We are just coming up for air from the winter gift show at the Americasmart in Atlanta. It is the biggest gift show in the country, one of the biggest in the world, covering three city blocks in buildings up to eighteen stories high.

It’s big.

Really big.

And there is a lot to see.

We have a very specific look for the store. Everything is design driven, often brightly colored, often made of interesting materials. We can relax the rules a little for the web site, but not much. Subsequently there is far more stuff at the Atlanta Gift Show that we wouldn’t carry.

Too whimsical.

 

Too cute.

 

Too traditional.

 

Too rustic.

 

Too tropical.

 

Too Halloween.

 

Too Easter.

 

Too angelic.

 

Too goosey.

 

Too dotty.

 

But if you can take the time to plow through all the stuff that isn’t right for your particular retail establishment you can find stuff that certainly is. And we certainly did take the time. And we certainly did find stuff for us.

   

Lots of new iPhone accessories. Cool cases with different inner sleeves that can be changed out to alternate colors. Bamboo and wooden cases. Retractable earbuds with magnetic clips; so much more practical than the ones the phone comes with. Portable mini speakers; great for anywhere you need a little extra volume.

The trees with birds we had last fall but they sold out so quickly most of you probably never saw them. This year we will order plenty more of them. And the Christmas trees are made by the same company that made the penguins and nordic trees we had last year; a slightly different look but still that simple, slot together style that we love.

 

Beautiful fishy sculptures. Comes in a small box so it’s easy to take home, or to ship. We ordered a bird one too but the picture didn’t come out very well.

 

Lovely peacock and owl designs on the vinyl wallets we’ve been carrying for a few years. They have an especially good selection of new designs this year. We also ordered a great new line of super slim, plain wallets in leather that will be great for people who don’t want something so decorative.

 

   

We have a really hard time finding outdoor stuff that fits with our look but we loved these copper birdbaths that come in two finishes and two sizes. They come in a relatively small box too which makes them easy to take home. Always something we have to think about given that so many of our customers are tourists. And the mini firepits are my favorite thing we found at the show. They all burn an environmentally friendly, smoke free gel so can be used indoors or out. They are perfect for small areas like balconies and decks, and come in several designs, finishes and colors. And they are really nicely boxed and will retail for less than $100 making them a fantastic wedding or housewarming gift. Love.

 

We did really well with wall decals last year but most of the designs we carried are geared toward kids so we were excited to find this line of decals that has a lot more adult, urban and unusual designs to choose from. And they have ones that can go on windows (like the one in the middle with the cat and the birds) which are really fun.

OK, a little more cutesy than we usually go for but we couldn’t resist these adorable baby outfits. They come in firefighter, ballerina, pilot, chef, doctor and baseball player and will make fantastic baby gifts, especially around Haloween. Look out for those on the web site.

So, despite all the traditional, whimsical, cute, rustic and tropical stuff that doesn’t work for us we were able to find lots of cool new things for 2012 at Atlanta. Now we have a few days R&R and then we go to Orlando for a show that is all handmade products from the US. It’s a tiny show that we’ll be able to do in one day, but we know that a much higher proportion of the products will be just right for us. And we found some excellent artists there last year so we are excited to to go back. Check back sometime next week for an update on what we found there and what you can expect to find at id in Provincetown and at swell247.com this summer.