The Stillroom

A huge thank you to everyone that came out to Diamond Antiques for the first open house of the new year!  In spite of the snow, the rain and the general lousy weather that is just hanging on for dear life, it was a very busy week at Diamond.

I can’t think of a better way to spend the last of the dreary days than to get out of the house and walk around Diamond’s  terrific co op.  With Spring finally here,  the last of the cobwebs of winter have been blown away and the vendors have  spruced up to greet you and a fresh new season.

The Stillroom added beautiful both old and new tea pots and fresh teas along with a variety of vintage and antique  pieces.  Vintage gloves, hats, tea pots and cups, and  general cool stuff.   Like the forty year old cat phone that looks like a sleeping cat AND it still works!  Instead of a ring, you get a hearty meow!  When I found this gem I plugged it in for a few days and forgot about it.  One day at dinner we heard meow, meow, meow, then realized it was the cat phone.  We thought something fell on our cat.    All of my antique pieces, while used for display purposes, are all for sale.

The fragrant spring herbs and scents are here and The Stillroom workshop is busy gathering, blending, sewing and stuffing.  The scent of French Blue Lavender is  filling the workshop  and the fragrance is heavenly in there!  Extra fragrant, this lavender is perfect for stuffing into a vintage handkerchief to keep handy in your purse, pocket or backpack. You know, for when you feel stressed.  Just squeeze a little to break a few petals down to release the perfume oils and by all means, do inhale.  Available loose by the ounce or in a  sachet made in the USA by yours truly, lavender is a  also a natural moth repellent.  Sprinkle some in with  winter woolens as you start to pack them up for the summer to deter pesky bugs.  To me, lavender is one of the most beautiful scents on the earth.  So pretty in color and so tiny.  If you pinch one little petal then smell your fingers, you will be blown away at how much one petal the size of a grain of rice can pack so much fragrance.  If you want to spread out your purchase dollar, just pick it up loose by the ounce.

I’m putting the finishing touches on labeling and then my  linen sprays will  be on the shelves at the Diamond location.  The linen sprays include Lilac, Lavender Rose and naturally, Lavender and they are beautiful.  Spritz onto pillows and bed linens to create a relaxing and springlike fragrance.  I have tested them over time and I love them and I think you will too!

The lemon verbena, lemon grass, lemon peel, lemon oil and Sunny Orange Lemon Tea is here to help brighten up the days  and invigorate the senses.  When I walk into the workshop, it is like walking into a garden of fragrance.  From the cinnamon sticks, cloves and oils to the deep red roses on the shelf, this is a pretty darn good gig to have in life. Not all of these wonderful herbs are available at The Stillroom located inside of Diamond Antiques because there is just not enough space or shade for a display of everything that is available.  But, if you are reading this, and you are looking for some herb, spice or oil, shoot me an email or call my cell or leave a comment and I’ll get back to you quickly.

The tea wallets took on a fresh new look in bright floral patterns for a new season and come with one each black, herbal, decaf, white and green tea.  This is a nice way to try a tea that you otherwise might not care to buy a whole package of.  From traditional English Breakfast to the beautifully floral fragrant Jasmine Green, these wallets are made right here by me…Nimble Mitts & Co.   I am currently engrossed putting together my sleep pillows that come with a removable, washable coverlet.  Filled with lavender, just disperse the lavender in the all- cotton pocket, microwave for a few seconds and relish in the scent and warmth and soothing feeling that lavender blesses us with.  Tuck this into your pillow at night and be taken away to dream land as your inhale the gentle scent provided by mother nature.

You know, I can’t believe that we are still going to see some spitting snow and sleet and rain this close to April!  The upswing here is that I see green on the weeping willows and that, my friend, is the best part of the year.

Oh dear, I could go on, but I won’t.  I have to save some writing for another day.  I should save the mystery of The Stillroom for you so you will want to come and discover my corner of the world in person.

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Happy New Year!  I would like to thank everyone that found their way into Diamond Antiques & Gifts to visit The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop over the holiday season. It was so great  to see old friends and new faces looking for me or tea.  It was really nice.

The end of the holiday season doesn’t mean an end to the holiday tea flavors.  I learned my mistake in my first year in business (many years ago) not to keep holiday teas just around Christmastime.  They are so delicious that they are kept on the shelf all year around!  So don’t despair if you didn’t get your White Christmas with the healthy benefits of white tea blended with ginger and mint or the Christmas Eve herbal tea with its gentle flavor of herbs that will warm you up like a soft blanket to keep you feeling warm and cozy.

One of the best parts of my job is perusing the catalogs for new tea flavors  and making sure the seasonal teas that carry us through the heart of winter are always in stock.  The new teas to look forward to in the coming weeks are Harney & Sons Winter White Earl Grey, Valentine’s Day Chocolate tea which is so excellent you won’t need any other chocolate to satisfy your need for something sweet AND low calorie!  African Autumn is another standard that is so delicious it has to be on the shelf all year…not just autumn!  For upcoming  weddings the Harney & Sons outstanding wedding tea will be arriving.  It is a beautiful marriage of white tea, vanilla and lemon with rose petals in a silk sachet.    To get us out of the doldrums of what can be a taxing time of year with little precious sunshine, let the Harney & Sons Tropical Green tea take you to a place that is filled with sun and refreshing pineapple.  Oh my!  This is the stuff!  If life gives you lemons, make tea!   Herbal Vervain and Meyer Lemon tea to be exact.

There will be other new flavors gracing the shelves in addition to old standbys that are tried and true.  The move to Diamond Antiques in Tarentum has proved to be a major success and I am so happy that this is the next chapter in the life of The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop.  I am proud to say that this will be my thirteenth year in the tea and gift biz!

Question…would you like to see me restock the biscotti and La Prima Coffee?  I would like some feedback on that subject.  Of course, if you have any questions about anything under the roof of Diamond Antiques, call me and I will get back to you.

If you have not been there  yet, Diamond Antiques is where you can find me now! The store is open five days a week to accommodate most shoppers.  Located at 311 East Sixth Avenue in Tarentum, (across the street from Tarentum Station) Diamond Antiques is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10-5 and Sunday from 12-5.  For photos of Diamond Antiques & Gifts, go to http://www.diamondantiques.com.

Stop in and relax as you stroll through the old Van Sciver building that now houses over 25 antiques dealers. Each space represents one of many collectors all with exquisite tastes that range from elegant to quirky!  It is truly a pleasure to be a part of this very cool co op.

After a long recession I see people looking to the old fashioned mom and pop shops where you get just the best service.    We are passionate about what we do and that leads to a really nice shopping experience. Weather you are looking for tea, tea accessories or teapots old or new, stop in at Diamond Antiques and enjoy all that we have to offer the Alle-Kiski Valley and beyond.   Thank you again, for supporting your neighborhood shops and I hope to see you all soon!

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It has been, as it has been in most of the country this year, a long, cold, snowy, gray, bleak, unforgiving winter.  Without a heart and with no soul. Some years and not very often, it just hangs on.  I have a few photographs from when I was a kid at Easter with huge piles of dirty snow in the background.  Yes, we would go outside in our Easter finest to have a photograph taken. There is no rule that says we have to love cold weather.  It gives us topics for conversation when all else fails.  I love cold weather.  I like preparing for the days when the weatherman says we could be getting over a foot of snow.  We prepare for the absolute worst.  We have bread, milk, cheese, eggs and soup.  The other necessities are the obvious so I won’t even type them.  We gas up the car, we keep the shovels handy and the ice melt in supply.   We wait for the snow to pile and when it does, (that would be a few inches here) we know we can stay in our most ridiculous of combinations of clothing because we know without a doubt that no one is coming to the door today.  Yay.  These days are more sacred than we give them credit  for.  At least they are for me.

Spring is coming.  Despite the icy cold dips in temperature I can feel it letting go.  We had the excitement of daylight saving time kicking in and although it is still cold, we celebrate the small victories like a beautiful sunrise and longer days for sure.  How much excitement around that extra daylight in the evenings.  I love saying “look, it’s 7:00 and it’s still light out and I feel more free as I grab the car keys at five thirty because now I can SEE the deer running down the hillsides before they tear off across any of the roads around here. 

With that daylight comes all sorts of good things!  We start perusing seed packets and clear off a windowsill to start the beginnings of our fall harvest.  The first thing I plant though, is not for consuming.  I start the beginnings of a live grass Easter Basket.  Let’s get right to it.

 Here are the directions~

Gather a wicker basket, plastic wrap or bag, pebbles and grass seed, a paper bag and water.

Line the basket with plastic up to the sides, add a layer of pebbles for drainage.  Add an inch or so of potting soil and sprinkle with seeds.  Add a light layer of soil over seeds and water gently.   Cover with a paper bag.  The seeds will germinate in a few days.  When they pop through, remove the bag and place in a sunny spot and water regularly.  Kids love this project!  When the holiday is through, patch a pothole in your yard.

Speaking of growing, take a second and pop in the shop and check out the Blooming Jasmine Tea Pods along with the Tiffany Rose Tea Pods.  These are so fun to watch as they bloom right before your eyes!  Here are the directions for the pods~

Find a glass container.  It can be as fancy as a glass tea pot or as simple as a country mason jar.  Add almost boiling water to the container, add pod, swish it around for a few seconds to dampen it, pour the water out leaving the pod in and add almost boiling water to your vessel.  About two cups, perhaps a touch more.  The fun part is watching the tea pods open and bloom to reveal a beautiful flower!  Let steep for a few minutes or until pod is completely open and strain into your favorite tea cup!  These are so fun to watch and again, children love these!  Then you can sit and share a lovely cup of jasmine or rose flavored tea.  In spite of the fact that I did have one stinker that opened weird and we concluded it looked like a brain, let me say this, these are excellent on the palate.  Really nice and light and floral. The tea pods can be ordered and shipped so give me a ring at 412-721-6357. You will most likely get my voicemail because when I’m driving, I just don’t pick up the phone.  But I can promise you I will return your call because I appreciate it.

“As sure as the spring will follow the winter, prosperity and economic growth will follow recession” ~ Bo Bennett

Now, about the shop.  Since Saxonburg has basically turned into a ghost town, the shop has unfortunately reduced the hours to only a few days a week. This is not too big a deal since tea has a very long shelf life. I have to go find a real job, lol.

Through the month of March, April and May, we will be open Thursday’s, Friday’s and Saturday’s from 11-2. Other days by chance or by appointment. I strongly encourage phone calls before you trek out to the middle of nowhere and find me closed.  If something comes up, like a work schedule that could change, call 412-721-6357 just to be sure.  Enough about me. 

Even though the town has endured almost three years of road construction due to the very long awaited Main Street Improvement Project and  we gained beautiful sidewalks, new benches, a wider street, vintage street lights and landscaping, we also lost quite a few businesses.  As a result and there are  many empty places up for rent and not many takers on Main Street, at least at the moment.  

Over a period of time, we lost a fabric and quilt shop, a bakery, a couple of gift shops and a few folks who tried to open an internet cafe sort of place in the midst of the chaos of dump trucks, concrete trucks, sidewalk closings and dust.  It diminished the experience when they left, for sure.  They will be missed.

Here is where you can still shop ~

 Pangea Street is a great little shop that carries cultural gifts from all over the globe.  724-591-6636

The Saxonburg Area Artist Co Op features beautifully handcrafted giftware from local artists.  Pretty cool place. 412-260-5779

Mimi’s Memories, (Mimi is Pam Bauman the newly elected mayor of Saxonburg).  We are hoping she can help breath some life back into this small village. Mayor Mimi has a small group of local collectors that contribute their vintage and unusual wares to her shop so it is a mix of old and new and the largest of the shops around. 724-524-1717

There is also The Gray Wolf Gallery off of Main Street.  They have great art work for your country home and rustic lifestyle and also do framing services. 724-352-9920

Now, back to me.  Maybe I should change my name to me me. lol Around the corner from Main Street at 111 State, you will find the quiet corner of our world that is The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop. I have had a lot of people find me on tea map.com and are inquiring about high tea services.  For some reason, and I’m sure it’s me, I am having a hard time getting through to the tea map page to change some information on there.  That important information is this…Unfortunately, we do not serve tea.  The Stillroom is strictly a tea retailer.  So, for anyone that finds me on tea map and it throws you to my blog, please note that I recommend The Johnston House, in Mars, Pa. (near Cranberry)  Their number is 724-625-2636

The Stillroom Gift and Tea Shop is going on thirteen years in business and we have managed to hang on through thick and thin.  The tea shop still maintains a great selection of tea, tea accessories, fragrant herbs by the ounce including organic lavender and rose petals to the very popular organic catnip available by the ounce or sewn into a toy.  With workshops located in Saxonburg, we have a smathering of hand sewn, high quality odds and ends made from great fabrics from Loom in the Strip. From our tea wallets to cat toys, these are all designed and produced by Nimble Mitts and Co. 

Along with Nimble Mitts and Co., I would like to introduce a small line of skillfully designed, hand crafted, heavy duty backpacks made by Pennypacker Designs, also located in the burg. Pennypacker Designs also specializes in cool bread wallets and small leather goods.  All hand stamped and hand sewn with the finest of materials, you know you can’t go wrong with made in the USA.

And now, a sad/happy announcement.  We will be closing our brick and mortar location by the beginning of this summer.  We join this century as we reopen as an online retailer of fine teas, locally roasted organic coffee and dry goods produced here in our workshops.  If you are looking for cool gifts and hot tea to send out to friends and family or as corporate thank you’s from the burgh, this is a great place to start!

All is not lost. 

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It has been a few months since I have posted anything on my blog and quite a bit has happened in those few months!

The Stillroom Gift and Tea Shop has closed as usual, from December through February.  This years ridiculous amount of snow has prompted me to stay closed until it has all melted.  Between the snow falling from the sky to the plow that rolls by every few days and plows the parking area in, I give up!  There really is no place left to put the snow.

As most of you know, we have lived above the shop for many years and that is something that has also changed.  We have moved our residence and are living 18 miles south of Saxonburg. The building that housed the shop is now the branch office for State Street Networks.  It is also the workshop of  Nimble Mitts Sewing Co., Pennypacker Designs and the office of The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop.

The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop will open back up when the parking area is fit for walk in clients.  At this rate, I am not sure when that will be.  I will post an update when information becomes available.

Blooming Jasmine Tea pods will be arriving in time for the spring thaw so check back periodically for days and hours of business.

As always, if there is a tea emergency, (yes, we have had them) call the shop at 412-721-6357 and leave a voicemail.  

Calls are always returned promptly                        

In the meantime, keep warm and enjoy your tea!

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It is the first snowfall of the season.  Exciting but short lived as it will be back to sweater weather by the week’s end.

The three year renovation of Saxonburg’s Main Street is finally over and it is time to come to The Stillroom Gift & Tea shop to celebrate this long awaited event.

The streets are wider, the sidewalks are brand spanking new brick, the new historically accurate street lamps illuminate the street to reveal a job well done and well worth waiting for.

The Stillroom Gift and Tea Shop at 111 State Street is open now for its twelfth season.  I am here every week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11-3 with expanded days and hours starting  Wednesday, December 4th.

I will be open Friday, November 29th (the day after Thanksgiving) from 11-3 and again from 7-9 p.m. for our annual light up night parade.

As far as shopping Main Street,  I strongly suggest you call individual shops for hours.

The shops are as follows:

On Main Street…

Mimi’s Memories   724-524-0565

Pangea Street    724-496-2212

The Saxonburg Area Artists Co op   412-260-5779

C. Matus   724-352-2860

On State Street…

The Stillroom Gift & Tea Shop   412-721-6357

On Butler Street-

Gray Wolf Gallery   724-352-9920

Any new shops I don’t know about?  Probably.  There are a few places up for rent on Main so if any one new pops in, that’s where you will find them!

So, if you are looking for lovely teacups, tea pots, tea accessories including gold filters, tea cosy’s and tea wallets (complete with holiday tea assortment, holiday tea, herbal tea, loose tea , white tea, green tea, black tea, red tea, come to Bubba’a, I mean The Stillroom.

I also carry great fresh coffee from La Prima, fresh biscotti ready to be custom packaged for gift giving, fragrant herbs and spices by the ounce and cool things made not only the USA but by Nimble Mitts & Co. right here in Saxonburg.

You can buy a cup of tea for someone for 30 cents or buy a vintage teacup for $30.00.  The shop has something nice for all budgets plus you get ME!

That’s a gift in and of itself because I am so awesome!

Let the merriment and mirth begin!

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