With a sea of vendors presenting their art, home décor items, clothing, jewelry, tableware, edibles, and gifts of all kinds, The One of A Kind Show in Toronto is a hand-made-lover’s dream come true. This weekend, the show wraps up its 11 day run, so I thought I’d share with you a few of my favourites to check out at the show.

“modern porcelain with a vintage beat”
 
I have a passionately Canadian love-affair with Claire Madill‘s beautifully delicate porcelain vessels. The nearly translucent reproductions of vintage mason jars take me back to days when my mother would make pickles and jam, steaming up our kitchen while filling iconic Crown mason jars with summer’s bounty. I have not yet learned the art of pickling and canning for myself, but my fondness for vintage Canadian mason jars has been brought to life by Claire’s stunning collection and I have a compulsive desire to fill my home with them. One of each, please! 

BREED KNITTING | MONTREAL

BREED KNITTING‘s beautifully refined knits are quintessentially hipster garb for the modern day traveler. Ariane Michaud‘s knit bowties were what first caught my attention with their detailed patterns and meticulously precise finishing, but I was then further wowed by the portraiture woven into the vest and rollneck cardigan above.

Following careers in both fashion and publishing, Andrea Ford found herself harkening back to her roots and harvesting her family history with the genesis of RE:Style Studio. The furniture restorer and upholsterer artfully selects vintage frames and then totally reinvents them, honouring their original lines while bringing her fashion sensibilities to her choice of textiles and painted finishes. Bold statement pieces are her specialty, and her work is beautifully done with exquisite attention to detail. The dip-dyed chair above is truly to dye for – a serious labour of love for this amazing craftswoman. Andrea even offers workshops for those of you interested in trying your hand at reinventing your own pieces!

I first fell in love with Meghan Dru‘s Canadiana pillows while wandering through a Queen West shop a few months back. With graphic screen print designs that speak to our Canadian identity layered onto vintage HBC and military blankets, Meghan has completely captured my “Canadian And Proud” heart.

FILIPA PIMENTAL | CERAMIC ARTIST

There is something decidedly delicate, feminine and carefully crafted about the ceramic work of Filipa Pimental. I fell instantly in love with her Petal Collection with its delicately pinched and fluttered edges. The super soft and subtle robin’s egg blue is my favourite colour way, though I adore the cream as well. These pieces are as unique as they are timeless, and I can’t wait to add some to my own collection.

I’m sure it will come as no surprise at all that Avril had me at herringbone. But my love of her collection went beyond the gorgeousness of that herrinbone tea towel. I truly found myself captivated by her graphic, modern collection of tea towels, tablecloths and table runners. Her choices of colours and patterns are decidedly hip with a girly edge to them, and the paint chip collection is just plain fun. I also LOVE the moustache handkerchiefs, a quirky and curious little something to sneak into the stocking of your manly man this Christmas. Trust me, he will love it.


The search for preservative-free and synthetic-free body products can be a long and lonely one, but I was delighted to discover that LOVEFRESH‘s Lavender Scrub is scented only with pure essential oil of Lavender and then packed with all kinds of other natural goodness like Shea Butter and Honey. Can’t wait to try it!

These few favourites are really just a taste of the treats that await you at this year’s Christmas One of A Kind Show. I’ve held off on pointing out my favourite artists so that I can feature them in upcoming Make Something Mondays, so watch for that! If you haven’t made it out to the show yet, grab a friend and a pair of comfy shoes and head down to the Direct Energy Centre this weekend. My guess is you’ll get most of your Christmas shopping done by the time you’ve finished walking the show floor!

xo
s.