Recent Posts (page 3)
It’s early December, and if you’re like many of us, your calendar is filling up with people to see and places to be.
And speaking of places to be … we salute the hosts and hostesses of the holiday season – those generous souls who invite us into their homes for food, drink, and all-around merriment.To thank them, we think it’s only appropriate to give them a little something to show how much we appreciate the hospitality.
For starters, may we recommend a Reindeer Antler Bottle Opener? Besides being just plain cool looking, these openers have a story. Naturally shed by the reindeer, the antlers are collected by the Sami, semi-nomadic reindeer herders of the northernmost regions of Europe. The antlers are then used to create decorative (and functional) objects, like this striking opener. Pair it with a six-pack of craft-brewed winter ale, and any party will reach a new level of festive when you arrive.
Reindeer Antler Bottle Opener
Another can’t-go-wrong option: a lovely scented candle. Because not all scented candles are created equal, we put several though a rigorous sniff test to decide which are gift-worthy. The Voyage de Mer candle made the final cut. Its clean, sea-inspired scent is a great way to freshen up a room, plus it burns for 85 hours.
Voyage de Mer Scented Candle
You will certainly win a repeat invitation if you show up bearing exclusive handcrafted stoneware cups. Made by a Portland ceramicist, the cups are crafted in the Japanese style of yunomi (cups used for informal tea drinking), and are designed to fit comfortably in one’s hand. What better way for a host or hostess to relax after the big gathering than with a soothing hot drink warming their palms?
Stoneware Cup
For more host and hostess-friendly items, visit our gift boutiques, and Pinterest gift boards:
Gifts for Under $100: Jadite and Glassware
Gifts for Under $100: Handy, Helpful and Fun
Cheers!
Our merchants (those design-savvy folks responsible for our product assortment) have been very busy this year. Their efforts have culminated in a unique assortment of gifts that honor craft, beauty, and utility. Below are three products that embody those traits, and have earned them “fave gift picks” status.
Tommy Pin-Up Lamp
We just love this little lamp. Besides being cute as a button, it’s very versatile – it’s both a task lamp and a sconce. You can place, clip, or hang it up where you like and plug it in. The Tommy’s low-key industrial feel, combined with the fact that it’s available in several finishes (Polished Nickel, Antique Nickel, Bronze, and Antique Brass) allow it to work well in various settings.
Walnut Hook Rack
We’re partial to these walnut hook racks partly because they’re indigenous. The boards are hewn from Oregon black walnut harvested from hazard trees (trees that pose a safety risk and need to be cut down). Then, in our Portland factory, we attach our classic hand-finished hooks, and voila! The result is a beautifully rustic, functional item that has lasting appeal. Every rack is slightly different, so you’re guaranteed a one-of-a-kind piece.
Vintage Grand Prize Lager Bottle Opener
No surprise, we love products with history behind them around here. Take these vintage bottle openers, for example. A cache of them were found in a beer distribution warehouse. Grand Prize Lager (the prize-winning beer whose name appears on the openers) is a product of the historic Magnolia Brewery in Houston, Texas, founded by German immigrants and at one time owned by the ever-eccentric Howard Hughes.
We can’t think of a better gift for a beer aficionado, since this bottle opener really is a compact, sturdy piece of American history that mounts directly onto a wall. (We suggest next to the fridge, for starters.)
For other imaginative gifts sure to delight everyone on your list, make sure to check out our gift boutiques for presents under $100 and under $200, and also our holiday Pinterest boards:
Gifts for Under $100: Jadite and Glassware
Gifts for Under $100: Handy, Helpful and Fun
Cheers!
Mirror, Mirror
This year, we’re spreading the holiday glow with an Artisan Fair in each of our stores. It’s an opportunity to celebrate American handcraft, and the local artists that bring beauty and great design into our everyday lives.
The Portland Artisan Fair is on Saturday, November 17th, from 10AM to 5PM. Several local artists will showcase their gift-friendly creations – an array of handcrafted items that include photographs, prints, paintings, ceramics, and homeware. Here’s your chance to find that perfect, one-of-a-kind Portlandia gift (with or without a bird on it).
You can also check out Rejuvenation’s assortment of holiday gifts, enter to win one of our new, iconic Mid-Century Modern Blenko table lamps, and take an up-close look at our authentic reissues of legendary O.C. White Industrial lamps.
Best of all, you can feel good about shopping at the Artisan Fair: 10% of store and artists’ sales from this event will be donated to p:ear, our charitable partner, which serves homeless youth in Portland.
Artisans:
Megan Oser and Erin Albin, Appetite
Beth Kerschen, photographer and printmaker
Rachel Austin, painter
Amy Stoner, painter and printmaker
Puji Sherer, Puji Studio
Steve Kelly, ceramicist
Vanessa Holden, Smitten Artisan Truffles
Paul Bishop, Driftedge
Naomi Berg, Transformation Glassworks
Sebastian and Erika Degens, Stone Barn Brandyworks
If you’re like us, the holidays involve a fair amount of to-ing and fro-ing to parties, open houses, and dinners. And if you’re really like us, those events involve a cocktail or two.
Naturally, we’re drawn to cocktails with some history behind them. The Tom and Jerry is an old-timey winter standby that’s similar to eggnog. Some believe the drink was invented by British author Pierce Egan in his 1820 novel about two rowdy cousins, Corinthian Tom and Jerry Hawthorne. Alternately the drink is credited to Jerry Thomas, a New York bartender who published the first American guide to cocktails in 1862.
Thomas’ recipe reads thusly:
5 pound sugar
12 egg
1/2 small bar glass Jamaica rum
1 1/2 tea-spoon cinnamon ground
1/2 tea-spoon clove ground
1/2 tea-spoon allspice ground
(Use punch-bowl for the mixture.)
Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and the yolks until they are as thin as water, then mix together and add the spice and rum, thicken with sugar until the mixture attains the consistence of a light batter.
To deal out Tom and Jerry to customers:
Take a small bar glass, and to one table-spoonful of the above mixture, add one wine-glass of brandy, and fill the glass with boiling water, grate a little nutmeg on top.
Adepts at the bar, in serving Tom and Jerry, sometimes adopt a mixture of 1/2 brandy, 1/4 Jamaica rum, and 1/4 Santa Cruz rum, instead of brandy plain. This compound is usually mixed and kept in a bottle, and a wine-glassful & used to each tumbler of Tom and Jerry.
N. B.—A tea-spoonful of cream of tartar, or about as much carbonate of soda as you can get on a dime, will prevent the sugar from settling to the bottom of the mixture.
(Reprinted from classicmixology.com)
While Tom and Jerry is a wonderful party quaff, here in the soggy Northwest, we’re also planning to pour quite a few hot toddies in between festivities. Not only is a toddy reputed to ease colds, it’s thought to have originated in 17th-century Scotland as a polite, palatable way for women to consume scotch. Tasty and empowering – we love that!
Though these are just two, festive wintry drink recipes abound. So we say, bring out the fancy glasses, mix up a cup (or two) of good cheer, and enjoy! And while you’re at it, tell us: What will you be raising a toast to this holiday season? And what beverage will you be toasting with?
This week marks the 20th anniversary of our flagship Portland store at 1100 S.E. Grand and Taylor in the historic Eastside Industrial district. Since we opened our doors twenty years ago, the Portland store (or “Grand” as we like to refer to it) has been many things – an anchor business that helped develop a vibrant historic district, a renowned local landmark, and most recently, a stop along the new Central Loop streetcar line. (It’s worth noting that Portland’s new streetcar was manufactured in the United States. Way to go!)
November 1992 newspaper clipping features founder Jim Kelly in new location
The impressive 38,000 sq. foot building has been through many incarnations. In the early 1900s, it housed the Standard Shirt Factory, which supplied work clothes to miners, farmers, woodsmen, and dock workers of the Pacific Northwest. During the Great Depression, the building changed hands, became an flower growers’ market, and stayed that way until 1989. After the space stood vacant for nearly three years, Rejuvenation’s founder, Jim Kelly, bought it in 1991. He transformed it into Rejuvenation’s one-of-a-kind retail store – dubbed “Rejuvenation Factory No. 4″ – and got it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Flowers Bloom Again at Factory No. 4
It’s serendipitous that the same week we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary in a former flower market, the space is blooming again.
Fieldwork Flowers at our Portland store
From November 12th through December 23rd, we’re pleased to host the Fieldwork Flowers pop-up shop, a local florist that specializes in seasonal cuts and customized arrangements for all sorts of occasions.
Florist Megan Arambul (seated) and Portland store manager Staciy Morrison (standing) admire a Fieldwork Flowers arrangement
As you spruce up your home for the holidays, you can pick up decor, gifts, and fresh bouquets in one stop – and wish us Happy Anniversary while you’re at it!
