Parisian Inspiration....

I do not know what it is, but Paris calls to me! Its a place I have not had the chance to visit (yet!), but hope to someday. I love the architecture that fills the city, the history that is in every nook and cranny, and the chic and sophisticated style that the city oozes. For now I am content to fill a little niche in my shop with Parisian inspired indulgences.

Some of my favorites are part of a fabulous paper line we carry...they have some of the absolute BEST vintage graphics I have had the privilege of finding. We just received more of the Paris 2008 Desk calendars (we sold out of our first shipment!) and if you want one I would hurry....we can not get anymore this year. We also have a limited number of the large sized calendars left!

Make a statement and personalize all of your gifts with our Parisian inspired gift tags...they are a must have! The assorted Parisian scenes on magnets are a favorite too....keep them for yourself or slip one in with the next card you give someone....a little touch of Paris for the recipient. We have an assortment of other Parisian goodies for you....so be sure to stop in and pick out a few to treat yourself....see you soon!

K. Hall Designs

We have been busy this week, rearranging and making room for the new items we have received. We are featuring our new Home Fragrance line from K. Hall Designs for this post...we are so excited to have this line in the shop. K. Hall is a fabulous line that is celebrating its 10th year offering products that soothe and relax. All of their products are made in the United States and the majority are created in St. Louis, MO (U City).

K. Hall strives to make their products as naturally as possible and still allow them to have a shelf life. Their products are a minimum of 95% natural and most are a higher percentage than that. They use both 100% essential oils and a blend of essential and other oils. Utilizing this philosophy allows their frangrances to smell "comforting, familiar, fresh, and real." As opposed to smelling synthetic or fake.

Their candles are an all vegetable blend with a good quantity of soy included. They also blend with other waxes to have a denser wax to offer for their candles and these products are produced by American Farmers and is a 100% renewable resource. To top it off they use an all cotton core wick....so there are no worries about burning your new candle. Your new candle will burn for approximately 60 hours. Here is a tip from K. Hall to aid in the effort for a "greener" environment: After your candle is done burning, clean it out and use it as a drinking glass.




We also offer K. Hall diffusers, they were actually one of the first domestic companies to hand make diffusers. So needless to say they have been able to find the best elements that allow them to create a truly fabulous product. Their diffusers are made with many natural oils and they do not add extendors or enhancers. Your diffuser will last four months on average, but it really depends on the make up of the individual oils used for the diffuser. They offer a few tips to prolong the life of your diffuser: keep out of direct sunlight and away from vents.

We have a nice selection of scents to choose from, the scents include: Moss, Flax-Linen, Milk, Lavender, Pomegranate and Cypress and Cassis. Our favorite right now is Pomegranate, what will yours be? Stop in soon to find it....see you soon:)

Fall Backdoor Sale!!!!!

We will be holding our Fall Backdoor Sale on Saturday October 6, 2007 from 8 am - ??????.
Be sure to visit us early to ensure you find the BEST deals!
Several other shops will be participating.....

The Homestead 401 S. Main
Maison Rive 603 S. Main
Jansen's Clocks 608 S. Main
The Flower Petaler 620 S. Main
Main Street Marketplace 708 S. Main
Enchantments 809 S. Main

We look forward to seeing you!!!!!!!

We're baaack....

Well readers....we have returned! Now you maybe wondering where did we go? Let me put you in the know :)

Let's go back to Thursday July 12...it is 2:45 a.m. and my alarm is going off! Not only do I have a 6:00 a.m. flight to catch...I am finishing up my house/dogsitting duties...and arriving at my parents' house by 4:15 to leave for the airport. I arrive early (not usual for me in the least!) and we set off for the airport...we arrive before the security gates are opened to get into our terminal...maybe we were a little TOO anxious...but better safe than sorry (or in our case better tired than late!). We finally board our plane and we notice it is after 6:00 and people are continuing to file in...seriously do they really hold the plane if you are running late? We find out no that isn't the case...apparently there is a bit of a scuffle at security! People throwing punches...yelling...and one tries to walk past security! Okay so better safe than sorry really does seem to be true...

Surprisingly we arrive in Atlanta as scheduled...8:40 a.m....we head to pick up our luggage and then make our journey to the Marta...for our ride into the city. Now I am going to fill you in on a phobia of mine...escalators...now I have to ride them the entire time we are at Market...I doubt a day goes by when we don't ride an escalator...I can handle those...they are regular...floor to floor. The ones I am referring to go on FOREVER...you have to ride it for over a minute...the ones that bring you up from the Marta at Peach Tree Center...my palms sweat and my breathing turns shallow...I kid you not! So I found a way to cope with the inevitable ride up from the Marta...I stared at my feet...and didn't EVEN think of glancing up or down...it WORKED....now I don't have to worry about that again until January...whewww!

So on to the important stuff (enough about me!)....we start our day in Building #3...this is where we find our baubles...now most we can buy and take with us...but we do have a few lines that are strictly order...which is good too! As we load bag after bag on to our rolling briefcase...we decide to journey over to Building #1, 20th floor and start checking out the showrooms there.

Brief interruption....Market is made up of 3 buildings...#1 (Merchandise Mart) has 20 floors...this is where we find our holiday showrooms and home decor items. Building #2 (Gift Mart) has 18 floors...this is where we find nice lines that offer small items at lower price points (usually). Building #3 (Apparel Mart) is home to jewelry and accessories...it never seems to fail to be the busiest of all 3...if you don't like crowds good luck in Building #3. Buildings #1 & #3 have floors for temporary boothes to be set up...see below for more on this!

We shop until the 11th hour (really just until 6)....we finally go check into our hotel, get a slice of Pizza from Peach Center Mall...and fall into bed by 9:00 p.m....the sun had not fully set yet...but we were TIRED!!!!

Friday morning finds us refreshed and rejuvinated and ready to find some great stuff! We start off in the temporaries...and find some truly unique items that we are VERY excited about! I for one found a whole new appreciation for the Temps...we ordered from lots of new companies! We then head back to Building #1 around 5...we have until 8 this evening for our shopping pleasure...AND we use every minute!

I had originally thought to tie up any loose ends in my Fall/Christmas orders, but after looking at the new things out...I just felt that we had done a great job of ordering in January and we were finished with Fall/Christmas...so I placed my Spring 2008 orders...ooooh I am sooo excited about the things I have ordered so far...to be unveiled beginning of Feb 2008:)

Alright really Saturday on is just a blur to me...we were there until Tuesday evening...I know we ordered some great things...and got some AWESOME ideas...So I will fill you in on some lines we picked up...a vintage letterpress line (the cards are cranked out by hand!)....a new fragrance line with candles and diffusers that are created just across the bridge in University City, MO....some pewter accessories...great vintage doorknobs repurposed into wine stoppers (LOVE them!)....AND the list could go on and on...but you will just have to pop in to see me from time to time through the rest of the year ;)


Oh and sorry I forgot to snap some shots for you...I WILL remember in January...promise!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday and remembers how lucky we are to be able to live our lives as we choose...and have the freedom we do! Most especially remember those who are serving NOW...they are sacrificing for US. Please offer a prayer for a 24 year old St. Louis soldier who was killed in Iraq just 2 weeks ago. THANK YOU Lt. Dan Riordan for your sacrifice...we are FOREVER grateful!

Our Favs...Right Now!

I thought I would fill the pages with some of our favorite things at the moment! Enjoy!

This FRESH colored striped & polka dot quilt will freshen ANY room with a new look!
Queen Size Quilt with 2 Shams and a Filled Neck Roll Pillow.

Imagine the possibilities.....

Yes that is Christmas in July...but the beauty is the mantle!
Thanks to RoseMary for unearthing this gem hidden in her attic....we Love it!

Flea Market Finds

Well its been a little over a week since we went to Bloomington AND.......we have redone many sections of the shop! If you visited during the past week you saw our creativity in process and the mess it made, but now the shop is so beautifully put together...we can rest for awhile.

Whenever we make our flea market ventures we are never really sure what we are looking for, when something catches our eye and its priced right (or we can get it to the right price) we buy it! There however are a few pieces that I always keep in mind that I want for the shop. I have wanted a mantle with columns and a mirror for the front room of the shop for over a year now. I have seen a few I like, but they are usually out of my price range. I am so happy to say I found one affordable enough to take home with me....and it looks GREAT in the front room. It has a beveled mirror that goes with it...its PERFECT! I love love love it...I am going to paint it white for the time being....but as with many of the pieces they always seem to be painted black by some point...you never know when I will change my mind.

We are also in need of some larger cabinets....but that will have to wait until next time (hopefully next month). We found a few odds and ends...a black and white toile upholstered bench, an old trunk, a small end table, a set of doors, a white frame, and a mirror. So here are some of the pieces loaded and strapped down in my borrowed truck (Thanks Dad!) for the 3 hour journey home.

There are so many reasons to go to Flea Markets, but for me flea markets are just wonderful for my soul. I am in my element! I love the whole process...arriving wondering what you will find and then walking in and out of barns, up and down rows of tents and boothes. Looking for those pieces that catch your eye....looking at something and figuring out how you can use it....the key to this is not neccessarily what it is intended to be used for, but what YOU can use it for! My least favorite part of the process has to be the loading of the truck phase...its like putting a puzzle together....and then you have to figure out the best way to arrange the bunges so your finds don't fly away while you are tooling along the highway. Then the fun begins...during the drive home I rearrange the shop in my mind...ok so if I move this, then I have to move this, and then if I move that, where will the other thing go? This is is what goes through my mind the whole drive home. Once it is figured out I am ready to drop off the items at the shop and clean them up just a bit....and maybe paint a few pieces. Then the destruction process begins. Whenever something is moved in the shop, something else has to be moved to make room AND then something else has to be moved to take the spot of the previous item and as you can imagine it goes on from there. VERY rarely does it occur that two items can just be swapped out...at least for me that never happens! This is really where the fun is...I get to see if my vision was everything I thought it would be.

Doors and windows ALWAYS catch my eye because they offer a way of dividing a room and still allow light to filter through. Trunks and crates...not the kind that have been redone and look shiny and new, but the ones that have that old weathered look to them. Trunks make fabulous coffee tables and storage bins. I love putting old crates on the walls in a grouping or by themselves for shelves to display on....old drawers are good for this too! Chairs are always a great find...they can be used by themselves in a corner with a quilt draped over them...or find different types to place around a dining room or kitchen table. Chairs can be hung on a wall or placed on a table to add heighth wherever it is needed.

Alright enough chit chat about great flea market finds....lets see the transformation the shop took on thanks to a trip to the flea market.

The infamous mantel....isn't she pretty?????