September Newsletter

If you have any recipes, ideas or stories that you would like to share in the October newsletter or on the blog, please let us know. Also, remember to scroll all the way to the bottom of the newsletter for this month’s coupon codes.

We’ve Made Some Changes…

Product Surfing Made Easier (We hope) In an ongoing effort to make your shopping experience easier, our website designers have made some minor changes to the website. We would love to hear what you think of them. The first of these changes is that you are now able to view up to 15 products per page. (Before only 6 items could be shown.) This should be especially helpful in categories such as Retired Baskets, Pottery and Liners that have 75-100+ products in them. Also, in some of the categories such as the Woven Traditions Pottery, we’ve added sub categories and pictures that we hope will be helpful. Please let us know if you like the changes. If you’d like to see how the new subcategories look for the Woven Traditions Pottery, please use this link. A special Thank YOU to our website designer, Christy from Black Crow Designs, for her help! Porch Swing Memories ~ Home

Sneak Peek…..

Let’s take a look at a few of the new items to be added to the site in September. Some will be active as early as September 1st, so be sure to check them out. Longaberger Products: Candy Corn Crock and Votives Sage Sauce Pitcher 2000 Horizon of Hope Flower Pot 1998 Umbrella Basket & Wrought Iron Stand Traditional Red Spice Jars (2) Traditional Red Extra Large Mixing Bowl ~ USA Solid Paprika Small Mixing Bowl ~ USA 1998 Grandma Bonnie Two Pie Liner And for our customers that prefer the Amish made goods, we haven’t forgotten about you. Jacob is now making Cedar walking sticks. We will post a picture of one later this week on the blog. Let us know what you think of them. If enough of you like them, we’ll add them to the site, too. This fall, we will also be adding some stationary and gift items that we hope you will all enjoy. The Blog…

What’s Happening…..

In September Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan will be hosting a Longaberger Event that runs from September 14-23. This is a great opportunity for those that love history and Longaberger to combine the two. Bring the whole family. Greenfield Village is a great learning experience for the kids as well as being a lot of fun. Take a ride on the steam locomotive, check out the roundhouse, or explore what it would have been like to attend a one-room schoolhouse. Hope to see you there! This month’s sale categories are the Horizon of Hope Baskets and all of our Amish Baskets. The remaining Nancy Noel Amish prints are now 35% off, and if there are any left on September 15, they will be marked down again. Lets Go Shopping…

Attention Home Schoolers ~ The Abeka 10th Grade textbooks are now on the site along with a couple of 8th and 9th grade subjects. Have a great school year!

Thank you!

Longaberger Basket Fest @ Greenfield Village ~ Part II

Well, we made our way back to the Basket Fest today, and the weather and people were just as nice as the first trip.  The BIG news of the day (for us anyway) was that the Factory Store was at The Henry Ford.  We had no idea that it was even there the first time we visited.  Sadly, it seems that the folks at Greenfield Village thought it was best to put the Factory Store all the way over at the Automotive Hall of Fame rather than in the Village near the other festivities.

 What did that mean for most folks?  Well, most of the attendees didn’t even know that the Factory Store was there, and the ones that did find it had to do a lot of walking to get to it or drive over. 

Today, Rich and Joanne Longaberger were signing baskets.  They were both very friendly and talkative.  We hope that Longaberger will come back to Michigan again next year.  Maybe to Frankenmuth? 

Sorry, no pictures today.  We were too busy walking ;0)

Longaberger Basket Fest @ Greenfield Village ~ Part I

Hi, Everybody,

 Just wanted to share a bit about our first visit to the Longaberger Basket Fest at Greenfield Village on Saturday, September 15.  We arrived at the Village around 10am on the second day of basket fest with much anticipation, and we weren’t alone.  The Longaberger Boardwalks, purse baskets and fabric totes were at every turn. 

 As we approached the ticket counter, there was a nice pyramid of Street Baskets, and after passing  through the gates noticed a basket maker at the front of the village.  But after that it was pretty much a guess as to where we might find the Basket Fest.  Being pretty familiar with Greenfield Village, my first guess was to head toward the village green.  It was a good guess, as the festivities were housed in the building just to the left of the green.

Unfortunatley, we were disappointed in the size of the basket fest.  There was a nice area for the make-a-basket experience; a small homestead store area which had a few items from the homestead; a couple of places with the accessories for the Greenfield Village basket; and a few displays of the current line items.   It was easy to “do” the whole basket fest in 45 minutes or less if you weren’t making a basket.   From what we had read about the events at other venues such as the Williamsburg and Boyds events, we had expected it to be much more.   And since Greenfield Village is all about history, it would have been a great opportunity for the company to tell other visitors about their history.  

 The experience wasn’t a total disappointment though.  We were able to pick up a couple of the special baskets with the Model T tacks, and have them signed by Gary Longaberger (he was super nice).  It was also a beautiful, sunny day that was just right for a leisurely walk around the Village.  And since Greenfield Village is one of our favorite places in Michigan, we weren’t at a loss for other things to do and see.

In fact, we visited my favorite working farm–the Firestone Farm, the cider mill, the Dagget Farm….Okay, I’d better stop there, or I’ll end up listing just about every attraction they have. 

We will be back before the basket fest is over and plan to visit more of our favorite spots in the Village.  We might even treat ourselves to tea at the Cotwold Cottage.  If you do make it, be prepared to see the sites and do some walking.  It’s supposed to be a beautiful week here in Michigan!