Thankful thoughts

Tim and I will be celebrating 2 years as the Proprietors of The Brickhouse Craft Shop. We opened our small Craft Shop on December 8, 2007. I look back on pictures of our Shop on that opening day....we were so proud of our little Shop, but we didn't have the Shop filled with goodies like we do now...but we were so proud and happy to have our Shop. I remember our very first customer...she gave us our first dollar which we have on a grapevine wreath behind our counter...everytime she comes in she points out that she is the one who gave us that first dollar. She is so nice and so are all our wonderful customers...or as Tim and I call them..OUR FRIENDS! We have met so many nice people since we opened and that is what we enjoy most about having our little Shop. Above the door of our Shop is a saying "Enter as strangers, leave as friends" this is so true! We are so thankful for all the new friends that we met since opening and we are so thankful for ALL our wonderful Artists who keep The Brickhouse filled with awesome primitive goodies. I want to say a special thank you to my partner, my best friend, my handsome husband, Tim. He has been a great partner in this wonderful journey. Our Shop would not be the success it is today without him..he is my rock! I am so proud of his talent and so proud to be his partner.I am so thankful that he never complains when the house is a mess or if we are eating PBJ sandwiches for dinner because of the time I spend on making signs for the Shop or some other craft..Thank you Tim for putting up with me.

The Brickhouse is filled to the rafters with some really awesome goodies...You all need to stop by if you are in our neck of the woods. And if you can't make it..here is a little tour of our Shop. Enjoy....

I end the tour with this picture..I love April and Tony's snowman and I love this little sign..DREAM BIG DREAMS...Tim and I always dreamed of having a craft Shop...Dreams DO come TRUE..thank you to all our wonderful friends.~~Patti~~

Snowmen have arrived

The Brickhouse is bursting at the seams with SNOWMEN! You have to make the trip to The Brickhouse and see the new snowmen that just arrived. Tony and April make the bestest crafts and WE LOVE their snowmen...Don't hesitate to stop by and see them..they won't last long! I love this big snowman...he is holding a light..so cute!

Another awesome goodie from Tony and April...A hat filled with greens, a light and snowmen..these will not last long at our Shop...Stop by and see them..SO cute!Another cute snowman!

Aren't these stockings cute? We have been selling lots of these as soon as we put them in the Shop!We have a list of our customers that wanted us to call them when Tony and April's snowmen arrived..that is how popular these goodies are...so please stop by and see them..you will fall in love with them!~~Patti~~

Special Delivery - from our Brickhouse friends!

Hello, this is Tim. The Brickhouse is receiving a lot of orders from our crafters these days so Patti and I are always checking to see if any boxes have been left on the Brickhouse porch. We did receive an order from a crafter today but we also have been receiving some special deliveries - from our Brickhouse friends! When I went to the porch to see whose order we received, I noticed some bags of groceries by our Food Donation box!

Patti has shared pictures from our local Food Bank as well as pointing out the need for help on previous postings. She has also shared this information on emails and Facebook. We have met some of you as you drop off donations but sometimes we are not around when you stop by. For those we haven't been able to thank personally, we hope to be able to some day but I will use this blog for now.

Above the door to the Craft Shop you may notice the saying 'Enter as Strangers...Leave As Friends'. Whether we've met you or not, you are a Brickhouse Friend when you stop by and leave Food Bank donations. You are also a Friend to someone else you may never meet - the person who will use your donation for theirselves and their families. Someone who is less fortunate than you.

Whether you give 1 can of soup or a bag of groceries - we want to Thank You! Remember - if we all give a little, it adds up to a lot.

Decking the Halls and Stocking the Shelves

Decking the Halls...I sit here in my warm kitchen, in my warm bathrobe, drinking my warm cup of tea, as I think warm thoughts about Christmas. In a few minutes I will head out to the Shop and pack up all the Halloween goodies and put on some Christmas music and start to deck the halls with Christmas goodies! I am so excited to make the change in the Shop. We have been getting lots of new goodies! Tim and I have been so busy working on some custom orders and also cutting and painting signs. I have lots of new signs for the Shop. This is the start of the busiest time of the year for us. Our house is starting to look like Santa's Workshop! I just wish Santa would give me an early Christmas present...A MAID AND A COOK....my housework has suffered...oh well, we have to keep our customers happy...housework will just have to wait!

Stocking the Shelves: And as I sit here in my warm kitchen eating my warm bowl of oatmeal my thoughts turn to people who are waking up today with no food in their pantry...no food to feed their children. The Brickhouse Craft Shop is accepting donations of non~perishable food and NEW UNWRAPPED TOYS. I volunteer at the Food Bank at the Upper Dauphin Human Services Center, Clearfield Street in Elizabethville. I was there yesterday and our shelves are so bare. We have so many more clients coming in asking for help...so can you help? We will have a box on our porch at all times for donations. You don't even have to come when we are open to make a donation ( but we would love to meet you and to thank you). You can even stop by the Center (across from the Library in Eville). Every Christmas the Center has a Christmas program where parents can come and "shop" for presents for their children. We are expecting a lot more parents to sign up for this program and we need toys. I can't imagine a child waking up on Christmas morning and not having any presents...so please help. I know times are tough for all of us..but it we can give a little we can help a lot..so please help. And for all our followers of our blog, please go to your local Food Bank and make a donation or even volunteer. Thank you.

~~Patti~~

Views From The Porch

We end the Tour of The Brickhouse with some views from the Porch. We have had so much rain the last couple of weeks but there was one day that was just perfect...so I want to share that day with you....! This is what you will see when you drive up to our Shop.

Come on in.....wanna sit down and enjoy the views? Go ahead......and while you are enjoying the beautiful day take a look at all these wonderful goodies on the Porch.

My view from the kitchen. When our Shop is open I am usually in the kitchen and I can look out and see when our customers arrive.Looks like the sun is beginning to set...it was nice having you visit us. Please come back again and remember you can PORCH SIT anytime you like...we love sharing our porch and our views with you.~~Patti~~

Tour Part 2

Welcome back. Come on in...

Look around and you will see that we have some wonderful goodies..ALL HANDMADE....MADE IN USA!

Stop by again for more of the tour...OR if you are in our neck of the woods PLEASE stop by The Brickhouse and say hi..we would love to meet you!

~~Patti~~

Tour of the Shop part 1

Tim and I have been working on some changes at The Brickhouse and we thought we would take you on a tour of our Shop. I have so many pictures to share on our blog but I can't load all of them so we may have to take you on another tour at another time. Well, come on in...since the day was so nice we were able to display some of our goods on our porch....take a look around..

Come on in..notice anything different? Yes, we opened up the fireplace. There were doors on the fireplace and yesterday Tim removed the doors! We love how it looks and can't wait to light a fire in it..in the meantime the lights will have to do.Now a sneek peek at some Winter goodies that arrived yesterday in 2 big boxes all the way from Alabama from our good friend, Beryl. If you stopped by The Brickhouse yesterday and you heard some oohs and ahhs coming from the house...that was me opening up the boxes! I was so excited seeing what Beryl made for the Shop...Here is a sneak peek...you all have to make sure to stop by and see the rest of her creations....they won't last long!

Thanks for stopping by The Brickhouse..stop by again and we can continue the tour.

~~Patti~~