You may or may not be familiar with the card & gift company Visual Treats — but the quirky house of hand-sewn design has been a gift show staple for years. And last May, its owner, Joni Ulman Lewis, was heading out of town when she received a most fortuitous call.
Mary Fellows, a gift show friend with organic baby products, also works for a set design company — and the set in question was no less than that for the second season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
So over the next few days, the two friends texted and called back and forth to create a special order for Lewis to fill. During this season, Mrs. Maisel goes to perform in the Catskills. And the show needed to transform Scott’s Family Resort in Catskills, New York, into the late 1950s Steiner Mountain Resort.
That meant a plethora of period items were required — including to stock the gift shop.
That’s where Joni came in. Mary knew that Joni used to offer custom lavender sachets — and she wanted 30. Instead of lavender, she wanted balsam, since it felt more Catskills-esque. But why scented? That’s simple: After filming wraps, props are packed into gift bags as swag for cast and crew.
The friends continued brainstorming, and came up with another idea: an autograph book featuring the logo of the Catskills resort.
An order of 30 sachets and 40 autograph books wouldn’t ordinarily present much of a challenge for Joni — but producing them in five days, while she was away from home, was!
So Joni’s mini-vacation became a working vacation, as she and her husband cut, trimmed, sewed and ironed on transfers of images they’d received from the show. Thanks to next-day shipping, everything made it to the set on time.
Joni couldn’t say anything until the show premiered — but now the secret can be shared! Here’s a peek of the products & the set.
I have to admit, I hadn’t seen the show, but after hearing about this and getting images from Joni, I had to check it out — and it’s turned out to be one of those things that are actually as wonderful as people say it is! I just finished the first season last night, and I can’t wait to try and spot Joni’s work in the second season.
You may not be able to shop Steiner Mountain Resort, but you can shop Joni’s wonderful wares. Here’s a peek.
Shop Joni’s hand-crafted cards, wearables, sachets and one-of-a-kind creations here!
