Elizabeth's Store

A couple weeks ago I introduced you to my friend Elizabeth. She has had a hard life, her husband cheated on her, left her for their maid, then he took all of their children away from her. Her Amish church shunned her for reasons that I did not disclose in my post because if we ever write out her story, we will add in all the details to the why's and wherefores of her life. If you have not read my posts about Elizabeth, I invite you to click on the links following and reading about her and experiencing the process of making a basket. I think you will enjoy it. 

My Friend Elizabeth - part one     My Friend Elizabeth - part two

Elizabeth is a lady with gumption and zeal and she will not lay down and die just because life is hard, so as you were able to see in my two prior posts, she makes baskets to supplement her income. She has a little store tucked away in a corner of her barn. Her store is a bit bare at the moment because she also does home health care and it keeps her quite busy. She will fill up her store as she can and also takes orders for baskets if you would like a certain one she doesn't have on hand. 

Following are pictures of her store on the inside. I neglected getting one from the outside for some reason. It is very small and was hard for me to get a scope of the whole store, but I got small details. I will describe things as we go along. 

The pictures are not in any kind of order, I just uploaded them from my camera in the order I shot them, so it may seem a little random at times. 

Elizabeth has two sons, both are married now and are very crafty. Her oldest son makes these chairs down at his home in Tennessee and she sells them for him as she gets customers for them. I checked out the chair and it is very sturdy and very nicely handcrafted. I may have to get one for my grandson. It would fit him well for the next couple years. 

A little gas heater that keeps the store nice and warm, tucked away beside a window that is in the little store. 

She sells a few cleaning items. 

This is an desk organizer basket that she makes. You can order it in various colors. I think this one is dark blue, but she has green, red, black colors as well. 

Her heart basket. 

Egg basket. She had a vision on how to make this one. That vision is what she woke up from and had the idea to make baskets for a living. It is quite a story when she tells it. 

Way up high is a child's cradle she has woven. 

A round basket, possibly her pie basket and I think it comes with a lid and a divider. On most of the baskets you can get the stationary handles or the leather ones you see in this picture. 

She sells some baby gift items and such that either she or local Amish ladies make and she keeps them in bins so they don't get dirty or dusty from sitting in the store for awhile. 

All sizes and shapes and colors of baskets. 

More baskets.

She makes these little primitive rag balls that are decorative and all the rage anymore. She only has a few left of those right now. 

She can weave various designs using different colored and sizes of reed like in the picture above. 

Behind the basket is a carpet that an Amish person makes and she sells them in her store for them. 

I think this is the basket that you can sit on a stairway and it covers two steps. 

In her store, on her shelving she has typed out her story of how she got started making baskets. This is a picture of that story. 

A better picture of the Amish made carpets she sells. 

She dabbled a little bit with making soap, here is the last of her soaps. 

This sign you will see hanging somewhere at most Amish businesses and farms. I've often wondered about such a sign. Does it mean anything if someone hurts themselves? I can't imagine it would, but I have no idea. I had to get a picture of it because I remember growing up with those signs everywhere. 

This is her gas light that she lights if it is dark in her store. It is very basic, the ones in the homes are a little more decorative than this one. This one is just functional. 

In this little nook she has some homemade sleepers, and basket liners and other odds and ends that you can purchase at her store. 

A more up close look on her display. 

A basket liner. 

Neck pillows. 

Her neck pillow tree. 

She makes cards, there is her card display. Following are more up close pictures of the cards she has in her display. 

And another egg basket. I've watched her make this kind before and it is really detailed and she can almost do it in her sleep. It is amazing how God has gifted her and how talented she really is. So organized and neat and together.

If you are interested in purchasing a basket, or any other item you saw, from Elizabeth or are in the area and would like to visit her little store, I can make sure you get information on how to contact her. You can private message me on Facebook or send me an email at: sage_solstice@yahoo.com and I will get back to you with the information. 

Looking in my Rear View Mirror Facebook Page