Friday 14 November 2014

The Grotto Is Back!


Hello
Well there has been a flurry of activity and much excitement here at The Emporium this week.  We are so happy to announce that our very popular Christmas Grotto has opened once again.  The shelves are bedecked with tinsel and glitter, seasonal sparkle and vintage charm.
New items will be added regularly to keep Father Christmas busy, so please come and visit us over the next few weeks.
We're off to bake some mince pies and dust off some of this glitter...
See you soon

Milly and Dottie



Saturday 23 August 2014

Summer Treasures At The Emporium


We have been busy adding lots of new treasure to our Emporium and, as you can see from the photo above, our shelves are full of wonderful fresh goodies to delight you.
A beautiful duck egg blue beehive wool holder sits in the Sewing Room, Devon Delights vintage souvenir tablecloth in the Scullery is sure to conjure up memories of summer holidays at your table, in the Box Room is a delightful vintage wooden shop display box for lilac chocolates decorated with fairies and a very generous length of beautiful linen sits up in the Attic.  In the Library we have a veritable magical kingdom of Flower Fairies with many beautiful vintage Cicely Mary Barker books, some new nature books, King Penguin titles and wonderful little anthologies.  Over in the Dovecote we have added some more of our nature box frames and these capture some of the delights of the Lake District.
Whilst we hope that you are enjoying the lingering days of Summer, off on jollies (with or without your brollies), paddling at the seaside, rambling in the countryside or reading in the garden, we hope you find some time to pay us a visit and come and say “Hello”. There’s always a custard cream and a cuppa waiting…



Monday 28 July 2014

Milly & Dottie Are 5



Milly and Dottie are feeling very grown up now... as we have now reached the heady milestone, of five years old!
What a wonderful five years it has been since we opened the doors to Milly & Dottie's Emporium. We have welcomed visitors from far and wide through those doors and made some lovely friends along the way.  We would like to thank you all for coming to visit us in our busy emporium and for keeping us company over the last five years; and to join us in our celebrations, by raising a glass of something fizzy and feasting on some of our favourite custard creams!


In celebration of our birthday we have added some truly lovely pieces to the shelves this week - beautiful rustic country stool, prints, jugs and curtains to the Attic, pretty tins to the Box Room, gorgeously retro child's satchel in the Nursery, wartime sewing in the Sewing Room and wartime cooking in the Scullery, alongside some fabulous enamel coffee pots - perfect for when you're off on a jolly.

We look forward to seeing you very soon!




Monday 28 April 2014

Out Of Doors With Milly & Dottie



 We hope you have had an enjoyable Easter and have been able to enjoy some of the glorious Spring weather (alas today the rain has returned for the weekend...).



With Spring truly burgeoning all around we have taken inspiration from the great outdoors, the flora and fauna that surrounds us from hedgerows and treetops and have added some of our handmade box frames to the Dovecote shelves.  All manner of Garden Birds have been nesting on our shelves, laying eggs and charming us with their beauty.  We have also added a couple of bunnies - 'Campion" and 'Celandine" named after the vintage floral prints behind them in their frames - both capture just a little snippet of the sights of a country ramble.






We have also added some more vintage posters to the Dovecote, capturing the joys of the great outdoors - lazy Summer days in the garden and countryside - full of nostalgia.


In the Library are several new children's books - Enid Blyton, Elizabeth Gould, flower books and some wonderful vintage schoolbooks (more in the nursery too, where  there are more vintage bunnies to greet you). There are additions too in the Attic (pretty floral framed prints) and a great 1940s wartime sewing book in the Sewing Room and some lovely floral tins in the Box Room.We look forward to seeing you soon.










Wednesday 26 March 2014

Something For Mother



With Mother's Day a few days away, we wanted to let you know of some items that have recently been added to our shelves which would make perfect Mother's Day gifts.


In our Boudoir we are delighted to have added a very old and very pretty Lily Of the Valley Boots soap box, perfect for display and treasure storing. There is also a very pretty floral hankie and brooch set. Pretty tins in our Box Room could be filled with chocolates or sweets, as could the enamel or vintage jelly moulds in the Scullery - these would also make unusual and striking plant holders. For Mothers who enjoy a bit of sewing, we have wonderful floral linen tablecloths and cushion covers in the Sewing Room. In our Library we have added one of our favourite books - The 1930s first edition of The Diary Of A Provincial Lady, the entertaining goings-on of a mother and family - as well as some pretty nature books. We are also very pleased to announce the return of our French'n'Floral lavender sachets to the Dovecote, these very popular handmade lavender sachets are based on images from vintage French seed packets and are beautifully fragrant as well as decorative.
We hope we've provided some inspiration and gift ideas and wish you all a very Happy Mother's Day!





Saturday 22 March 2014

Spring Into Action!




At last, the Spring Equinox has come along.  The birds are tweeting, the sun sometimes shines and the days are lengthening. It's time to get sewing! We have recently added lots of wonderful new sewing projects and goodies to the Sewing Room shelves to help spring those sewing fingers back into action.



We have added many vintage linen cushion covers to be embroidered with lovely floral images that truly reflect the longer Spring and Summer days that hopefully are ahead of us.  Vintage embroidery transfers too that will add a delicious floral note to household linens, lingerie and gift items. 




Part-worked embroidered tablecloths are waiting to be finished to add some vintage joyfulness to your teatime tables (just in time for Easter).  This stunning linen tablecloth is in the traditional Willow pattern and comes with two tray cloths too.  


Amongst our goodies was this interesting floral tablecloth, produced by Penelope during the War in 1940s.  As production of these items was restricted during the war, this one was produced by special licence from the Board of Trade as it was intended for use by wounded forces as Occupational Therapy.






We have also sprinkled some 1940s copies of Needlewoman & Needlecraft magazines on the shelves, very much in the Make Do & Mend spirit of the time, which should also get that inspiration flowing...



And as for us, well, this sudden burst of Spring sunshine found us hurtling down to the Potting Shed to produce some more of our very popular French'n'Floral Lavender sachets, printed from vintage French seed packets. Beautifully fragrant and full of the promise of Spring, we have added these to our Dovecote shelves.




Enjoy the sunshine - we hope we've sown some seeds of inspiration for you. 


Tuesday 4 March 2014

Mellow Yellow









We have recently added a selection of soft buttery (both salted and unsalted in colour) yellow crockery to the Scullery shelves.  Utility crockery and enamelware, Jasmine and Laburnum to be precise,  perfect for breakfast and tea, a cup of soft Spring sunshine to brighten your day.