Thinking Outside The Box

I absolutely love everything about running The Secret Garden. I love the day to day of ordering fresh product, inventorying the older product, merchandising to make the store always feel fresh and fun even for those who visit weekly. And I absolutely love the opportunity I have to think outside the box.

Sometimes that can come in to play when I'm working a display. For example, last year when I was
re-working a table that had begun to feel stale to me. I wanted to make it more seasonal but still accentuate the product I was selling and not put the focus on the decor. I'd seen an idea a few years ago that I decided I could put in to action. I hopped in the car and drove out to Waterman Road near Grantline. There on the side of the road I gathered up as many tumbleweeds as would fit in the back of the car. When I came back to the store, my husband gave me that look - you know the one - where someone who knows you really well knows you're up to something mischievous.  Then Dani and I preceded to work the tumbleweeds up above the ladder we hang in the front room. We even hung one behind the light. I just love the way it warmed up the display but didn't take away from the product.

Now I know you don't work displays in your home; but you do have the opportunity to create seasonal vignettes and it's always fun to think outside the box. How about stacking descending sizes of pumpkins in a pot to create a pumpkin topiary? Or how about filing your birdbath with mini

pumpkins and acorns? Look for ways to use and re-use everyday items to give them new purpose. I love to use old tool boxes as planters or even give an old kitchen strainer new life as a succulent container.

The possibilities are endless.

What have you done that is outside the box recently. I'd love to hear from you.