Etspiration Wednesday: Mother's Day

I know, I'm a little early with a post about Mother's Day.  But there's a reason!  My sister called me late last week and said, "You know, Mother's Day is this weekend."  To which I replied, "WHAT?"  I had plans of course (I'm a good daughter, if a wee bit of a procrastinator), but nothing done yet.  Nothing to get in the mail (and geez is our mail slow up here) in time for a Mother's Day as determined by Laura.

"That can't be right!"  I exclaimed.  She assured me it was.  I hung up the phone and started searching the internet like a headless chicken.  Well, a quick look at my calendar informed me that Mother's Day was not so soon and I still had time.  But clearly, I had to get my rear in gear with regard to a present for our Mom.

I realized around that time that it would be a good opportunity to do an Etspiration for Mother's Day.  I started tooling around Etsy for, you know, stuff about moms.  Mugs with the word "Mom" on them and the like.  Then it occurred to me; why not do an Etspiration about our mom?  She's certainly the mom I know best.

So here you have it, a tour of Etsy inspired by the maman de la maison!

1A:  Finnish Flag Pillow Image Courtesy Mazizmuse
1B:  Suomi Finnish Squirrel Pillow Image Courtesy TouchWoodDesign
1C:  Sisu Wood Sign Image Courtesy Banished
1D:  Finland Roots Print Image Courtesy MyRoots



The first thing you have to know about our mom is that she's Finnish.  Like most Americans, she's a lot of other things, but she would tell you that her Finnish bits are the best bits.  She's very proud of her Finnish heritage and every since we were little, she talked to us about Sisu.  Sisu is one of those cultural words like "umami" or "chutzpah."  Most reference books define it as sort of an iron determination, an unwillingness to give up.  I think I'd wager that having a little sisu makes you a strong person because of adversity, not in spite of it.  I know my mom's got it in spades.

So here are some fab Finn related items from Etsy.  I'm in love with the squirrel pillow in image 1B.  TouchWoodDesign makes pillows like that for dozens of different nations and they are all amazing.

2A:  Costa Rica Fair Trade Coffee Image Courtesy RedRoosterCoffee
2B:  Black Cow Coffee Tin Image Courtesy VintageHardware
2C:  Minnesota Coffee Mug Image Courtesy DailyGrinder
2D:  Queen Of Everything Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils


Our next stop on the mom tour is coffee.  Our mom is a coffee fanatic.  It has to be strong and there has to be a lot of it.  Our dad always complained that you could fill the cracks in our driveway with mom's coffee.  Isn't the Minnesota coffee mug in image 2C neat?  That's where our family emigrated to after leaving Finland.

3A:   Queen Bee Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
3B:  Cookies and Cream Fudge Image Courtesy Jewelofthelion 
3C:  Mum Pillow Set Image Courtesy Annakrycz


A word on cookies and cream.  When I was little, my mom used to always tell me she invented cookies and cream ice cream.  She would crumble up Oreos on vanilla ice cream and voila, cookies and cream.  Now, this was back in the early 50s, so who am I to say?  Maybe she did invent the flavor!  All I know for sure is that cookies and cream fudge sounds amazing!

4A:  Vintage Oscillating Fan Image Courtesy AffordableAdornment
4B:  Mother Definition Stencil Image Courtesy Maisondestencils
4C:  Vintage Bauer Bowl Image Courtesy WhereSourGrassGrows

As a child of the 40s and 50s, my mom grew up with the heavies.  Chrome fendered cars.  White porcelain Wedgewood stoves.  Rotary dialing Bakelite telephones.  Trends have come and gone and she has seen almost every item from her childhood swing back into style for home decor.  She loves collecting all these relics from the past and has shared some of them with me for my own home.  I have a great Bauer bowl like this that sits on my kitchen table.  Unless you go artisan (which you can on Etsy) you just can't find pottery like this anymore.


Thanks to our Etsy sellers for use of their images.  This collection was a blast to compile and I hope that you and your mom's have a wonderful Mother's Day.  On its rightful day.  May 13th.