The color of green at Christmas...

Ahhhh...eucalyptus, the healing fragrance.
The smell of Vicks' Vapo-rub fills the air
as soon as the cold and flu season strikes...
but I'm tellin' ya, a hot steamy bath with a eucalyptus candle burning
is just what the doctor ordered!
I love the look of the new lil' jars I'm using
for the essential oil candles...
they are made in America and reasonably priced,
which brings down the cost of the oils
for the consumer.

Love the Kelly green the soaps,
with bits of greenery to exfoliate...AND...
every ones fave, the Flor de lis...SWEET!

Well, the girls surprised me at the shop
by putting green bulbs in the baby heads...
Christmasy huh, in a Grinch sorta way...

Can we have too much Christmas spirit...
not in my world!
Email for pricing...

Once upon a time in a land far, far away...

...there was a strange lil' shop, not all white and Frenchy...
but, ol'timey and filled with fantasy and childlike dreams...
of snowmen MADE IN AMERICA...
how quaint!

...and miracles...

and handmade wishes...

of childhood memories...

and too much Christmas cheer for Frosty...

woolie mittens and...

a wish for PEACE and good will...

and the love of one's country...

and don't forget the nuts...
they don't fall far from the tree!!!
Piper's gonna kill me for this one...heehee!!!

THE END

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Well, you know the rest of the story...right...
tis the season when we all deck out our shops
for the Christmas shopping frenzy ahead.
Wonder what this years sales will be like with the economic issues
this year, guess we'll see huh!

Piper has her hand-painted snowmen out in full force...
they are so cute and the sayings so perfect,
click pic to enlarge for a few laughs.

Made in America and proud of it,
as we try to fill the shop with hand dids, by us and other artists,
not cheap reproductions, the true work of the artist/crafter.
I'm being kinder to that word these days,
used to be anything with the word CRAFT in it was taboo,
but with a struggling economy, many of us have had to
resort to making our product, since it's so hard to find quality gifts that
aren't made in China, they look great in the pictures,
but when you finally get them to the shop,
they really look cheap and mass produced.
Look for the tag...
MADE IN AMERICA

These lil' fuzzy purses are so cute, not my style, but we've sold bunches
to the younger crowd, isn't everyone younger than me...
I had to laugh, one of Pipers' friends came in and called
them chia purses...I like that, now that's my style!

She also does the Floozie koozies...what a hoot...
can't ya see a bunch of these round the pool or bar!

Poinsettias and antiques, now that's my idea of the holiday spirit...
however, if I lived back in Florida, I'd be planting my poinsettia
in the yard instead of the trash, they get huge down there...
sigh...

Come on out and visit us at the Shed, the new Cranberry soap is in!

A project 's'...

Well, I wasn't gonna paint this lil' piece I bought from Sandy's shop, it was painted black...but then I got to looking at it and thought...hmmmm...
French grey...cute huh...

Now I have major projects in mind...our former landlord sells and repair sewing machines and has given us a few of them to play with...
what ta do, what ta do...

...check out the details of this machine 'to die for'...

Have never seen one like this before, but would make a cute side table...huh...

...another grand old dame who's outlived her usefulness, but what a charmer and in excellent condition...I may have to find a semi-permanent home for this one...
hmmmmm...maybe white...or black...
or my fave...
FRENCH GREY...
whatayathink...

A recipe for failure...

This is the main artery that runs through our historic district from the South...
the main biz district is one block to the right, where we had our shop.
Before the bypass was built on the 4-lane around the city, this was a bustling thoroughfare filled with traffic, as is the legacy for many a small town.

The wild and treacherous Mississippi River runs to the left of the photo...
a riverfront that has been beautified with parks, fountain, bike path etc...
do you see anything strange...
Right...way down at the end the road it has been blocked for resurfacing, yes, all four lanes are closed and they have been for two months
and supposedly will not reopen till the end of July.
I feel for all of the business all along this road.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!
or not!!!

This is a shot of progress and quick thinking...
one of the trailers heaped with the trash of our trade.
Not willing to partake any longer in the idiotic reasoning of a city that could care less about the downtown merchants...
onward and upward!!!

And the response from everyone has been wonderful, they all see hope and a vision for our mall again and are anxiously awaiting the brave souls to make it all happen...
(and the pain pills)
SOON!

Before...ARGH..............after......................

Well, this is the last shot of the old Candle Shed you'll be seeing...cause...

...this is what it looks like now...did I say ARGH!!!!!

This is the crew of crazy kids that helped gitterdone...
hope their insurance is up to date...

The guys were awesome, they wouldn't let me lift a thing and the girls...WOW, what powerhouses...I felt like I needed to be on a directors podium telling them which box goes or stays and ...load, load, load...all I can say is...

YOU ROCK!!!

So now back to organize the rest for the next big move this coming weekend...

The perfect ending to a back-breaking day...
is this a sign...?

The harbinger of Spring...

Big garbage pick-up...yayyyyy...

Hey, this is recycling at it's finest...they set it out, you pick it up...right...
I couldn't believe it when I saw these shutters all in a heap...
they are lavender on one side and green on the other!
The blue boards are shutters too and the door is white on the other side,
a few panes missing, but went did that ever matter...right...

...and this cool old wood table with an old painted linoleum top which I'm going to try and flip
to expose the wood on the other side...don't ya just love it...
and I'll be right back out there tomorrow diggin' through the trash...
I mean inventory...ha...

But, as I was driving down one of the streets, I glanced over my shoulder and saw this strange sight...

I knew they were moving this wonderful old home, but I wasn't sure quite where...
you wouldn't believe where they moved it from, a maize of small streets 3 blocks away as the crow flies...but whew, what a move...but isn't she grand!!!
...and not one curved glass window broken...dang!

I was really thinking kudos to the guy that bought it from the city for $1000.00, but then I found out he was one of our infamous slum-lords...
my bubble burst
I'm back to my pickin...

Transformed...

I took up an old picture to hang on the newly painted walls to see what the old finish looks like against the gray and black paint we decided to paint the walls. We don't have much wall space, it's mostly windows so the backs of cupboards and shelves will have to be used for each setting...no problemo...

The gray just looks so elegant and the wood around all the windows will be left unpainted adding contrast to the painted woods that will be dragged in, this will be interesting how we will pull off the look in this new space...

...but covering most of the red on the walls and painting the light fixtures flat black, make the space look bigger...

Kids gotta be kids...as people strain to see inside through all the paper on the windows, Piper and her friend Pat drew a stick person with eyes cut out so the peeps can check out the progress...
all we see is rolling eyeballs...LOL!

I really think painting above the light fixtures from white to black, makes a statement, it just isn't as busy and looks fresh...

The mall entrance by Tan World, we are down the hall from them...

...our hall, newly carpeted, looking toward front entrance...

...side entrance of Tan World, one of the new stores that is really taking off and will be major for getting new peeps to the mall...
we're excited, so week after next, we start to move it all in...
did I mention my brain hurts...

Vision...

Piper and I celebrated last night after signing the lease with sizzling rice soup and egg roles at our fave Chinese restaurant, so naturally we charged into our fortune cookies to see if good fortune was to be had...well, this one was mine...do ya think...!

...so now visions of settings dance in my head...

These are from Sisters' Garden, but...the idea's the same...have junk will travel and we got stuff,
as we plan to tear down our gazebo and rebuild for the garden setting planned at the new shop.
Piper will be there painting all weekend while I run the store...
and we know what I'll be doing...
packing my truck!
From this point on my truck will never go there without a FULL load...

Tony, the mall manager told us
that everyone out there is very excited about us coming on board,
when you have an established biz,
word travels fast...
as a matter of fact, Piper got an email yesterday
from someone who wants to put a bakery in out there
and wondered if there was a space...

and so it begins...
new life to a dead mall
if you build it
they will come...

I feel the good vibes, how 'bout you!!!

And so it begins...

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their comments and concerns, this is no slight of hand move for my daughter, this is her second move in ten years of owning The Shed, unlike her Mother...Where is she now Wilson...is she following her footsteps...or maybe she gets the concept of beating a dead horse...

There's a movie theater and a dance and karate studio in the mall, that were once downtown and they attract a lot of watchers.

I know all you small biz owners know what we're going through...those sleepless money worrying nights, will they come and when they do will it be enough to sustain. Those that know me, know that finding inventory has never been a problem, my shops have always been full to the brim...the question here is, is the mall ready for us two go-getters..heehee...

You do what you can with what you have and I think Piper and I are qualified...
we don't let the meanies get us down...we're gonna WOW um with our smarts and try to encourage other small biz to make the move...
too bad so many have already closed their doors for good...bummer...

who knew...

Piper told me over the phone yesterday on my way home from Sisters' that not one person walked through her doors...
gee, I wonder why...oh I know...
they have the main thoroughfare to the downtown closed for resurfacing...
for a month now...
that's progress!

See ya at the new shop friends...