Posts Tagged ‘crafts’

Carol has the wonderful ‘white’ booth (#CLK) at the base of the stairs and just finished decorating it for the holidays.  It’s breathtaking.

Carol is originally from Long Island, NY and worked in her father’s dry cleaning business through her school years.  After meeting her husband of 47 years, she worked part time in his family’s bridal salon, selling and making gowns and veils.  After their second son was born, she became a stay-at-home-mom and a bit more.  When they bought their first home “The Cottage,” the bank said it was uninhabitable.  Ready to ‘get her hands dirty,’ Carol learned how to use a paintbrush, hammer, saw and more.  She even collected 5,000 bricks from a construction site and laid a patio all by herself.

So it was with mixed emotions when they sold their dream house and moved to Florida in 1980.  After being a realtor for several years, Carol missed using her creativity.  She discovered Coral Springs Craft Guild, became a member, and learned so much about crafting.  Over the years she also joined Southern Handcraft Society, and became a regular at craft shows.

When her crafting started taking over her small home, she and a friend launched “The Ivy Cottage” in Wilton Manors.  Only about 800 square feet, but they loved it.  They found that customers wanted to buy the display pieces which were mostly castoff furniture painted white.  With the addition of more and more furniture, they quickly outgrew the shop.  As luck would have it, a 2,000 square foot shop became available just five stores down.  At first concerned they might not be able to fill such a large space, they did, and ended up expanding again!

By this time her two sons and their families had moved to Fort Pierce.  Carol and her husband missed watching their seven grandchildren growing up, so at the end of the shop’s lease, she retired and they moved here.  Her husband was still commuting Fort Lauderdale, the grandkids were in school, and Carol was bored.  What to do??  Lucky for us, she decided to get her hands dirty again, and the results are fabulous.

[You all know Rebecca, she mans the shop several days a week and helps with all our events.  Rebecca and her mom Marilyn (Carol's sister) just moved their Booth #9 with a complete redo to the right at the top of the stairs.]
“My Mom and I have talked for years about opening a little shop that carried a variety of things.  When I got laid off from my corporate job for a local builder my Aunt Carol had just opened Laura’s Emporium, so my Mom and I took a small spot to see how it would go.  I am a confessed shop-a-holic and love clothes, especially vintage!  My Mom is a great crafts-lady and makes beautiful dolls and bears, especially at Christmas time – her Santa’s are amazing!  So our “Little Shoppe of Hodge Podge” carries all our favorite things: clothes, collectibles, vintage, crafts, etc.  We put a ton of love and TLC into the new spot upstairs and are so pleased with how cozy it turned out!”