The Stillroom

When I decided to open a small business in 2001, it was very clear to me that it would be called The Stillroom.  It was a shop that sold essential oils, fragrant herbs and spices and tea.

What was not clear, however, was what it was to people passing by.  One person said they thought it was a photography studio and another thought it was a place to get a shot and a beer… as in whiskey distillation.  It never really occurred to me what an obscure word ‘stillroom’  was.

A stillroom would be found in many homes hundreds of years ago and it was kept separate from the rest of the house.  This was the room where herbs, spices and  flowers were turned into teas, soaps and medicines among other things. Herbs such as  peppermint and lavender would be distilled to pull the oils out of the plants.  This is an essential or pure oil.  (A perfume oil is always going to be cut with some sort of carrier oil, thus the oil is diminished).  Remember, essential oil is pure, perfume oils are cut. The Stillroom carries both lavender essential oil and peppermint essential oil.

The Stillroom has loose french lavender by the ounce.  We also have lavender sewn into pretty sachets and we have culinary lavender too.  The french lavender color is not super blue (it is organic lavender) but the fragrance in one little petal is on fleek.  (that’s ‘on point’ in hipster)

The lavender bundles are back in stock!  These bundles are really, really nice and if you are a lavender lover like me, you will appreciate the organic beauty of these simple bouquets.   The lavender bundles and dried flowers you find in The Stillroom are shipped from the other side of Pennsylvania which delights me.  Keeping PA strong!

I was asked how to keep the bundles from shedding.  They really are just not meant to be handled a lot.  If you are breaking them down to create an arrangement, the stems will hold up if handled gently.  Separate the stems over a bowl and save all of that lavender goodness.  The buds can be turned into sachets!  One little bud, when pinched, will release its oil and it is exquisite!

Moving on.

I currently have a major beef with Facebook and Instagram and doubt that I will use it again.  I have to say I was really disgusted at how they dropped the ball with the breach of trust for their users.  Fortunately for me, I gave up Facebook over a year ago because quite frankly, it looked like everyone was having a much better time at life than me.  lol  It was the best thing I have done in a long time.  Disconnecting is not altogether unpleasant.  Yeah, I’m a rebel.

I just have to learn how to download pictures on to word press and step up my blog game.

The Stillroom ad can be found in Weber’s Willow Tree most months of the year along with Diamond Antiques and Gifts.  (The Willow Tree is another woman owned local business)

Diamond Antiques and Gifts is brimming with spring and outdoor living furnishings!  With an ever changing inventory, the shop is ready to help get you pumped up for warmer weather!  (Even though it is still spitting snow as I write this).  I am getting ready to clean up the patio because it’s going to be a beautiful weekend!

Located at 311 East Sixth Avenue in Tarentum,  Diamond Antiques & Gifts is a one stop shop!  From home furnishings to the tea shop,  there’s a pretty good chance you will find what you are looking for here.  You just have to come and see for yourself!

You know what I have always said, “if you can’t find it here, I’m happy to tell you where you can go”.   Seriously,  we have the current antiques guide and map available at the shop!

Shopping local, well it’s just the right thing to do!

Stop in and say hi

The Stillroom is located inside of Diamond Antiques & Gifts

311 East Sixth Avenue in Tarentum

Open Wednesday through Saturday from 10-5

Sunday from 12-5

Closed Monday and Tuesday so we can dust and restock

update: My photos for the shop should be in the cloud and they are not.  Looks like I have to make a trip to the apple store. 😦

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Nothing on earth turns me into a puddle more than the movie Loving Vincent.

and oh that song, Vincent (Starry Starry Night) sung by Lianne La Havas.

I have once again, turned into a puddle on the floor. “This world was not meant for one as beautiful as you.” -Don Maclean

He was so brilliant and so misunderstood and today, March 30 is Van Goh’s Birthday! Happy Birthday Vincent!

Van Gogh, Monet and Degas will be on display through July 8th at the Frick.

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There are so many things I like (notice I did not say love) about a good snow day.

So I am going to take two hours out of my snow day to enjoy the silly comedy, Snow Day.  We are fans of Chris Elliott, son of comedian and actor Bob Elliott.  Bob was half of the comedy duo of Bob and Ray (look them up)   I have the house to myself today.  Perfect time to indulge in a silly comedy.

Yesterday the giant ass box of tea arrived.  Awkward moments were had as the UPS guy handed me this unwieldy box of the new cases that The Stillroom will be transitioning to.  In case you, dear reader, are out of the tea loop – (trust me there is no tea loop, I just like how it reads)-  The Stillroom will be transitioning to Stash Boxes of 18-20 count teas.  The company, after years and years decided to discontinue the cello 10-packs.  The cost is more per purchase but the price per tea bag drops.  I’ll spend the morning on this snow day opening, pricing and creating a new space in the shop.  I think the real challenge will be replacing all 80 flavors.

When I received the catalog for the new year and saw this sort of dramatic change in what was a staple for The Stillroom, it gave me pause to think how should I retire from having the shop.  At what point do I tell myself  I can no longer do this?  The difference from when I first opened in 2001 until now has changed in more ways than just the size and shape of tea packaging.

I remember right out of high school I took a job at the now defunct Liberty Mirror in Brackenridge.  This was about the time the mill started hiring women.  Women worked at Liberty Mirror many years before the mill hired us.  At LOF (Libbey Owens Ford)  the new jam was that women could bid on a “mans” job.  lolololololololol

I always thought the LOF should of had a letter a in there somewhere because that was basically the midnight shift.  I liked the opportunity for a pay increase (I was most likely not making as much as the guys, I’m sure) so I took on one of the most physically demanding jobs in the plant.  Rosie the Riveter was my heroine.

Now, forty four years later I feel every day of every year that I picked up heavy stuff.  I have rearranged furniture in the house and shop, painted every wall in every placed we have ever lived in, -and it is many- packed and unpacked every move we made from coast to coast east to west and north to south.  I feel every piece of wet cardboard sheets with wet glass in between from those LOF days and  I feel  every snow flake I shoveled for three parking spaces for 13 years when the Saxonburg shop was open. Some days I just felt physically spent.

The move from Saxonburg to the fabulous Diamond Antiques & Gifts at 311 East Sixth Avenue in Tarentum was as serendipitous as me starting to sell tea.  I can not say enough great things about this place.  There is so much under one roof that I can safely say we are a great throwback to when you could shop for many things in one place.  Located in the former historic Van Sciver Wallpaper & Paint Store, I can truly say Dianna at Diamond Antiques has basically helped to save The Stillroom from permanent retirement.  I no longer have to shovel snow or move heavy furniture.  The grunt work is what took me out.  When I do have to lift a heavy or awkward piece of furniture or giant ass box of tea, help is always there.  I have learned that it is ok to ask for help.

Coffee, tea, local honey, Aunt Annes biscotti all wrapped and ready for gift giving,  repurposed furniture, antiques, vintage, retro, shabby chic, primitive, all occasion cards, estate jewelry, kitchen, dining, living room.  We have it all.  You can furnish a very stylish home or put together an awesome gift basket to give as a gift or to keep for yourself.  Soaps, lotions, Claire Burke Original sprays, limited essential oils, dried flowers, culinary lavender and organic cat toys.  I mean, seriously, this is the place.

Diamond Antiques and Gifts is located at 311 East Sixth Avenue in Tarentum, PA.

Right smack up against Massart’s Historic Diner, up the street from Gatto’s and Seita’s.  Across the street from Tarentum Station Restaurant.

The Stillroom is located right inside the door of Diamond Antiques & Gifts. Over 17 years of buying and merchandising so many cool things, I managed to whittled it all down to my faves.  Stillroom staples include organic Lavender in many forms including culinary, organic catnip toys, tea wallets, Claire Burke Orginal Spray, Stash Teas, limited Harney & Sons loose teas, tea accessories of all types, vintage hats, gloves, Moonlight & Roses postcards, nature related stuffs and an array of estate finds that captured my eye.

It is time for me to have another cup of tea, open this giant ass box and watch Snow Day.

If you are out and about, be careful.  If you need milk and toilet paper (like my 89 year old mom) just remember it will probably be all gone tomorrow.  😉

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So many awesome furnishings and cool stuff coming in every day!

That is all.

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I think I left out a cha.

Never cut a tree down in the wintertime.  Never make a negative decision in the low time.  Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods.  Wait. Be patient.  The storm will pass.  The spring will come.  -Robert H. Schuller

Well this little passage made some sense for me today.  I was faced with an important decision regarding The Stillroom Tea Shop.  For over fifteen years, I have had the pleasure of working with the Stash Tea Company.  Over time, as wholesale prices rose, I kept the tea prices the same.  So, from 2001 until 2018 our ten packs of tea have been 2.79.

Throw back to this past Friday. I was excited to receive my 2018 catalog from Stash.  I always really look forward to see what new tea flavors they’ve added for the new year.  I ripped it open and started making out my order, starting with the newest flavors.  (Let me say they are going to be very summery). As I started writing,  I suddenly did a double take.  What was this?  I survived the recession in 2008 that included a pretty big increase in the minimum amount of tea I could order for my tiny shop.  I stuck with it. So what was this I was staring at?  They have discontinued the ten packs and switched them out to boxes of 18-20 bags per box.

I felt my heart kind of sink.  I thought this was awful news for me.  I started thinking well, this might have to be my exit from the biz.

After doing calculations and some careful thought, I decided that I will roll with the change and start stocking the boxed teas.  I like the idea of the boxes because they are pretty and more functional for storage purposes.  But, the best part is the price will drop per tea bag.  After I thought about it, I never cared for the cello wrapped 10 packs.  If you pull one out, the whole package would just spill out.

So, over the next few months, you will see a change on the shelves of The Stillroom for the tea part of the shop.  I will sell out my stock of 10 packs and will hopefully replace all 80 flavors of tea.

In addition to the Stash Tea and Harney & Sons, I am looking forward  to the Bigelow line of teas that will include the classic Constant Comment.  Although I am more of a chamomile consumer, I grew up on Constant Comment.  This was one extravagance my mom would occasionally allow herself.  I loved this tea.  In fact, I might just order nothing but Constant Comment from them!

I have decorated for spring and The Stillroom is featuring air plants in hanging glass bulbs.  Very pretty and easy to care for!  In stock now are dried lavender bunches and really delicate and colorful dried and fragrant floral bundles.  Also new to the shop are dried floral arrangements that include french blue lavender in vintage containers.

If you are a lover of peppermint, (it’s my most favorite flavor on earth) the shop now carries the sweet Dutch confection, Wilhelmina mints.  The only other place to find these are at MonAmi in the Strip.   I’ll save you the trip! 🙂  These mints come in a cool little box that opens on the end and a little tray full of mints slides out.  If you have never had a Wilhelmina mint disk, here is  your opportunity to try them!  These sweet confections have been made for 120 years!  These were created as a homage to the Dutch Princess Wilhelmina, who was 12 years old at the time.  The portrait of the Princess Wilhelmina can be found on each mint tablet.  Sweets for the sweet.

The Open House was extremely well received!  Such a beautiful transformation of Diamond Antiques & Gifts.  The shop bustled with happy faces carrying their found treasures as we all enjoyed the warmer weather and the beautiful evening.

You can tell everyone was so happy to be out of the house after the crappy weather.

We are a few weeks out from Spring and I can not wait until the hillsides turn that delicate lime green and then explode into trees that look like broccoli until fall.

In the meantime, thanks to everyone that turned out for the Spring Open House.  It was deemed a smashing success.  Can’t do it without ya!

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Diamond Antiques Spring Open House is happening this week!

Shop is open Wednesday evening from 5-9 for the Spring Open House.  (Shop is closed Wednesday until 5.

The spring sale is on until Sunday, March 4th.  Don’t forget the shop opens from noon to five.   Stop in, the finds are spectacular!

It is an exceptional transformation as we chase spring.

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“I thought that I would never see, a spoon of roses turn to tea.” -The Stillroom

It’s not exactly the Joyce Kilmer poem, Trees.

I have to tell you, if you have never had a cup of Harney & Sons Rose Tea, you need to add this to your culinary list of flavors to try.

Before I opened The Stillroom, I was mostly interested in fragrant herbs and spices.  The shop sold dried lavender, patchouli, rose petals, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and catnip etc.  (the shop stills has those stocked although the cinnamon sticks and cloves are seasonal.

I always loved the scent of lavender and roses, fresh or dried.  My first experience tasting these flavors came many years ago when I bought myself a tin of Rose Flavigny candy.  I actually sold these at one time but they were expensive for our shop.   (These delights can be found in the Strip District at Mon Ami Chocolate shop).  Over time, I tried the Rose and the Jasmine and the Violet.  I fell in love with these delicate floral candies.

To replicate this culinary discovery, I decided to sell the Harney & Sons Rose Tea.  It is light and delicate and the scent is just so nice.  It is sold in loose form at The Stillroom by the one ounce package so you can try just a cup or two and also in the 8 oz. tin.

The shop also carries Stash Jasmine and Lavender Tulsi teas that are equally lovely and these are sold in bag form.

As for violets, we have Choward’s violet candy to round out the floral flavors.

I think Rose, Jasmine and Lavender Tea along with a pack of violet candy would make a lovely bouquet for the flower lover.  Add a Harney & Sons Valentine Tea which is so chocolatey you won’t believe your taste buds!

These fine items are available at The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop

311 E. Sixth Avenue  Tarentum  PA  

Wednesday – Saturday from 10-5

Sunday – 12- 5

Located within the walls of the beautiful Diamond Antiques & Gifts  We are gearing up for our Spring Open House…  Yay!

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I was just remembering the year the Steelers were in the playoffs and I hosted a game gathering at my house with the fam.

I was really into themed parties back then and my themed party was black and gold and inspired by tea, naturally.   But it wasn’t the decorations or team shirts, the theme colors were reflected in the food on the buffet and the beverages at the bar.

The menu started with pumpernickel bread with roast beef and sliced Kerrygold Cheddar cheese topped with a variety of the usual relish tray choices.    The chili had black beans and yellow pinto beans and served with gold cornmeal muffins.

Mac and cheese was served and was sprinkled with coarse ground pepper.  I’m sure we had vegetables in there somewhere, most likely Eat n Park coleslaw, which is the best in the area, hands down.

For beverages I served what else but black and gold tea, hot or iced.  The chamomile brews up a nice gold color and well black tea could be anything from chai to english breakfast.

Dessert was easy chocolate and yellow cupcakes from the local bakery.

Some people say they bleed black and gold, well, after this party you can say you…well never mind.

The nice thing about this was the food and company were great as always.  The team of the moment, not so much.  But hey, you can carry this festive party throughout the black and gold season which is year ’round!

Diamond Antiques has announced to the vendors that we will be starting the prep for our fantastic transformation for the upcoming new season!

Look for the upcoming ads in the February issue of Weber’s Willow Tree for Diamond Antiques and don’t forget to check the great pictures that  Diana keeps posted on Facebook of new merchandise!

Look for The Stillroom and follow my blog for updates on the spring sale and to read my rambling thoughts at five in the morning.

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It’s winter. It’s cold. It’s warm. It’s cold. it’s warm, it’s cold, it’s warm, it’s old.

So, it’s the morning after.  Our one day of winter bliss. That day the birds were singing, people were enjoying the sunshine and it sure felt just like spring.  The air changes and smells sweet.  That one beautiful day where all we talked about was the impending ice/snow storm.

The stores were busy with people buying the usual things to hole up with. It’s always fun when there is a winter storm and a big football game all in one weekend.  You can stay in your sweats all day and consume copious amounts of hot tea and bet that no one will be knocking on your door.  If anyone comes knocking,  I’m just not home.

These are the things that help to get us through the mid winter funk that people fall into.     I have had quite a few casual conversations with friends and family over the past months about how people get depressed during winter.  It’s not so much the weather as it is the darkness.   Now that I think about it, it almost ended up being a personal loose survey.

We need big events in the winter.  The daylight hours are slowly increasing. This is the next big event for me.  It really throws me into a happy place.  We gain a minute  of sun every day.  When the sun is out, just pay attention to little things like where shadows fall, and how it stays light a little longer, then look at a clock.  Yay!

Lent falls on my birthday this year and that is something I look forward to.  The excitement of Easter and spring really do come around fast.  The A-K Valley will soon be filled with that wonderful smell of oil frying up all of that fish and fries as we all seek the best fish sammie in the ‘burgh.

I am an admitted germaphobe.  One of my main goals in winter is to not get sick.  I have developed the fist bump as my greeting during winter when I meet people, much to their surprise. I carry the stress relief scented hand sanitizer and if I am within any distance of someone throwing out a multiphase turbulent buoyant bubble,  I turn around and go the other way.  Sometimes I’ll hold my breath and make a mad dash.  But, one must make sure that they travel at least two hundred feet away from the offender. A study at MIT shows these bad boys travel fast and far.  A multiphase turbulent buoyant bubble is also known as a sneeze.

The Stillroom has natural horehound drops that will help to soothe a dry, sore throat that comes along with running the furnace.  Candied ginger is soothing and warm in your tea or just to nosh on a little sliver to settle an angry tummy.  Spicy warm ginger tea is on the shelf to help warm you up on these cold winter evenings.

Recently, I had someone ask me why I revamped my logo from a fifties looking June Cleaver lady image to a fist with a hammer.  My answer was because I have somehow managed to stay in business for fifteen years. Tea strong, all day long. lol

January is a transitional month in the business.  We don’t want to rush right out of green and red and silver and gold into the pastels of spring.  I’m thinking once Valentine’s Day is over, it is a safe bet to break out the forsythia and tulips.  But, remember, the snowman is good all winter long!  lol Stop in and see how we do the transition!

In the meantime, we have a fabulous selection of goods under one roof.  Coffee, tea, herbs, oils, spices, old things, cool things,  new things, candles, soaps,  repurposed things,  chocolate tea and chocolate bars and biscotti.  You will find awesome furniture and accessories to decorate your humble abode.  It’s always a joy to watch people come in and leave happy with their found treasures.  These are the things that make a house a home,  Wether is’s a chair, a set of dishes, an old typewriter or a cup of tea, Diamond Antiques & Gifts is sure to be your new go to place to satisfy your soul.  It really is a special shop.

Diamond Antiques & Gifts/The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop

311 East Sixth Avenue, Tarentum PA

Open Wednesday through Saturday from 10-5 and Sunday from 12-5

Closed Monday and Tuesday so we can dust and restock!

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Happy Valentine’s Day! lol

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