What Was the Best Ever Shabby Tole Hamper

I found this amazing shabby, tole hamper at a neighbor downtown shop, The Thrifty Patriot, and was so excited about incorporating it into my bedroom. Look at that sweet rose bouquet painted on the front. 

I only have this picture from their Facebook page, because while I was gone for a girl's weekend at the beach,  my husband wanted to surprise me by freshly painting it. And he did. Have I mentioned, I don't like surprises. 

Laugh or cry and never let them see you cry, is what I often say. 

You'll see it soon for sale in my space at The Shops at 123 Hay Street, freshly painted and sans the rose.

Dream and Wind Catchers by Laurie Shoemaker

 

Native Americans believe that the night air is filled with good and bad dreams. The dream catcher, when hung over or near your bed swinging freely in the air, catches the dreams as they flow by. Good dreams pass through the dream catcher, slipping through the outer holes and slide down gently so that ofttimes the sleeper does not know that they're dreaming. The bad dreams, not knowing the way, get tangled in the dream catcher and then perish at the first light of day.

It was love at first sight when I saw the beautiful dream and wind catchers made by the artistic, Laurie Shoemaker. I have always enjoyed reading Laurie's blog Heaven's Walk and admiring her photography. Then came her lovely, shabby take on a native craft I have always loved.

 

I worked up the nerve to ask Laurie to consider making some for my store, and not only are these beauties for sale at White Trash & colorful accessories, but she was gracious enough to photograph each of them. I want to take every last one of them home to my house.

Our Lock Your Love Project

Always loving the Paris bridge covered in locks symbolizing the idea of eternal love

I decided to start a similar project in my city, Fayetteville N.C., after we brought the new Votivo fragrance line into our store. We had an old salvage window grate on the side of our building I could never bear to scrap. We backed it with some metal mesh panels and commissioned David McCune to make a sign I designed and mounted it to our building at 223 Franklin St and are inviting people to Lock Your Love.  While originally a tradition for lovers, I'm hoping people will also lock their love for a child, parent, sibling, or lost loved one.