Introducing Grace Home: My Newest Venture

So this happened last night.

Ten friends came over for dinner. It was quite an intimate affair, and I was giddy and nervous as the hour approached. I had something special planned, you see.

Here, have a look again.

Last night, I was to reveal, for the first time ever, a secret I had been holding on to for the past six months. Finally, finally, I am embarking on a longtime dream: my very own business. I guess because I don’t talk about it much, no one really knows that I have an entrepreneurial side. Since I was a kid, I loved to sell. My favorite toy was a cash register. My daddy, the first person to ever spoil me, always asked me what I wanted, and my answer would always be the same: a cash register! This was so I could play “store” with my play money and sell to my imaginary customers! 🙂

So here, let me tell you about this…

Last night, I publicly launched Grace Home, a premium line of home products that exemplify the many things I love. This venture is the fulfilment of my childhood dream, a secret I’ve kept for a long time, even from my best friend (sorry!).

As excited as I was to finally talk about this, I was so jittery and emotional. I’m so glad that my dinner guests were able to appreciate and see what I intend to do with this venture. As we talked and laughed and ate, I couldn’t help but think: This is actually happening.

To introduce what Grace Home is about, I had to set the tone, of course. I kept it simple by using lovely pink roses everywhere.

My roses and table set up were done by Pat Pastelero of Spruce Floral Designs. She is just amazing!  (Check out her beautiful floral designs on her Instagram page: The Floralist)

Aren’t these pink roses just lovely?

Of course, it wouldn’t be my event without some delicious food — specifically without my favorite desserts. I am so thankful I was able to share these delicious, worth-every-calorie sweet treats to my friends!

These two delectable desserts were made by Cathy Choi of Brown Butter. I have always ordered from her and without fail, her cakes never fail to impress me and my guests! (Check out all her delicious cakes here.)

For my guests’ giveaways, I called on my friend Joyce Dizon of The Delightful Miss Joyce, to come up with something unique and out of the ordinary. She is a genius, a true cake artist who has done some of the most elaborate cakes I’ve ever seen. And this is what she came up with for my launch last night:

“The Rose” is a cake made of beautifully crafted fondant shaped as a rose. Inside it is my favorite chocolate cake filled with  strawberries! How can you not love this cake??

And here are my guests enjoying themselves… A candid and funny shot of them right before they attacked the desserts!

Grace Home‘s first products–the ones introduced last night–include a customized candle, premium room fragrances, and specially made notecards.

“What’s inside your candle,” they asked me.

Blood, sweat, and tears, I joked.

But really, it’s been months and endless days of working on this to make it all perfect. I obsessed over every ingredient, every packaging detail, every line and color. What do you guys think?

The Grace Home Candle is a specially designed candle made of premium beeswax with rose, talc, and basil essential oils. It is topped with a marble cover that is unique on its own, as each marble grain is different. There are two uses for this marble cover: 1) It serves as its lid when candle is not in use so the oils are kept intact and not diffused;  2) It serves as its coaster when candle is lit protecting the surface where the candle jar is placed.

The Grace Home Room Fragrance is made of fragrance oils sourced from Grasse, France and it comes in two variants: Olive and Milk (for those who like light and refreshing scents) and Talc and Vanilla (for those who like sweet and fruity scents).

The notecards from Grace Home Paper & Stationery line are gold-stamped notecards in two designs, two icons that represent the two things I love most: strawberries and champagne! (And yes, there will be more designs in the future!)

I’ll tell you more about these products and the inspiration behind them in more detail in the coming days. But for now, I’m just so happy I can finally talk about it!

Besides these products that I’ve personally developed, Grace Home also features products I’ve curated from my travels. Since my last trip was in Turkey (and you all know how much I fell in love with that place), my first products to be sold are from the many different places I went to in Turkey. (And I will be selling more items from my next trips in the future!)

Here is just a snapshot of the few products from Turkey that I will be selling:

So, there. We can now say that The Spoiled Mummy is also an entrepreneurial mummy! I have so many plans and ideas that I can’t wait to share them with all of you… I am really excited to be doing this! I hope you will also join me on this new adventure!

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To see more photos from the Grace Home launch, check these hashtags on Instagram :

#GraceHomeLaunch 
#GraceHomeManila

And to read about the whole story behind this passion project of mine, click Grace Home : The Big Idea