown-up bill. These are great housewarming gifts, birthday or anniversary gifts!

1. Lostine cutting board - These bespoke cutting boards are hewn from maple and white oak, then finished in a rich food-safe oil. Crafted from soft hand-tooled saddle leather, the loops on each board are anchored by metal hardware to hang when not in use - functional, custom art for the kitchen made by hand in Philadelphia.

2. The Greater Goods Mechanic Soap - We love this bar soap made with activated charcoal to help remove toxins and impurities from the skin, it also has a little grit to get the job done. Made locally in Brooklyn.

3. Leather Catch-all - These awesome catch-alls come in 3 sizes and are handmade right here in Grand Rapids, MI. Use them to store your keys, change, and whatever else you need to keep neat. Each catch-all is made with oil-tanned leather and features a colorful suede interior. Gunmetal snaps at each corner fasten to create the form; unsnap for flat storage.

4. Reed Wilson Coasters - No matter where you guys is from there is a coaster for him! East Coast, West Coast, North Coast and the Gulf Coast are all represented. This is also a great gift for couples who are from different places, I like to get a set from each coast that they represent.

[sarahcooley]

Our Kickstarter campaign has reach it's funding goal with 7 days to go! So we've added these two new patterns as a stretch goal! 

If you haven't checked out the Kickstarter yet, head over to the page to take a look at our awesome rewards! 

They make great holiday gifts! 

[sarahcooley]

Moving to Michigan

I'm excited to announce that I'm moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

As a native New Yorker, the decision to move ANYWHERE else is not one that's made easily. The move is the best decision for Simply Curated at this point. I've signed a lease on a studio space for candle production, storage, and shipping. 

I'm excited for this next chapter of the company and my life. I'm also excited to join the vibrant community of Western Michigan makers and small business owners. 

[sarahcooley]

Our first collection of original designs is LIVE on Kickstarter! 

We would love it if you would take a look at our project and share it with the one friend you have who LOVES candles!