Yesterday's Prize Winners and Sisters Day

So here it is after ten on Friday, the boutique opens again in less than an hour, and I'm just now getting to this post. Therefore, I shall keep it short, sweet and complete.

Yesterday's Prize Winners:

Sarah McGinn: a dried floral arrangement by Valerie Rich

Diana Peck: a set of notecards done by Annette Emmer

Today we are doing Sister's Day at the show. You bring your sister(s) - you both get to enter the drawing! The prizes are some very cool things from Real Deals of Holladay - one of our favorite places for home decor (other than our own boutique, of course).

Advance warning:

Tomorrow is "Bring Your Guy" day at our boutique. You bring one of your favorite guys - Dad, husband, boyfriend, brother, friend, whatever - and you both get to enter the drawing! Prizes to be announced tomorrow, but it's likely the guy prizes, at least, will be some of our delectable goodies.

Come on over! It's really unbelievable the amount of talent contained throughout the show. And we'd love to meet you.

Best Friends Day Prize Drawing and Yesterday's Winners and a couple of Vendor Highlights

What a ride! We are having so much fun at the boutique. Yesterday we had Mother-Daughter Day where any Mother-Daughter combinations that came to the show got to enter a drawing for a couple of nice prizes. Here are the winners:

Nancy Green was the winner of the Purs'nal Pal purse organizer. My Purs'nal Pal has turned my purse from a bottomless pit to a fully functional helpmate. We know you are going to love it! Thanks to Wendy and Donna for providing such a great prize!

Julie Pos was the winner or her choice of four Silk Flower Clips. I wore one on my sweater yesterday and got all kinds of compliments. So we think you will enjoy picking some that you like. You can use them in so many ways - in you or your child's hair, on a sweater, jacket, belt, or scarf, even as a gift topper. Thanks to Staci and Ellie Metcalfe for the flowers. Ellie is our youngest crafter this year at a whopping six years old!

If you weren't one of the lucky winners, you can still get yourself some of these wonderful things at the boutique today.

And here is another chance to win some fun prizes: If you bring your best friend(s) to the show today, you both get to enter a fun prize drawing. The prizes today are a sweet dried floral arrangement from our amazing Valerie Rich, and a set of note cards (your choice) done by the incredibly talented Annette Emmer. You can see both of their work at the show.

Again, I apologize that I don't have any pictures for you today. But I wanted to let you know that Valerie Rich also does custom florals. My sweet 97-year-old Uncle Al gave us this awesome rosemalled (I'm pretty sure I spelled that wrong) antique milk can. The colors don't really go with my decor, but I asked Valerie what she could do with it and she was able to pick up some of the shades on the can and some from my house and the result is so great and her price was so reasonable. Even Uncle Al thought it was beautiful. She is definitely up to any challenge you can throw her way.

Annette Emmer has several pieces of her art work in our Artist's Corner. I've always admired her talent and know that you will enjoy seeing her artistry. She not only has orginal art there that you can purchase, but she has prints and notecards with many of her nicest pieces featured. Be sure to pick up a few packages so that all those holiday thank-you notes that you'll be writing will be especially nice. Annette is also one of the sweet people at the cash registers and we are so grateful for all the help she has freely given over the years.

Anyhoo . . . come to the show - you will not be disappointed!

Sneak Peek and Winner!!!

Wow! We just finished having a little sneak preview with our vendors tonight. I just have to say that we get to work with the greatest people ever.

We gave a few prizes for various reasons that have made it possible for us to keep doing this for 30 years.

Those vendors who have been with us for the entire ride:

Kathy Buhler
Diane Wiscombe
Linda Tabish
Annette Emmer
Cari Newbold

The vendor who came the farthest for this show:

Kathryn Rae (all the way from Missouri!)

The vendor who dropped off her things to us first last Friday:

Michele Sly

Our youngest crafter:

Ellie Metcalfe (6 years old - check out her flower clips)

We had a little drawing just for the crafters and we'll be calling those who won.

The show looks great - only need to finish a few little signs tonight (you know - "restroom" "please come right in" etc.) and then tomorrow we go full tilt. I'll mention a couple of things that were highlights for me today. Kevin Sybrowsky is the bomb! His metal yard art adds magic and makes the walk into the show like entering a fairyland. Wait until you see the firepit! Beyond beyond! Michelle Glauser brought a quilled paper creation that is so so so to-die-for. You simply must come and see it. Ashley Kennedy's vintage prints. Logan Kiefer's T-shirts and artwork. Valerie Rich's dried florals and Jennifer Sampson's greenery. Grace Rock's cook books. Meeting Donna Dewey! There is no way to list even a fraction of the awesomeness. Just come and enjoy for yourself.

And who is the winner of the $25.00 All Through The House gift certificate?

Holly! Congratulations! Come find me at the show and it will be all yours! I love doing this!

Remember that anyone who brings their moms or their daughters to the show tomorrow gets to enter another giveaway at the show. Nighty night - I'll be dreaming boutique and hoping to see you at the show!

Night night - I look forward to seeing you tomorrow

Vendor Highlights

Okay, first things first. Be sure to enter our latest giveaway now! (here) Charla and I are walking around glassy-eyed from trying to get set up - we've only got an itty bitty bit of time before the show starts! But, let me tell you, there is so much amazing, unique, one-of-a-kind (and on and on with the positive adjectives) stuff! Who wouldn't want to win a $25.00 gift certificate for our boutique?

I'm just going to let you in on a few of our wonderful vendors right now, but I'll share more tonight.

We are so excited to have Purs'nal Pal with us this time around. You can check out their website here. These two ladies, Wendy Kamahele and Donna Dewey, have designed some fabulous
purse organizers that are so great in so many ways.

If you are a gal with a dozen (give or take a few) purses or someone like me who uses the same one until it needs to be buried - you need one of these. You put all your necessities into one of these babies and then all you have to do when you want to change your purse is take this Purs'nal Pal, pop it into your choice of purse for the moment, and you are ready to run. For me - a carrier of the basic black, I-don't-want-to-spend-another-dime-on-another-purse - kind of girl, my Purs'nal Pal may not change homes very frequently, but I can find what I need so easily. I bought mine a couple of years ago and I love it! You would love one too. You will find them at the top of the stairs at the boutique. Just one more quick word, I've only met Wendy of Purs'nal Pal so far, but wow, what a nice, fun, sweet, generous person she is. I'm not only grateful to Purs'nal Pal for the tidier state of my purse, but because it allowed Charla and me to meet Wendy (and I'm looking forward to meeting Donna).

Right by the purse organizers, you will find some truly unique purses made by one of our all-time favorite crafters, Pam Newman. Pam is one of those people who can put things together - be it a home or an outfit or a craft - in a way no one else would think of and the end result is always gold. Also, for you Utah fans out there (I know, sorry about that last game!) Pam and her hubby, Scott, have written a poem that will please you to no end. It goes with some red Christmas stockings they've also put into the show. Just know - there are limited quantities.

If your family is anything like mine, we seem to get more than our fair share of cuts and scrapes. Just one problem -- several of us are allergic to the traditional over the counter anti-bacterial ointments. Lucky for us, my sister-in-law Becky Glauser, makes some fabulous stuff she calls Owie Be Gone. This is a truly good remedy. She also makes lip balms and another great fix-it, Chap Be Gone, for those dry winter hands that are a'coming. Grab yourself some at the boutique. Becky also does some nice grape-vine wreaths and fairy ornaments. And by the way, Becky is another winner in the great person category - fun, pleasant to spend time with, oh-so-kind, and a great cook, too!



Opening day (Wednesday) at the boutique will be the first of some fun 30-year-celebrations. It's Mother/Daughter day. If you bring your mothers or your daughters with you to the show, each of you will have the opportunity to enter a prize drawing to be done at 7 p.m. (you need not be present to win). Charla and I had some fun times this summer shopping around for prizes and we've also had Purs'nal Pal offer one of their purse organizers as a prize. Don't miss it!

I'll be posting again tonight - if I can keep my eyes open long enough. I'll be announcing the boutique gift certificate winner! Check back for Thursdays celebration.

It's all so exciting!

Crafter Highlights and a $25 Boutique Gift Certificate Giveaway

Several weeks ago I was at a great baby shower for my niece. Wow, I can't believe all the amazing things that are available now that were not when I was having babies. Anyway, one of the gifts she opened contained the cutest handcrafted items and I knew we just had to recruit the person who made them. I was introduced to Diana Alm. She's been married for three years and has a darling one-year-old daughter who keeps her busy. She decided after receiving some cute baby items at her own shower that she wanted to start making them on her own and sharing them with others. She loves crafting. I love the bright, bold combinations she uses to make her changing kits and car seat covers unique.



I found out that she is related to the nicest gentleman, George Alm, who did our spring show and is doing this one also. He is Diana's grandfather-in-law and makes those fun pop can airplanes. I wish I had a picture for you. If I had a little boy I would definitely buy a bunch of those planes to hang from a bedroom ceiling. Maybe someday when we can turn one of kid's room into a den for my hubby, I'll hang some in there. They are so cool.

Charla and I have been working hard today to get her house ready for this year. We are so excited to see all the great things that our vendors will be bringing starting tomorrow.

Okay, I promised a new giveaway today. We are giving away a $25.00 gift certificate for the boutique. To enter all you need to do is comment. If you've been at our show before, please comment about what you like about it. If you've not been before, comment on what you hope to find. We need at least 20 comments for this to be a go - so pass the word around.

Winner!

Time for another winner announcement. The lucky commenter who wins the Pear and Peonies $20 Gift Certificate to be used at our boutique is:

crafted and clothed

I'm anxious to meet you and give you your prize. Will you please email me at charlaandlauripresent(at)blogspot(dot)com and let me know your name so I can be sure to give it to the right person? Just find me (Lauri) at the boutique and I'll be happy to hand it over. Congratulations!

Watch for another giveaway to be posted tomorrow. These are so great - I wish I could enter!

Random Thoughts

Don't forget to comment on the Pear and Peonies giveaway post below - it's almost over!

Not so long ago, I saw a boutique that was advertised as "Not Your Mother's Boutique" and it made me wonder just what sets our show apart from others. Well, I think it comes down to a few things and these are in no particular order. You may find a lot of things that would appeal to your mother, but you will also find a lot of things that appeal to every member of your family and your friends. I kid you not. There are great things for babies, great things for toddlers, great things for preschoolers, great things for girls and boys of all ages. We have great clothing that will appeal to anyone with a fun sense of style. We have tasty things that everyone loves. We even have some "guy" kind of things (I'll be highlighting one of those later). We have crafty things and fine art. I guess you could say we are a boutique for everyone. Another plus is that we have a great combination of traditional things along with the latest hot new things. But one of the nicest things to me is that we really try hard to create a nice atmosphere. Not just at the boutique itself - although you will find that being at our show can really get you in a happy holiday mood with all the smells, music and fun - but we try hard to create good relationships with our crafters and customers. We try to be aware of our crafter's life events. We really do care about those that we work with and want them to do well at the show and all year long. We love seeing old friends and making new ones. A few years ago, I noticed that one of the addresses on our mailing list looked familiar. I jotted a quick note telling her that I grew up in that house and would she please introduce herself to me at the boutique. She did. And now I look forward to seeing her each year, finding out about her family and about my old beloved neighbors. These are the kinds of joys that make doing this worth all the work and headaches. We look forward to seeing you and hope that you enjoy this year's show!

Pear and Peonies Giveaway!

Here's one of our favorite giveaways ever. Yes! Thank you Brittany Fenton of Pear and Peonies. This will be their second show with us and we love having them along for the ride. Brittany has generously offered a $20 gift certificate to be spent at our 2010 Holiday Boutique. Tell us in a comment why you'd like to win this one. Pass the word along - we need 20 comments make this giveaway good. In the meantime, enjoy a few pictures of their awesome clothing line.

Winners!!!

Here are the winners in our necklace giveaway:

SUZIE - you win the bling necklace!

M'LISA - you win the initial charm necklace!

Congratulations! Just find me (Lauri) at the boutique to claim your prizes.

I'll be posting another giveaway later today - so check back. I LOVE giving away great stuff.

Vendor Highlight: My Growing Season

First of all, let me remind you to comment on the giveaway post. We just need a few more comments before we can select the winners and then . . . we'll post another great giveaway!

Michele Sly of My Growing Season is a mother of three with an entrepreneurial gene. I originally sought her out because I personally want to own each and every one of her products - and all my kids are already grown up! These are wonderful ways to teach and entertain children. Everything is so well made and she's got a great replacement policy if you're like most of us who find that pieces tend to go missing at times. Working with Michele has been a delight. Here are a few pictures of what she'll have at the boutique and there are ever so many more. There are also a couple of Christmas soft toys that are must haves - an advent calendar and a nativity set. I honestly don't know how anyone can limit themselves to just one item! Be sure to check out her website - just click on My Growing Season up above. Thank you Michele for being a great part of the show.

Food, Glorious Food (and a great recipe to boot)

First, before I get to the tasty stuff - make sure to comment on our last post to enter our giveaway!

Okay, so I must admit that our family went to see a production of "Oliver" recently, so the title of this post just kind of popped into my head. We've posted before about all the great goodies at our boutique. Click here. People - it just keeps getting better. We have Kathy Buhler's seriously amazing chocolate/caramel dipped pretzels, caramels, and pecan logs. We have Linda Tabish's chewy, gooey chocolate turtles. Then there are Diane Wiscombe's gigantic peanut butter cups. Maudine Thomas is doing her fabulous brownies and cookies. If things go smoothly, Lauri Glauser may just bring some of her freshly baked sweet rolls, spicy gingerbears, or to-die-for creme-filled chocolate cupcakes. Joan Gregory's perfect-for-the-holidays green and red pepper jellies will be there waiting for you. Oh, and don't forget that oh-so-sensationally creamy tomato basil soup. New this year will be Sandra Farish's decadent gourmet dessert toppings. And the inspiration for the recipe I'm going to share with you will be there, too. I'm talking Tagge's Famous Fruit jams and salsas. Here's the story:

Earlier this year, I just happened to be at a local grocery store at just the right moment to take advantage of a great buy on pork roast. The next Sunday morning I was trying to decide just what to do with it - the usual prep just wasn't doing it for me that day. I got out a crockpot cookbook that had not seen the light of day for a very long time and started thumbing through it. I came across a recipe that sounded like it just might be a winner, but two things here - a) I didn't have all the ingredients on hand, and b) anyone who knows me is aware that I can seldom leave a recipe alone - I pretty much always make changes no matter what. This recipe called for 1 jar of apricot jam. I only had 1/2 of a jar. Amazingly enough, I actually had dijon-style mustard. Anyway, I remembered that I did have some of Tagge's peach salsa in my storage room. Let me tell you - the finished dish was fabulous and instantly became a family favorite. I've made it several times since and it always gets rave reviews. In fact, I made it yesterday and I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture to share with you. I strongly recommend that you pick up some of Tagge's yummy food items at the boutique and then make this for your family. I call it -

SWEET AND SAVORY CROCKPOT PORK ROAST

1 pork shoulder roast (3-4 pounds)
1/2 jar Tagge's Famous Fruit apricot jam
1/2 jar Tagge's Famous Fruit peach salsa
2 Tablespoons honey dijon mustard
1/4 cup chicken broth (or 1/4 cup prepared chicken bouillon)
1 large onion, quartered and sliced
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (depends on your family's taste)

Place the roast in your crockpot (I highly recommend using a crockpot liner bag). Put everything else on top and mix it just a bit. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Place your finished roast on a serving platter and then pour the juices into a gravy boat to be served over rice. We like to cook equal parts rice and barley - a nice, unique texture.

So easy, so tasty!

Again, don't forget to comment on the giveaway post. You would love to have either of the necklaces! Encourage your friends to enter also - we can't do another giveaway until we have 20 comments and two winners in the first one. We have some more really great things to giveaway!

Crafter Highlight and Two Giveaways

Our first highlight of this season is on Jennifer Gardner. She's the mother of three beautiful daughters, wife to a really nice guy, fabulous photographer, superb swim teacher, all around great gal, and one of our jewelry designers. One of her current favorites are wax seal pendants that have been seen around the necks of many celebrities. She also loves to create some majorly fun bling. In addition to what you'll find at our boutique, she'll also do custom orders for weddings, other special occasions, or just to match a particular outfit. You name the colors, she'll create something to die for. She's got stamped metal charms that you can customize with names or words that are meaningful to you. You'll also love her unique bracelets. Here's just a few pictures for you to get the idea. Jenn has generously offered two giveaways - one bling necklace and one wax seal pendant necklace. Leave a comment to enter. We've got to have a minimum of twenty comments for the giveaway to happen, so pass the word around. Two lucky winners will be announced next week.

Got any great ideas?

Hey all you crafty people - we have room for another crafter in our upcoming boutique. We're looking for something new and fun. Check out the list of what we have at the bottom of our blog and if you are interested in doing something that is not there or know someone who might be - leave us a comment with your contact info.

New Flyers!

Here's our new flyer! Feel free to share with and send to all your friends. Giveaways will start later this week - so be sure to check back.

Expanding on the Web

Charla and Lauri Present . . . is now on Facebook!

Add our event to your calendars and "like" our page. This year will be our 30-year celebration boutique!


Click here:

Here we go again!

Summer absolutely flew by! Between home improvement projects, kid's cooking classes (Lauri), kid's art classes (Charla), and just plain day-to-day stuff, all of a sudden it's back-to-school and time to plan our next show. Crafter letters for this year's holiday boutique are going out tonight! We are so excited about all the fun things we have planned to celebrate 30 years of boutiqueing (is that a word?) together. Check in every now and then to find out what we've got brewing.

One Day Down, Two to Go!

Wow, today was a great opening day - especially considering the weather, road construction and stolen signs. Thanks to everyone who braved the storm.

Here's a few pics of some fun things at the show!

Baked with Love Aprons

by Ashley Evanson

She makes each of these aprons at home and they are of the best quality. They'll make you feel cute and sassy while you cook! She's done oodles of great designs.

Cakes and Banners
by Devany Niederhauser

She started making banners and cakes for her first child's first birthday. She likes to make parties extraordinary with great themes and lots of details. It was hard to find what she wanted in the store, so she started making it all herself.

Mimiware
by Michele Goaslind

If you'd like something fun to perk up your kitchen - Mimiware is the place to go. She's got so many fun designs. Michele also does some amazing doll beds and bedding.

Dear Miss Alice,
by Heidi Glauser

She's done lots of things for this show in addition to what you see above. Her button magnets, rings, and hair elastics are unique and fun. Her vintage cake, jewelry, whatnot stands and watch necklaces are each one-of-a-kind!

And that, my friends is a very small fraction of what you'll find at our Spring Boutique. Come check it out.

More Goodies!

Announcing three more prize winners!

Birdie - you just won a set of watercolor notecards by Charla!

Bob - you've been one lucky man on this blog! You just won the Happy Mother's Day banner!

And Emily Pinnock - we can't wait to see you at the boutique so that you can spend your $20.00 gift certificate from Pear and Peonies!

Just ask for Lauri at the show and I'll see that you get your prizes. Congratulations!

By the way, everyone, look for some great pictures of things you'll find here that I'll be posting soon. Whew! Can I please get some sleep now?

Winners!

So, we've spent the better part of the last three days putting this show together (not to mention all the "before" tasks) and our brains are a little fried, so forgive me if there are absolutely no frills on this post. But, I must say that the boutique is looking fabulous!

Here are the winners in our first two giveaways:

The de Roda Family wins the frame!

Jamilyn Bell wins the $20 boutique gift certificate!

Congratulations! Just find me - Lauri - or ask for me at the checkout and we'll get you your prizes. Thanks for putting us on your blogs. We look forward to meeting you at the show.

THREE Last Minute Giveaways!

Okay people, we've had three of our vendors offer some fun prizes!

#1 - a set of watercolor notecards by our own Charla Barton!

#2 - a "Happy Mother's Day" banner by Devany!

#3 - a $20.00 gift certificate from Pear and Peonies to be used at our boutique!

Everyone who comments is entered in the giveaway, but there is one catch - there has to be at least 10 comments today for the giveaway to happen! Get your friends and co-workers etc. to enter ASAP! I'll post the winners tomorrow morning bright and early!

Two Giveaways!

Starting tomorrow, we'll be posting some pictures of some of the fun things you'll find at "Such a Nice Surprise". Today, however, we have two giveaways to announce.

Giveaway #1

$20.00 certificate to spend at our show! Here's how you enter this drawing: post our flyer (you'll find it in the previous post) on your blog or mention our show in a post and put a link to ours, then leave a comment on this post telling us the address of your blog so we can check it out. We'll then enter you in this prize giveaway. We'll randomly select one winner from all those.

Giveaway #2

Valerie Rich and her daughter were new additions to our Christmas show and it was definitely a win-win situation. They do fabulous floral arrangements and some frames and cute magnets. They have agreed to give one of their great frames to one lucky winner. Unfortunately, Valerie had to leave town today and so wasn't able to get a picture to me, but I assure you, it's nice! Anyone who comments on this post is entered. Again, a random drawing will determine the winner.

We'll post the winners on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Finally - Such a Nice Surprise!

After years of saying, "maybe," we're actually going to do a SPRING boutique! We're so excited with how it's coming together. Perfect timing for wonderful Mother's Day shopping with the bright hues of spring and summer. There will be so many fun, new things for everyone to see. Imagine over 40 crafters represented. Check back in the coming days to see some of the great items that will be here. Mark the dates on your calendar - you won't want to miss this show!