We are pretty excited about this new light.  It provides excellent task lighting over an island, or even a large desk or work station.  Previously, if a home owner had a large island, it would be necessary to decide in advance how many shade lights they would need to have ample lighting, and make sure that the electrician could install the proper amount of electrical boxes and the proper spacing in order to accommodate a few of our very popular tin shade lights.  Now, with this terrific light, you can have more than enough lighting with only one electrical box centered over your work area.  No more re-wires or multiple installations!  Just install this one light over your kitchen island and have plenty of that much needed task lighting!  Come visit us online soon...

Scherenschnittes

We just added a new line of scherenschnittes on our website.  Our scherenscnittes are great reproductions of Pennsylvania Dutch folkart. Scherenschnitte is a German word meaning "scissor cuts." The folkart of papercutting came to America in the 1700's by the German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. These German people are known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch" probably because the word for German is "Deutsch." The Pennsylvania Dutch are known for a rich heritage of folkart including quilting, frakturs and scherenschnittes.

Colonial Floor Cloths

We have just added Colonial Floor Cloths to our website.  What do you think?  We have added some welcome mats but have many more things that we could add - table runners, placemats, chairpads and rugs.  Would you like to see more choices?  Do you have a floor cloth?  Have you ever made one?  Leave us a comment (which are moderated) and let us know your thoughts...

History of Floorcloths The floorcloth is actually an art form dating the whole way back to fifteenth century France! Originally made from the sails of ships, floorcloths served as wall hangings and table runners, but when the English discovered their functional value, they quickly extended the art form to rugs. By the 1800's floorcloths were being widely used to insulate floors of the less wealthy, and were often made in diamond patterns that imitated more expensive marble flooring. And of course, it wasn't long before floorcloths made their way overseas and into the homes of some very well known Americans. It is recorded that George Washington purchased one from Robert and Co. in 1796 at a cost of $14.82. We also know that Thomas Jefferson owned at least two, one in the dining room and a rather large, green one in the great hall of the Presidential Mansion, because he wanted to bring the outdoors indoors. Use and Care of Floorcloths Upon receiving your floorcloth be sure (if necessary) to allow it to warm to room temperature before unrolling. Sweep the floor free of any debris before laying your floorcloth down. They are designed to lay flat on smooth hard surfaces, so watch out for any protruding nail heads, etc. that could put strain on the floorcloth from underneath. If used on brick or ceramic tile floors, the piece will dip slightly into the grooves over time. If this is not desired a thin rubber mat may be used underneath for added support. Our floorcloths have a non skid backing applied and is painted over to prevent debris from sticking to the back. The non skid backing remains effective on many smooth floor surfaces, however a non skid tape or mat may be used if necessary. To clean, just sweep and damp mop as you would the rest of your floor. If the side of your floorcloth is ever scraped or any other damage occurs, simply touch up with water based paint and brush it over lightly with a water base polyurethane.