Mom's the Word!

Mother's Day is just around the corner (Sunday May 9th to be exact) and we have got some great stuff that the mom in your life will love--Is your mom a wine drinker? Then she'll love one of these cork-barreled pen and pencil sets! It's a little reminder of what's waiting for her after work. And they're refillable! (And we sell the refills!) Maybe she's the puzzling type--whether it's crossword puzzles or sudoku, these refillable automatic pencils would be great to help her ace the next puzzle while thinking of what a great kid you turned out to be! They are beautifully boxed for giving and plenty of extra lead and erasers are included.

We have lots of great things for mothers, so come on in and pick up a card and a little something to say thanks for everything, Mom!

Mother's Day visit recap

Well, I've just returned from Iowa with a vanload of stuff to use in the store, and some awesome vintage jewelry components to give a new life. It was a short visit, but well worth the time--both materially, and to just spend some time with the folks. Mom and I had a lovely girls' day on Monday. She wanted to show me all the great gift shops they have in Pella. They have a lot of gift shops in Pella. It's a little Dutch town complete with windmills and a Tulip Festival (which was the first weekend in May). She introduced me to one of the owners and told her about my entrepreneurial endeavor (which at first was embarrassing, but then Barb was gushing about what a great idea a green gift shop was--something Mom had not been entirely convinced of until then). You see, I think she wanted to show me all the cool stuff I could sell, if only I wasn't going to be so green. For everything she showed me, or mentioned, I countered with a greener alternative. Either I changed her mind, or she just gave up.

After our tour of quaintness, we headed out to the Tassel Ridge winery for a little tour and tasting. Then we stopped and looked at plants at a couple of greenhouses and went to a well-deserved lunch. Oh yeah, and I got her to go to the Pella Thrift Store. This is just short of a miracle. She has amazing potential in the thrifting arena--she knew I was looking for vintage Pyrex refrigerator dishes, and she spotted some before I did! And she hid any grossed-out feelings she may have been having. She even approved of the vintage bassinet I bought to use as a display for my baby section! Who said you can't teach an old broad new tricks?

One of her Mother's Day gifts was that I reconditioned her butcher block table. They got it about 28 years ago, and it was starting to look tired. One of my potential (and now certain) vendors had sent me some samples of their natural furniture cleaning/conditioning products, so I took the butcher block conditioner to them for a trial. Wow. Howard Naturals is now on my A list.

My Debut

I am quite happy with the way the Bloom -n- Zoom turned out! Lots of Berwynites came by considering it was a Saturday morning. I sold a little bit of everything that I brought, which makes me think that I selected good products with acceptable price points. And the wrap-n-mats went over big--that was probably my "greenest" item (and it really is a fabulous idea). Got a lot of people signed up for the email list, and I passed out quite a few business cards with the website on them. I think that it was a good confidence booster and I'm even more excited to get the store up and running. The Depot District Merchants' Association had a table there too, and they were pimping my store and all the others in the neighborhood too. They got people to sign up for our collective mailing list as well. There are a lot of things happening in the District throughout the year, so that will be a good way to remind people of those (antique car cruise nights, Oktoberfest, Christmas events, etc.).

So now I'm off to Iowa to spend Mother's Day with mine. I'll get to browse their basement for props for the store too!