how Mudita began
A gift that exists for exactly one person.
Some gifts become part of the story people tell afterward. Tell us who they are and what’s happening, then hand us the whole project — we listen, ask the questions nobody else asks, and design, source, and build something that won’t exist for anyone else, finished down to the card.
This is how Mudita started — and it’s still our favorite part of the job.
designed by Kristi
it’s simpler than it sounds
How a Commission Works
01
Tell us about them.
The form below asks what we always ask: who they are, what’s happening, and the stories you can’t stop telling about them. You bring the person; that’s the only part we can’t do.
02
We design — then we hunt.
We come back to you with a direction. Then the fun starts: commissioned artwork, engraving, hand-written verse, finds from workshops we’ve stood in ourselves — whatever the gift needs to be theirs alone.
03
They open it.
Built, wrapped, and finished with the card — delivered to you or straight to their door. Then the part we all live for: the moment their face changes.
Design fee: $xx
The thinking is the product — the listening, the design, the hunt. It’s quoted up front and credited toward your commission.
Up to 30 days
The best gifts take time. Sourcing, building, and finishing a one-of-one can’t be rushed — and we won’t pretend otherwise.
One at a time
We take a limited number of commissions so each one gets the attention it deserves. When the calendar is full, it’s full.
the honest math
Three Kinds of Commission
The fee pays for the work — the hunt, the craft, the finish. Everything that goes inside is billed at exactly what it cost us — no markup, receipts and all. Your total budget is yours; bring it to the call and we'll tell you exactly what it can do.
The Curated Box
$125
DESIGN & BUILD FEE + ITEMS AT COST
One box, one person, no shortcuts. We learn who they are, hunt down contents nobody else would have found, and wrap and card it all so it could only be theirs.
Most land between $275 and $450 all-in.
The Commissioned Piece
$250
DESIGN & BUILD FEE + ITEMS AT COST
Built around something made just for them — commissioned artwork, etched glass, engraving, etc. We find the artists, direct the work, and build the box around it.
Most land between $550 and $950 all-in.
The Heirloom Build
FROM $500
BY SIZE AND SCALE + MATERIALS AT COST
Built from scratch — display cases, furniture-scale gifts, tributes made to be kept for decades. These take weeks of real work, so we accept one or two per season.
Proposal shows the full total before build.
Every commission starts with a free call — just a conversation. If you decide to move forward, a $100 design deposit books your project and starts the design work, and it credits toward your fee. You approve the full proposal — every item, every dollar — before anything is bought or built. Shipping at cost.
for the moments that matter
RETIREMENT · MILESTONE BIRTHDAY · FAREWELL · NEW HOME · ANNIVERSARY · PROMOTION · NEW BABY WEDDING · GRADUATION · THANK YOU · IN MEMORY · JUST BECAUSE
what makes ours different
The Mudita Signatures
the questions
We start with who they are.
Not a theme — a person. What’s the story they tell everyone twice? What would they love but never buy themselves? Every design decision traces back to an answer.
the hunt
We find what cant be ordered.
The out-of-print book, the exact medal, the piece we carried home from an artisan’s workshop in Oaxaca or a back street in Pisa. If the right thing exists, we’ll track it down.
the hands
We know the right specialists.
Portrait painters, engravers, rare craftspeople. We build what our hands should build and commission the best for the rest — you never see the seam.
the finish
Done down to the card.
Original verse, written for your person and your moment — in your voice when you want it to sound like you.
a commission, start to finish
The Military Retirement Shadow Box
A career’s worth of medals, ranks, and challenge coins — some sourced new, some recovered from storage in a quiet operation run with the recipient’s mother. Over two months we built the case from raw wood, engraved a plate for every commendation, and set his whole career in order, column by column.
It went under the tree wrapped. What happened when he opened it is the fourth photo.
THE THINKING
THE CRAFT
THE DELIVERY