Lost & Found

Last week I stopped by Lost & Found in Peoria Heights. What a cute shop!
There were vintage items mixed in with fun new stuff. Things like home decor, colorful drink tumblers, pretty gift wrap, handmade earrings, stationery, junk free soaps and bath salts and much more all artfully arranged in the Lost & Found shop.
And today I see that they are featured on Seize the Deal with a $20 store credit for just $10.
If you have some gifts to buy or are looking for something fun for yourself, stop by and take a look.

Bags & Company

We were out for some shopping this weekend and stopped by Bags & Company in Peoria's Metro Centre.

The shop opened next to Abe's over the summer.

They carry a selection of trendy purses in many different sizes, plus jewelry and accessories.

Cyrus Gifts and Home Accents, Best of Post & Pillar and Jewelry on Water

Earlier this month, Cyrus Gifts and Home Accents moved from the 401 building on Water Street in Peoria to the Metro Centre, and brought the Best of Post & Pillar and Jewelry on Water with them.

I stopped in last week with Dining Companion to check out the new digs.

The store, next to Jalepeno's restaurant, was decked out for the holidays and filled with lots of great gift options, such as candles, lotions, martini glasses and Tag merchandise, just to name a few.

Someone was busy at work on a piece of jewelry in the room behind the Jewelry on Water counter, and tucked away at the back of the store there is a room that was filled with sale merchandise.

I wish them all well in their new location, and will be back again soon.

Trinkets & Treasures

Trinkets & Treasures is a quaint shop located on Washington's historic square, 120 N. Main Street.

Inside you will find primitives, hair bows, scrapbooking supplies and hand dyed wool items among all of the, well, trinkets and treasures.

I noticed they carry some costume jewelry, including lots of Scrabble game piece charms which I recently saw for the first time on etsy.com.

I also saw some fun holiday pottery, small square trays propped up on stands, one of which had a beautiful poinsettia design.

As we left on this last visit, I noticed that their front window box was filled with all sorts of colorful edible plants, including some kale. What a fun fall display!

Relics

What first caught my eye about Relics was their blue circle logo...I absolutely loved the look of it, the turquoise with the simple name displayed in a flowing typeface. I also loved the bird silhouette on the same blue circle background on the sign I would often see in front of the store. I would glance over each time we headed in or out of Peoria to see if the open sign was displayed.

I knew I had to go in.

We stopped by the shop, 3402 N.E. Adams, Peoria, on a recent Saturday.

The quaint shop was filled with lots of great items, from stationery to fun Blue Q merchandise to vintage items, all artfully displayed.

Relics is just the kind of place to visit often because you don't want to miss out on anything that might come through there.

S'more Couture

I remember my surprise when my sister-in-law told me there was a new local shop open in Alta. Alta has shops, I thought?
What I did not realize was that the area right around the bend of Alta Road near Dunlap is considered Alta.
We were checking out a bike trail that we picked up off of University Street in Peoria, and popped out at the Rock Island Trail parking area near the Last Chance Bar & Grill. There, perched on the corner, was a cute pink and brown building dubbed S'more Couture.
We took the opportunity to go in and browse around, finding unique jewelry, purses, perfumes, lip balms, dresses and headbands, some interspersed with some great vintage radios.
One thing that caught my attention was the selection of P.B. Loco peanut butters. The flavors range from Peanut Butter with CoCoBanana to Peanut Butter with Dark Chocolate Duo to Peanut Butter with Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough, which I hear is a best seller. Let me just say I don't think I would be chucking that aside if it turned up on my doorstep!
Located at 2700 W. 2nd Street in Alta, S'more Couture has lots of fun gifts for the "girls" on your list.

RiverFront Market

We had a chance to stop by the RiverFront Market in downtown Peoria last Saturday.
There were quite a few more vendors than there were the last time I visited last year.
We strolled along looking at bread, vegetables, jewelry, art and more, and shortly after we got there some Barry Cloyd started playing some live tunes.
We selected some fresh mustard greens, a head of cabbage and some white radishes, plus picked up some ground bison meat to try.
We enjoyed our mustard greens Monday, tried some radishes yesterday and plan to make a nice, zesty cole slaw tonight with our cabbage.
The market is open Saturdays from 8 a.m.-noon June through September, across from the Illinois Antique Center.

Seejay & Pammy's Unique Teak

Never having been in Seejay & Pammy's Unique Teak, I had visions of a store filled with lots of wood furniture, salad bowls, picture frames and more, presumably made of teak.
I stopped in to their newer home (formerly on Sheridan Road) at 8414 N. Knoxville Avenue in Peoria this week, and was surprised to find nary a sign of teak wood.
Instead, I found myself surrounded by colorful purses and costume jewelry. There was also a selection of sunglasses, and even some decorative dish towels and wine bags. I saw a martini dish towel set made in the USA.
Unique Teak looks like just the place to find a fun gift for my mom.
There is also a Pekin location at 2942 Court Street.

Carlson's Custom Jewelry

My wedding ring is different and unique, and I love it.
We decided to see about having a ring made to match mine for StfRon, after scouring the web looking for a nice ring for him, and chose Carlson's Custom Jewelry for the task.
Carlson's, located at 4701 N. Prospect Avenue in Peoria Heights, carries a selection of jewelry, creates custom jewelry, and performs jewelry repairs.
We had decided to see about having a family wedding ring redesigned into StfRon's wedding ring. We talked to an employee at Carlson's, and she said they would be able to do this, and might need to add a small amount of gold to the ring as well, to create the design we wanted.
We got a call a few weeks later from Carlson's; they were ready for my ring, to use to pattern StfRon's ring after.
We picked up the rings shortly before our wedding, and the one Carlson's created looked great, and we love the fact that our rings look like they belong together.

Global Village

When I first heard about Global Village opening at 1308 E. Seiberling in Peoria Heights, I was interested to check it out.
Global Village carries fair trade merchandise from around the world, including toys, clothing, food, jewelry and gifts. The shop is staffed by volunteers.
I've stopped by twice now, only to find them closed both times. I guess it's just a matter of bad timing. They are closed on Mondays, and Saturdays are open from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. This last time I stopped by around 9:30 Saturday after picking up some locally-grown yams at the last Peoria Riverfront Market of the year. Served up with our Creekstone Farms steak from Lindy's Downtown Market Saturday night, those were terribly tasty tubers.
I'll stop by Global Village again soon now that I know the hours. I'll bet I could find a gift for my mom that I could squirrel away for Christmas.