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Mother’s Day What May Come

5.04.2020

We’re counting down to Mother’s Day here at Elūm. With stay at home mandates still in place across much of the country, many of us won’t be able to celebrate in person with our moms this year. According to the National Retail Federation, two-thirds of Americans are planning some kind of virtual celebration with their moms. We’ll be face-timing, zooming, texting and calling: doing whatever we can to let Mom know how much we love and appreciate her.

Moms have never been busier. Home schooling, cooking, cleaning, working from home, caring for the family: moms are working harder than ever. Our moms deserve to be treasured and spoiled, but with some of the most popular Mother’s Day treats off the table—dining out, big family get-togethers, spa days—we need to get creative. That’s why we’ve come up with our Mother’s Day Come What May Guide. Nothing is going to stop us from celebrating our strong and amazing moms this May 10!

 

Card Love.

Thanks to the US Post we can continue to send and receive cards in the post so we can still surprise Mom when she goes to the mailbox. Stock up on our adorable Mother’s Day cards and take a moment to write something special inside. A handwritten note is a powerful way to connect when we’re physically apart. “Mom, I may not be able to see you in person this year, but I’ve never felt closer to you or loved you more. You are my rock. Love, Jess.” #MomsLoveCards

 

Flower Power.

There’s a reason why flowers make the classic Mother’s Day gift. They come delivered to Mom’s door, bringing all the colors and scents of the season with them. Spoil Mom with flowers that delight her senses.  Red and pink carnations say “I miss you” in flower language along with dreamy peach roses. Surprise Mom by sending her a fragrant bouquet of her favorite flowers. Or do a little detective work and discover what flowers were in Mom’s high-school prom corsage and ask your local florist to reproduce them in a bouquet. #MomsLoveOldSchool

 

Dinner & A Date.

If Mom lives within driving distance, why not surprise her with a home-cooked meal left on her doorstep? Better still, make two identical meals (lasagne would be perfect for this), drop one outside her doorstep with instructions when to put it in the oven and then share a virtual dinner date with mom using Zoom. If Mom lives farther away send both mom and yourself identical food baskets and open and explore the contents together with mom and the kids over Zoom. #MomsLoveDinner

 

Song & Dance.

If you have kids who like to sing or play instruments, how about putting on a virtual concert for Mom? Maybe the little ones could dance for her. Or how about the entire family staging a fun play in the living room which Mom could watch remotely? You can download family friendly play scripts here. If you prefer something more low key, how about a family movie night? Apps like Kast and Watch2Gether enable you to share movie night with mom no matter how far apart you are. #MomsLoveFun

 

A Gift For All Seasons.

Moms are the goodwill ambassadors of family occasions. They know everyone’s birthdays and wedding dates. They know when nephews are graduating college, the due date for family babies, and exactly how much each grand-baby weighs when they arrive! Moms are living breathing databases of family lore. They send the cards that mark family milestones. Give Mom an

Elūm Letterpress Greeting Card Subscription and she’ll always have our beautiful and award winning cards on hand to send to family and friends throughout the year. #MomsLoveToGive

 

Give Mom A Break.

It’s a stressful time for moms everywhere. With the kids home moms are working harder than ever to provide a sense of structure and normality to family life. Sometimes moms just need a break. Have the kids make breakfast for Mom (and clean up the kitchen afterwards!) and then have Dad take the kids for a walk around the neighborhood so Mom can have some much deserved me-time. Make Mom a little care package of bath salts, a sheet mask, and chamomile tea (or a bottle of wine!) so she can enjoy a warm relaxing bath. Later, look into what local restaurants are open for delivery and order a delicious family meal. Eat party-style on paper plates so there’s no cleaning up! #MomsLoveBubbles

 These are some of the ways we’re planning on celebrating our moms and all the amazing women in our lives this year. What are you planning for Mom on her big day? We’d love to know!

 

Elūm Valentine

1.30.2020

We are hopeful romantics here at Elūm. We believe in red roses, tender kisses, long or short engagements, shared dreams, shared lives and true love. We’d like to hold a big Greek wedding where everyone gets to catch the bouquet. We believe that everyone, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation deserves to be loved and treasured and that with the right person, every day can be Valentine’s Day. It’s in the small everyday acts—cooking dinner, exchanging texts, a hand on the small of our backs as we walk through a door—that true love truly shines. Valentine’s Day allows us to shout at the top of our voices “You are my one and only!” We’re down with that. And lucky for you we are professional celebrationistas (totally a word, right?) who are here to help you slay it on the big day. Read on to discover our Valentine’s dreams.

Our offices in San Diego are an hour’s drive from the World’s Avocado Capital in Fallbrook California so you know we’re going to combine our love of avocados with our love of Valentine’s. Our Truly Avo Half Card is wholly guacamole and packed with heart-healthy nutrients. Now if we could just get a side of toast!

Is there anything more romantic than camping under the stars? A camper van, a campfire, a soft blanket and you. We’ll lie side by side, holding hands, watching the Milky Way. If we’re lucky we’ll see a shooting star and make a wish. Our wish would be to stay forever in this moment with you. We created Our Binge Watching Stars Card to capture all the infinite possibilities of a night sky and two people in love.

 

You don’t have to be a unicorn to be magical. Hedgehogs manage it without rainbows or spirally horns. Hedgehogs are so extra they even have their own cafe. It’s in Tokyo which is a long way to travel for Valentine’s. However we thought we’d create our very own hedgehog hug right here at home. And here’s how we know hedgehogs are magical: When they blow bubbles they turn into hearts. #HedgeHearts

 

If your partner believes the most awesome sauce is soy sauce, that rice was made to be sticky and life has no meaning without wasabi, then our Sushi Cuddles Card is for you. Reserve a table at his or her favorite sushi place this Valentine’s, grab an Uber, don’t tell your love where you’re headed, and then hand them this card halfway. Sushi surprise! That’s how we roll in California. #CaliforniaRoll

We like to think of our Valentine Kits as slam dunks. They are everything you need to spread the love far and wide this Valentine’s. With twenty-four cards in each kit and twenty-four adorable favors, you can send a Hundo P cuteness to teachers, coworkers, family members and just about anyone who catches your fancy.  Our kits come in Football, Space, Wildlife and other fun and delightful themes. You can pick them up at your local TjMaxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods. #ValentineInABox

Warning: Receipt of this card does not guarantee its sender will actually be wearing fancy undies. She reserves the right to switch them out for granny pants without notice.

Now we’ve got the legals out of the way, let’s not forget that Valentine’s Day extends all the way to Valentine’s Night. #OohLaLa

We celebrate Gay pride, facial hair and love here at Elūm! We are pro ‘tache. And will defend your right to sport a ‘tache even when you’re drinking a foamy mug of beer (though we may hand you a napkin when you’re done!). We believe in inclusion and fusion and everything that brings us closer together not farther apart. And we proudly design, create and print cards that celebrate all the milestones of same sex love.

Is your honey glued to her phone? Is your bae beside himself when the wifi’s down? If so you may need a Valentine’s card that speaks their language. It’s a special language, first spoken by engineers in Sweden. It’s called Bluetooth. You may have heard of it. This year we’ve created a card that translates Bluetooth into the universal language of love. #TakeThatShakespeare

Okay, we admit it. We’re artists and designers, not writers. We get blushy and tongue-tied when it comes to love. Barry White helps. He wrote the romance playbook: Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Baby, Just The Way You Are, You’re My First, My Last, My Everything. If you’re like us, however, and have something to tell your loved one but can’t seem to find the right words to say it, our No Words Valentine can help. Because sometimes love is as infinite as the stars and to write it down is to lessen it. #BigLoveNoWords

I told you we’re romantics! How do you plan on showing your love this Valentine’s?

Guide to Man-gifting

12.18.2019

Let’s hear it for the boys! We received such a great response from our Girlfriend’s Guide To Gifting we knew we had to turn the tables and tackle Man-Gifting next. We ❤️our guys! Brothers, baes, dads, coworkers, coconspirators and exes who slid into the friend-zone: you are on our Christmas list. We are celebrating the strong, inspiring, smart, funny, goofy, dad-jean-wearing men in our lives with our Elum Guide To Man-Gifting. Read on to discover what we’re giving our guy crew this Holiday Season.

I’m With The Band

He played in a band in college, brings his guitar to backyard bbqs, and has held onto his vinyl record collection for so long that it’s now hip again. He’s our I’m With The Band guy and we love him because he’s a musician and a dreamer and the last of the mix tape makers. We’re giving our music man a Crosley Portable Record Player so he can take the party with him wherever he goes, the gorgeous 10th Anniversary Edition of Led Zeppelin When Giants Walked The Earth, and a little gold dust with our very own California Foil Letterpress Art Print. #LetTheMusicPlay

The Honey Do-er

We all need a Honey Do-er in our lives. Who else is going to help us put up the bathroom shelves, switch out the fan belt in our car and haul eighty pounds of Saltillo tiles from the hardware store? We may know our way around a fuse box here at Elum but it doesn’t stop us appreciating the Honey Do-ers in our lives. This year we’re giving them the Find Your Lost Keys Bluetooth Keychain, our Naughty But Nice Big Stick Note Bar and a Magnogrip Magnetic Wristband. He’ll never lose a key, an idea or screw ever again! #TripleWin

Top Chef

We love our Chef because he feeds us! Sunday morning will find him at the farmer’s market talking hot sauce with local producers. Sunday evening will find him putting that hot sauce to good use in his made-from-scratch chili rellenos. The Chef knows that eggplant is called aubergine in England and the real way to a girl’s heart is through her taste buds. This year we are gifting our Chef with a bar of steel soap (to remove the smell of chopped onions from his hands), his very own Nanopresso Portable Expresso Maker and our Hello Sunshine Mug. What’s for dinner, hon?

The Player

Cause the player’s gonna play…his Xbox. Or Sony Playstation or Nintendo Switch. We all know a Player, right? It’s the weekend and he’s on the couch. Family size bag of Cheetos, comfy pants, Call of Duty on the console: the Player is in the zone. We love our Player because we always know where he is on Friday nights and if we ever get lost in an underground maze he’s the one who will find the way out! We are lighting up our Players this Christmas with the Pac-Man Ghost Lamp. And we are on top of our Player’s birthday in 2020 when we plan on giving him the amazing hand-cranked handheld Playdate accompanied by our adorable Gamer Birthday Card. #LeveledUp

Metro Man

Is there premium brand moisturizer in his bathroom cabinet? Is that bathroom cabinet located in a chic downtown loft? If you answer yes to both questions chances are you have a Metro Man on your hands. We love our Metro Men because they always know the hottest rez for cocktails and apps, appreciate us in our little black dresses, and can talk about anything from European economic policy to the best strain of hops for IPAs. Man smells good, looks good and talks good. We’re gifting him with one of our Greeting Card Subscriptions because you know he likes to keep on top of birthdays and celebrations, a bottle of ten year Talisker Whiskey because single malt is where it’s at, baby, and an ultra cool urban backpack.

Dad

No one loves you like your Dad. He cheered you through all your soccer matches and gave the world’s most effective stink eye to your prom date. You’ll always be his princess and he’ll always be your dad. We know if we ask Dad what he wants for Christmas or Hanukkah he’ll say, “Nothing. You being here is enough.” but we’re rolling the ball anyway! We’re keeping it simple, delicious and heartfelt. We’re giving him Goldbelly’s famous BBQ Box Subscription so he can have his #1 favorite food throughout the year, a monthly membership to the Beer Club and our Louie Award Winning You’re All That Card because Dad. Is. All. That. #LoveYouPops

 


Happy Holidays to the incredible supportive and inspiring men in our lives. Our Elum family wishes your family the warmest, snowiest, coziest, most wonderful Christmas ever. See you in 2020! Love, Elum. XXX

Girlfriend’s Guide To Gifting

12.16.2019

The Holiday Season is in full swing. We are eggnogging and tree-trimming, decking the halls and making merry under the mistletoe. Our Holiday goals are sorted. Our gingerbread house is open for business, our ugly Christmas sweaters are good to go and we have enough Bailey’s Irish Cream to float a boat. The only thing left on our Christmas List is Holiday gifting. We’re Elum and gift giving is our name and gift wrapping is our game. So we put our heads together and came up with our Girlfriend’s Guide To Gifting. Sister a princess? We’ve got you covered. Bestie never leaves the house without her selfie stick? We know exactly what she needs! We believe in celebrating the powerful, amazing, funny and unique women in our lives. Read on to see what we’re giving our girl crew this season.

Instagal

We all know this girl. She’s the one who makes us wait to eat our appetizers until she’s taken the perfect foodporn pic. If you tease her about over-sharing, she’ll start counting out loud on her fingers. “Moonstruck, Burlesque, Witches of Eastwick. You’re right I have been watching too much Cher.” We love our Instagal because she believes everyone has the right to be Photoshopped and is smart enough to know her own worth. Light up her life with a Fotodiox Selfie Vlog Pro Ring Light and help her coffee stay as social as her media with our adorable Doggie Social Ceramic Mug.

Bougie Babe

Uptown girl living in an uptown world? We know a couple of those! We love our Bougie Babes because when they receive invites to the best places in town they let us tag along. And if you happen to be in her bedroom when a Bougie Babe is clearing out her closest she’ll think nothing of giving you some TLC (Tom Ford, Louboutin, Chanel). Help your girl stay on point with our luxe and blingy Go Get ‘Em Tiger List Pad and her very own Bougie Babe Tee.

Homegirl

There’s no place like home. Who needs to go out when you can Doordash, Netflix and chill? We love our homies because PJs are their dress code and they never say no to wine in a box. Our Homegirls remind us to keep things simple in an increasingly cray-cray world. Help your Homegirl get her cozy on with an extra fluffy throw blanket and our beautiful Floral Lustre Exposed Bound Journal. A cup of hot chocolate, White Christmas on her playlist, and she’s good to go.

The Foodie

If it wasn’t for our foodie friends we would never have tried sous vide steak sashimi or made our very own radish kimchi. The Foodie always knows the chef at the hottest pop-up restaurant, and can tell us instantly what wine to serve with our chicken enchiladas (Champagne, who knew?) and why our cookies turned out so dry (too long in the oven, duh!). As Julia Child once said, “People who love to eat are the best people.” We love our foodies and plan on keeping them happy this Hanukkah with the one and only Sriracha Keychain and our Subtle Gems Weekly Eats.

Earth Mamma

No one gives hugs like Earth Mamma. You cannot leave her house without a week’s supply of chicken soup and some homegrown truths about the guy who ghosted you on Snapchat. She burned sage to purify your college dorm room after your toxic roomie moved out, and believes in you like no one else. We’re giving the Earth Mammas in our lives our Greeting Card Subscription Boxes this Christmas. They love celebrating others and we love celebrating them! #WinWin Click here to learn more about our greeting card subscription service!

Crafty Chick

She knits, she scrapbooks, she upholsters her own furniture: she’s the Crafty Chick and if you ever need help stenciling your dining room walls or building a shadow box to house your Backstreet Boys memorabilia she’s there with her paintbrush and tools. Girl knows how to get things done! Our Crafty Chick is a maker at heart so gift her with a charming Bees & Wildflowers Embroidery Kit and our Hi Daisy Iron On Patches. Let’s give her something to do!

Gym Bunny

She’s the one who phones us at 6am on Thanksgiving morning. “Meet me at the gym in ten. Let’s get proactive with the stuffing and gravy.” Our Gym Bunny goes everywhere in athleisure wear and will never take an elevator when a perfectly good staircase will do. We love her because she helps keeps us motivated and her butt in skinny jeans is our #1 body goal. The Fitbit Inspire in lilac will keep her looking snatched on her morning run and our Empowered Women Letterpress Art Print will let her know she inspires us every day. #YouGoGirl


Happy Holidays from all the girls (and guys!) at Elum. Here’s to friendship and family, good times and real connections, and to taking every opportunity to celebrate the strong and inspiring women in our lives.

The Gingerbread Village Guide

12.05.2019

– a little inspiration –
FOR A JOYOUS COLLABORATION

Our very own Melissa Foster is chairing a Gingerbread Village Holiday event! During the event kids come to create a “gingerbread” village for donation to a local Senior Center. This year, there will be about 100 children! This inspiration board serves to encourage the kids to try and think beyond candy canes & gumdrops. In addition, they won’t even be using gingerbread! You can also check out this Pinterest board for more decorating inspo! The structures will be made of things like Amazon boxes, cracker boxes, milk cartons and other recyclables.

This is a photo of the milk carton Melissa and her daughter used to make a tall house while testing the GGB frosting glue recipe. They had so much fun poking through the pantry to see what they could use. And to top it off, they bought NOTHING! (well, except the meringue powder for frosting— who has that?!).

Swap Sweet for Savory!

Nuts, crackers, beans, chips, granola bars, and other earthy-colored savory snacks create the texture and warmth of age-old architecture. Rustic cobblestones and clunky rooftops are the perfectly imperfect finish for a cozy cottage creation.

Pretzels Please!

Pretzels come in so many fun shapes & sizes, and when they all come together they scream one thing; LOG CABIN! Pair them with some bird seed and you can mimic the look of stone columns or wood burning chimneys nestled deep in the woods.

Little Shoppe of Florals!

Every village needs a local florist. Cover your shoppe in garden green for a whimsical standout look. Use pre-made cake decorating sugar flowers and watch your shoppe bloom into something truly unique for this holiday village.

For Chocolate Lovers!

Nearly every type of candy bar is covered in chocolate. Imagine the fun you can have with the different shapes, sizes and textures! Consider making it into the village library, hotel or even the local pub!

Think Outside the House!

Villages need more than just houses, so consider using alternate materials to give our village some height & shape variation. Suggestions: Taller buildings, chapels, retail spaces, a fire house, ice skating rink, or even row house apartments (to name just a few). You can also use different building recyclable materials other than gingerbread like milk cartons or cardboard boxes!

Trees Set the Tone!

Whether you decorate them or leave them with just a dusting of snow, the trees surrounding your structure make a the holiday season sing. Here are inspirational techniques on expert tree-making.

All the Little Things!

The details MAKE the design. And let’s face it, not EVERYONE can be working on the main structure at once, so have some of your fellow TI class members work on those little added extras that make a HUGE difference.

 

That Holiday Glow!

Maybe it’s the village beauty parlor or the local ice cream shoppe? You can use some glitz and non-traditional colors to create a wow-factor in our holiday village. Sparkly metallics, strictly pastels, or even bold bright neons create a burst of utter glee by incorporating the use of materials such as metallic sprinkles, shiny beads, craft glitter, and metallic coated candies.

Up on the Roof Top! (and the siding)

Everything from chewing gum, sour ribbons, sprinkles, and good ‘ol Eggo waffles can be used to coat the surfaces of your roof top and/ or siding. Here are some images to get your creative ideas flowing.

Get Cozy

10.24.2019

Daylight Savings is ending and Fall is here. Crisp mornings, leaves turning, the Holiday Season in our sights: it’s time to bundle up in chunky sweaters, pop marshmallows into our hot chocolate and embrace the cozy. Nothing says fall like a crackling fire, a comfy chair, a plush throw and a romantic movie. Summer can be full of wonderful moments and experiences, but Fall is special. Fall is all about family and comfort. Join us on our search for the coziest, toastiest, dreamiest, creamiest Fall Favorites. We are elum and we believe in sharing hazelnut lattes with friends, butternut squash as a food group, bookclubs, red wine, pinecones and kindness. We are all about the Fall! #WallOfFall

First Things First: Fire

No chimney? No problem. No fireplace? No worries. Today’s advances in coziology (the technology of coziness—yep, we made it up!) mean that we don’t need to own a log cabin or even a house to enjoy the glow of a fire. We can cozy-up an urban loft, an apartment in the city or any room in our home with an electric fireplace. These babies are plug and play. Turn down the lights, click the remote and enjoy gently rolling flames and a toasty glow. We love this infrared electric stove from Duraflame. Seriously, these guys know fire! Flames flicker, logs smolder, warmth radiates. We’d have one in every color if we could.

Second To No One: The Hot Beverage


We like a hot beverage as much—if not more—than the next person. In fact we love tea and coffee so much we’ve just introduced our very first line of ceramic mugs. We are christening them with delectable chai lattes, hot cocoa made-from-scratch and wickedly good hot toddies. We made our mugs just the way we like them: generously sized and easy on the eye! We cannot possibly comment on whether or not these words also describe our design team! Nope. Our lips are sealed. #elummugshots

Chairman Of The Board

Plush upholstery, rose-colored velvet and room enough for two: welcome to our dream chair, the perfectly named Swagamuffin. It’s made by the British company Loaf and we rate our chances of getting our hands on one as pretty low. But we’re nothing if not dreamers here at elum. We’re picturing our Adulting Mug filled with Irish coffee, a crackling fire and this chair. Yeah, baby! That’s right. We have now officially entered the Cozy Zone. Cue the music, DJ!

Let The Music Play

How do we love thee, Barry White? Let us count the ways. One, you traveled everywhere with your own forty-two piece orchestra. Two, you knew that true love is always unlimited. Three, you are still the man! Your grooves sound as good today as they did twenty years ago. If we’re sitting in a big chair getting cozy with our bae you are the number one artist on our list. #barryforever

We Want What She’s Having


Slut’s Spaghetti is Nigella Lawson’s equivalent of the Italian dish, Puttanesca (puttanesca is Italian for prostitute). It’s quick, easy-to-make and uses ingredients most of us have in our pantries: spaghetti, canned tomatoes, chili flakes and garlic. Cozy for us is one pan dishes: macaroni and cheese, chicken and dumplings, Chinese hot pot. Food that you need a bowl and spoon for. Soup, chilli, pad thai, sticky toffee pudding and custard. We’re still waiting for a chef to invent a cozy salad!

When Harry Met Sally And Emilia Met Henry

You know by now we’re card-carrying, rose-petal-strewing romantic fools, right? If there’s anything we love more than a blank page and a set of colored pencils, it’s a romantic movie. What’s not to like? Boy and girl (or girl and girl, or boy and boy) meet cute, fall in love, hit an insurmountable obstacle, break up, surmount the insurmountable obstacle, get back together and live happily ever after. We love the classics and eagerly await the new crop of rom-coms the season brings. Our Khaleesi as a Holiday Elf who falls in love with dishy doctor? You betcha we are there!

Throw Away The Key


Okay, so we have fire, hot toddies, a comfy chair and our food-in-a-bowl. The only thing left to complete our cozy kingdom is a soft and snuggly throw. I think we all know that what happens beneath the blanket stays beneath the blanket. If you want to snooze, cuddle, bundle into a one-woman cocoon or stage a two person puppet show, we ain’t talking. We just want to make sure you’re comfy, warm and color-coordinated. Lucky for us, Anthropologie has these soft, faux-fur beauties that hit the spot. Carressable clouds of cover: we are in!


We hope you enjoyed hearing about our idea of cozy. What does cozy mean to you?

Halloween Runway

10.09.2019

Pumpkins are in the building. We’re cocooning our walls in spider webs and unpacking our cauldrons. String lights shaped like bats have been strung across our corridors and random ghouls and giant spiders glower from our desks. It’s Halloween and we are ready. Our skeletons are out of the closet, and we heard that someone down in production has whipped up a potent witch’s brew! Halloween, we adore your treacherous and spooky heart! This year we thought we’d pay homage to our blog post Summer Channel Surfin’ where we picked out the best Summer shows to watch for those dreaded Game-of-Throneless days. (We all remember those sad, scary days–oh and let’s not forget about that petition that 1.7 million people signed to re-do the 8th season…) Anyways, this year we thought we’d take a look at the best costumes and costume ideas out there. Just how goofy-cute-scary-sexy can we go? Let’s find out together on our 2019 Halloween Runway Tour.

 

Naughty or Nice?

The classic angel/devil costume is a long time favorite for the ladies. Don’t worry guys, we’ve got you covered! Good Omens is the classic “switched at birth” tale with an unexpected twist when a fumbling order of Satanic nuns mix up a normal baby with Baby Antichrist. Aziraphale (the angel), has a classier dapper look as compared to his devilish counterpart Crowley, who could easily be mistaken by Ozzy Osbourne. So if people don’t recognize you as so, Ozzy is practically the next best thing!

Blessed Be The Fruit.

Next up, we can’t forget about The Handmaids Tale, this past season was kind of a stall, but we still love the show nonetheless. June, or shall we say Ofjoseph, is a #badass and we are rooting for her! Hopefully she finds the happy ending she is yearning for, but we won’t know until next season…As for the costume, take a look below at how the red outfits worn by the handmaids were designed for the show.

Hannah Montana Who?

In Netflix’s Black Mirror, Miley Cyrus slays it as pop princess Ashley O, bringing everything she knows about being a former Disney icon to the table. This one’s for all our festival girls out there! All you need to complete this look are those metallic booty shorts you wore to Electric Zoo, a white crop top, and to top it off, pop on a purple wig from Amazon and VOILA.

Have You Been to the Upside Down?

Last, but not least on our TV costume tour, Eleven from stranger things. This one is easy and all the items can be found in your closet…and the freezer. You can also find most items you need for Joyce and Barb right in your closet. Might have to pick up some Mom jeans to be Barb though..

And if TV isn’t your thing, we’ve got plenty of other choices for you that are always a win in our book. Whether it’s cute, scary, or funny, there’s something for everyone!

Lions and Fairies and Delivery Men, Oh My!

We cannot even. The cuteness is killing us! Our very own darling Lion King, the perfect pumpkin fairy, and the doggie in the brown and tan shirt. If dressing up toddlers and pups was a full-time job we’d be first in-line with our resumés. Trends for kids this season follow the year’s breakout movies: Lion King, Toy Story 4, Aladdin, and Spider Man: Far From Home. Get your superhero on, kids!

Hello, Gorgeous!

To use The Bachelor terminology, sometimes you just wanna spend the night in the Fantasy Suite. No questions asked. You want to feel pretty and sparkly. It’s possible you may develop the sudden need to wear thigh-highs and a hat. Whether it’s a flirty Minnine Mouse, a dashing Prince Charming or a Marie Antoninette whose skirt shrunk in the wash we stand behind your right to feel drop dead gorge. #hellapretty 

Keepin’ It Classy, San Diego

Some Halloweens you just need to go there, right? Enough of the cutesy and adorable. You just want to put it out there—whatever “It” is! Ticked off princess with hairy legs? We got you covered. Orange is the New Black kinda day? We got your back. The most excellent news anchorman of all time with the ‘tache and polyester suit to prove it? We’re Elūm and San Diego is where we’ve chosen to make our stand. If you’re considering channeling our city’s favorite fictional son, Ron Burgundy, we are in!

You’re The One That I Want

There is no other day of the year besides Halloween where it is socially acceptable to play couples dress up. For this reason alone, we say go for it! Be the pepper to his salt, the Jay Z to her Beyonce, the Catwoman to his Batman. We are adoring this Robin & Steve Scoops Ahoy duo from Stranger Things, and you can never go wrong with Beauty & The Beast (as long as you make clear early on that you’re the beauty half of this operation!). If you’re looking to kick it up a notch go old-school Sandy in skintight black hanging on the arm of the original bad boy, Danny Z.

For The Night Is Dark And Full Of Terrors

Halloween is the day we remember the dead and banish the evil forces that lurk in the shadows and walk the earth in the darkest hours after midnight. Let us not go gently into battle. Let us arm ourselves as Demons Nuns and Evil Clowns and that most terrifying of beings: the Zombie Prom Queen. Quick, someone fetch her sash or she is not gonna be happy. Nothing scarier than a high school hissy fit!

Sexy Beast

A little Goth never hurt anyone, right? An undead girl scout, a glow-in-the-dark skeleton, and a little red devil are just some of the naughty but nice offerings from California-cool-girl label Dolls Kill. We love their bad-girl aesthetic and their inclusive “we welcome all sizes and body types” ethos. #yougodolls

Pretty In Pink

We are crushing on pink costumes this Halloween. Pink is playful, sweet, cute and charming. It never takes itself too seriously and is always up for fun. Whether you’re a fluffy honey bun, a donut with sprinkles or Glinda the Good Witch you’ll bring a smile to everyone’s face if you’re channeling p-i-n-k.

Whether you’re trick-or-treating, monster mashing with the girls or apple dunking with the fam, we wish you a horrendously haute Halloween, full of sweet treats, headless horsemen, happy kidlets and pumpkin spice. We believe in sprinkles and dress-up, good witches and bad fairies and expressing ourselves. Any day where you can walk around the neighborhood dressed as a superhero works for us! Halloween marks the start of Holiday Season and we cannot tell you how happy this makes us.

What are your dress up plans this Halloween? We are dying to know!

Picnic Posse

8.14.2019

Family and friends are sitting around a picnic table on the shore of a crystal blue lake. The sun is shining. On a blanket spread atop the table is a feast of delicious finger foods: mini empanadas, thai chicken skewers, bacon-wrapped asparagus and cheddar cheese popovers. The wine is chilling in the ice, the kids are playing tag. You’re enjoying that deliciously dreamy summer pastime: the picnic. Any second soon, your golden retriever will bounce on the table and steal the kids’ hot dogs, a swarm of honey bees will make a beeline for the strawberry shortcake, a gust of wind will blow all the napkins into the lake, and out of nowhere rainclouds will appear and it will start to pour. Welcome to that fun and fearless free-for-all: the great American picnic! #outdoorlivin

Picnics are as much a part of summer as fireworks on the Fourth, damp beach towels in the back of the car, and whipped cream and apple pie. We love them so much here at Elūm we formed our very own picnic posse to share our path to picnic perfection!

1. PIQUE UNE NICHE.

That’s French for “pick a place” which is how picnics got their name. Picnics are all about location, location, location. Do you want sand and sea? Flowers, forests, or fields? Research what’s close by. Most cities have amazing parks and waterways just waiting to be explored. If you’re heading to the beach, don’t forget to bring a kickin’ beach umbrella. If you’re in a park you can usually find shade beneath the trees or under a pavilion, however sun at the beach can be relentless unless you’re packing cover. And no matter where we’re heading, we always keep it stylish and shady in a cool western-style hat.

2. MENU PLANNING.

We might not think a thousand year old mathematician has much to teach us about planning a picnic menu, but we’d be wrong. Turns out Omar Khayyam was the Martha Stewart of his day and his advice on what to pack for a picnic is still right on the money: “A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.” Omar is telling us to keep it simple. You can’t go wrong with a crusty French baguette, a selection of cheese and cured meats, fresh tomatoes and crisp white wine. Just ask @gilliehouston whose Instagram feed is loaded with simple and delicious outdoor treats. Picnics aren’t the time or place to toss salads so precut an assortment of fresh and crunchy vegetables and a pot of lemony dip. Olives, sun dried tomatoes and marinated artichokes can provide easy luxury and zing. And cherries, pears and peaches make perfectly portable desserts.

3. SERVE WITH STYLE.

Mix and match paper plates and napkins turn picnics into parties and outdoor feasts into festivals! Lightweight, biodegradable and instagram-ready, our Sprinkle City Appetizer Plates and Bright Birthday Stripes Dinner Plates and matching napkins are picnic perfect and outdoor friendly. Check out all are outdoor and party products here. Add to the good times with a retro cooler and picnic blanket.

4. THE ESSENTIALS.

We put our heads together and came up with our definitive list of items you absolutely must take on your picnic.

Bug spray. You know you are going to need it—especially when is starts to grow dark.

Sunscreen. You know you’re going to need that, too—especially before it starts to go dark.

“Ice, ice, baby.” As we saw earlier with Omar Khayyam, picnic wisdom can be found in unlikely places, and this is where the rapper from Dallas really comes in to his own. Vanilla Ice knows the secret to picnic success. You can never have enough ice! #vanillapicnic

Corkscrew. Because even though the internet is bursting with clever hacks on how to open wine bottles without a corkscrew, we don’t really want to try them unless there’s a fire extinguisher and first aid kit close at hand. In fact, we might just bring our wine in a can.

A cutting board and knife. Well, this one is pretty self explanatory.

Wet wipes. Because someone is always going to spill something. You know who you are!

A trash bag for easy clean up.

5. FUN-DAMENTALS.

We’ve eaten, we’re enjoying our wine in a can: we are ready to play! The posse knows picnics. We know that within thirty minutes of finishing a picnic, a particular brand of lazy restlessness sets in. We want to do something….just not anything too strenuous. Giant Jenga hits the spot. Or if there’s no one in the party willing to haul fifteen pounds of wooden blocks into the wilderness, then a rousing game of Uno or a very proper round of British croquet will do the trick. And last but not least, never forget that a little Old Town Road breezing from a battery powered watermelon always makes for legendary vibes! #wateryellin

That’s our posses’s idea of picnic perfection. What’s yours?

What Moms Want Most On Mother’s Day

4.29.2019

We’re thinking about our moms here at Elum. Mother’s Day is fast approaching and we’re asking the question: What’s the best way to make Mom smile on her big day? We’ve been celebrating Mother’s Day in the US for over a hundred years. On May 12, a hundred and fifty-million of us will call home and say, “Hi, Mom!”. About a third of us will buy flowers (pink roses and carnations are our blooms of choice) and a fifth of us will take Mom to brunch or dinner, which explains why it’s Mother’s Day, not Valentines, that is the busiest day of the year for restaurants. What can we say? We love our moms! At Elum we wanted to find out what moms really want on their big day. What makes them happy? What really touches their hearts and fills them with joy? So we asked. We talked  to all the moms we know and listened (moms love it when we do that!), and are now proud to present the Six Things Moms Want Most On Mother’s Day.

Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

1. A thoughtful gesture, card or gift. Every mom we spoke to values thoughtfulness over the monetary value of a gift. Moms love a pretty card with a handwritten message inside.

“Mom, you’re always there for me. You’re my home port in every storm. Love, Jess.”
Or “Mom, you cook the best pancakes ever—tender and sweet—just like you.”

When it comes to gifts, moms really appreciate ones that are meaningful or caring: an old family photo made new again by a beautiful frame, a mom and daughter day at a local spa, their car washed, anything made by hand by their kids.

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

2. A connection. If you can’t be with Mom on Mother’s Day, call her, FaceTime or text. Moms want to hear from you! Tell her what you love most about her. Relive your memory of the family vacation to Disneyland. Make Mom laugh by letting her know you haven’t forgotten the time she burned the Thanksgiving turkey, or the time she threw your brand new jeans in the trash by mistake. Make her cry by telling her that as soon as the bell rang after your very first day at school, the one face you couldn’t wait to see at the gates was hers. Moms want to feel connected with their kids on Mother’s Day. Show her the bond of love and family is still strong.

3. A day off from “Mommy” duty. We heard this most from moms with babies and young children. Their dream Mother’s Day is a day off from cooking, cleaning and running the household. They would really appreciate sleeping in. And while they love breakfast in bed, they would love it even more if you washed up after yourselves! #keepingitreal Clean the skillet and the stovetop—and why stop there? Nothing says, “I love you, Mom” more than cleaning the entire house!

Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

4. Grandchildren. It’s a universal truth moms adore grandkids. If you have kids, this is a no-brainer. Bring your babies over to see Grandma. You don’t have to plan anything special. Bring cookie dough and sprinkles and let Mom and the kids bake cookies together. Or ask Mom what her favorite movie was when she was a child, and sit three generations of your family down on the couch and watch Black Beauty, Wizard of Oz or the Sound of Music. If you don’t have kids yet, we have a message from your mom. “What are you waiting for?”

5. Time. Mom just wants to spend time with you on Mother’s Day. We heard this answer over and over again. A beach day, family movie night, a potluck dinner, a day of shopping followed by afternoon tea: the most important thing to Mom is spending time with you. As we get busier and busier with our lives, Mother’s Day gives us the chance to slow down and appreciate the people who are most important to us. More than anything, moms want their families together on Mother’s Day

Photo by Edward Cisneros on Unsplash

Photo by Edward Cisneros on Unsplash

6. Love. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someonedeeply gives you courage.” We don’t know about you, but we’re pretty sure that Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu was thinking about how fiercely mothers love their children when he wrote that saying way back in 500 BC. No one loves us like our mom, no one protects us like our mom, no one celebrates our triumphs and takes the weight from our shoulders like our mom. Moms encourage our first smiles, hand-hold us through our first steps, bathe us thousands of times, kiss away hundreds of boo-boos, pack uncountable lunches and take all the photographs that will come back to haunt us decades later when we bring home a date.

A mom’s love is fierce, tender and everlasting. And the number one thing moms want this Mother’s Day is to feel their love is returned.