Today is my birthday. As I embark on a new year I am facing a lot of change. One of those changes is a forced move due to my landlord selling my house. I won't lie, I had a mini freak out at this news. I have a 5 bedroom house that I have to pack up in 30 days (still kind of freaking at this part). Overall I am now embracing this change. My husband and I have decided to go stay at the family cabin for a while. This means I won't have my kids with me full time (another change) because I don't want them to have to change schools. Their father will be taking them as he lives in the school district they are currently attending. We will alternate weeks and we will just have to bring them into town in the mornings when they are with us. My grown son that was still living at home on the weekends is finding a job in Alabama where he is attending school so I will no longer get to see him much. these are the aspects of this I am struggling with.

     I embrace the idea of living a more peaceful life at the lake sitting by campfires without all the noise of being in town. My husband and I can take this time of just the two of us to reconnect (since life has really been hectic lately). We can go on walks with the dog or go fish anytime. No rent to pay and no extremely high electric bill with just the two of us. I'm actually looking forward to some downtime and relaxation. Nature has always been relaxing to me and now I get to get back to it for a while and be able to save some money as well. 

     So here's to the next chapter in my life and some peace of mind.

     In celebration of my birthday, I have decided to have a flash sale. All candles and melts are 30% off today only. You can take advantage of this 3 ways: come into the store to purchase, hop on over to our Facebook page and comment your order on the post and we will invoice you, or send us an email. You will find our full scent list on our FB page and our web page and I will include below as well.  Links to follow.

https://kraftyheadquarters.com/krafty-scentsations

https://www.facebook.com/kraftyheadquarters/

juli@kraftyheadquarters.com

Essential Scents 

Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Marjoram, Cedar Wood, Ginger, Lavender, Vanilla, Orange, Lemon, Peace, Rosemary, Lullaby, Thrive, Melaleuca, Calming, Cinnamon Leaf, Lemon Grass, Mental Clarity, Thieves, Stress Buster, Dreamsicle, Lavender Vanilla, Lemon Chiffon, Mint Lavender 

Grandma's Kitchen Scents 

Blueberry Cobbler, Cinnamon Buns, German Chocolate Cake, Warm Vanilla Sugar Cookie, Peanut Butter Cookie, Pink Sugar Icing, Pumpkin Spice, Spearmint, Cinnamon, Graham Cracker, Pie Crust, Saturday Morning (fruity cereal), S'mores,  Apple Spice, Grandma's Kitchen, Banana Nut Bread 

Coffee House Scents 

Creamy Cappuccino, Espresso Café, Espresso, Caramel Macchiato, Mocha Java, Vanilla Cappuccino, Starbucks Coffee (coffee house blend)  

Fruity Scents 

Black Raspberry Vanilla, Strawberries and Cream, Peaches and Cream, Monkey Farts, Vanilla Berry, Cucumber Melon, Apple, Blackberry Sage 

Tropical Scents 

Coconut, Paradise Reef, Ocean Mist, Jamaica Me Crazy 

Candy Scents 

Caramel, Chocolate, Cotton Candy, Toasted Marshmallow, Coconut Bon Bon, Gourmet Dark Chocolate, Chocolate Drizzle  

Floral Scents 

Country Garden, Lilac, Fresh Roses, Butterfly Hugs, Humming Birds,  

Clean Scents 

Clothes Line Fresh, Snuggable, Island Fresh

Women's Scents

Love Spell  

Masculine and Musk Scents 

Polo Match, Sandalwood, Rosewood and Musk, Cool Water, Joop Type, Drakkar Noir Type 

Seasonal Scents 

Frosted Pumpkin, Twisted Peppermint, Perfect Pumpkin, Christmas Tree Farm, Leaves, Mistletoe, Autumn Day, Alpine Frost, Apple Jack and Peel, Cranberry Joy, Orange Clove, Gooseberry, Pumpkin Pecan Waffles, Winter Candy Apple, Sweet Orange Chili Pepper, Snow Fairy, Candied Yams, Peppermint Candy, Santa's Pipe  

Taking It Back To The Good Old Days!

Hey, Y'all! Leaves have started to fall which means it's almost that time of year again! Christmas is just 84 days away! Santa's elves have nothing on Krafty Headquarters Artisans working on our new Christmas product line. This year we're taking it back to the good ole days. There's nothing like an old-fashioned handmade Christmas...you know, just like Grandma and Grandpa used to have. What was your favorite? Comment below. You just might inspire one of our new Christmas products!
#christmas #rustic #handmade #tullahomatnchamber

Grand Opening

We had a great turnout for our Grand Opening! We had a blast and would like to thank everyone that came out to celebrate with us. A special thanks to Mayor Lane Curlee for taking time out of his day to join us and also to the Tullahoma Tennessee Chamber of Commerce for conducting our ribbon cutting. We would also like to thank Dee Dee McFerrin for coming to town to help us during our 3-day celebration and contributing homemade pumpkin bread for our snacks. We would also like to thank Greg Chapel for joining us Saturday and demonstrating his art we now have two more beautiful etched glass pieces for sale in the store. We are truly blessed to live in a community that is full of such wonderful talent and support for small businesses.

Putting It In God's Hands

Putting It In God's Hands

Over the last few months, we have been very slow at the shop and we have faced some personal struggles. I have been watching our reach and engagement dwindle on our Facebook page and have poured hours into trying to boost it. I have feared we will not succeed. We have each poured so much of our hearts, time and money into our store. We wholeheartedly believe in each of our artisans and their creative gifts and want to see them thrive as we want to thrive as well.

Well, tonight I had an epiphany thanks to one of the pages I follow on Facebook (The Homestead). They were kind enough to feature our Facebook page today. I decided to hop on their page and take a thorough look because I know I don't see everything they post in my newsfeed. What I found as I perused their page was not only beautiful vintage items, decorating ideas, and recipes but a lot of God inspired quotes and scripture. These spoke to me. What they said was this is what is missing in your life and in your business. God provided us with the opportunity to bring our dream to life. God provided us with not only our own talents but with the talents of all the artisans that entrust us with their creations. We used to start every day with prayer before we opened our doors. We have all been juggling so much personally and with the store that we (at least I) have started jumping right in and getting to work. Well God spoke to me tonight through a wonderful facebook page and I have realized that we need to change our habits. I also used to post inspirational quotes and have focused more on our business posts. Without God, we wouldn't have this business. I am very thankful for the blessings He has given even though I have done a poor job in showing it. It's time to put this all back in God's hands again.

  

Grand Opening

Come Celebrate with Us!

Come join us in our celebration and Grand Opening. We will have door prizes, refreshments, and a look at how we create our goods. Starting September 1st we will be giving out door prize tickets to all that visit our shop. Earn more tickets with a purchase. The grand prize will be awarded Saturday at 2:45. We can't wait to see you there!
Our door prizes will include t-shirts,cups,sports bottles, gift certificates, candles,melts,and much more. Our Grand prize will be a Dimples Doll House Quilt.

If you follow us on Facebook then you know we have an event coming up. For those of you that don't let me tell you a little about it.

On Monday, July 3rd Tullahoma is hosting their annual fireworks celebration. We will have a booth set up and invite you to stop by between 3 PM and 7 PM and say hi and sign up for our email list (don't worry I don't send out more than 4 emails a month) and add your slip to the box. At 7 PM we will go live for the drawing. We are drawing for the handcrafted leather bottle holder pictured above. If you win and you don't happen to be present we will call or email you to set up a time for you to pick up your prize. We are getting excited and can't wait to see you there!

Today is Father’s Day and it still hits me hard. I lost my dad almost 2 years ago and the whole his death left is still just as big and painful now as the day he died. We lived 2200 miles apart most of my childhood but I was and always will be a Daddy’s girl. I moved to Tennessee after my mom died so I could be close to him and my boys could be near him. He was crazy, goofy and fun loving. We couldn’t go anywhere without him acting silly he loved getting a rise out of his friend Dave. We went on a ride on the motorcycles one time, when it started raining we pulled off at a McDonald’s to get lunch and put our rain suits on. Dave went straight to the bathrooms when we went in. Now Dave has a temper and Dad always loved to set it off so he told the girls at the counter that Dave had just been released from a mental hospital. He told them he was harmless unless he was stared at so when he came out of the bathrooms they were all staring at him. Well needless to say, his temper went off and we were rolling with laughter. I miss this craziness. I could write a book on all the crazy stuff my dad did and maybe someday I will. For now, I’ll stick to one story at a time.

My First Father-in-law

This is Dave Morton, he was my first father-in-law. He accepted me as a daughter from day one. He taught me a lot about patience and fixing things. He was a Jack of all trades, if it needed fixing he was your man. If he didn't know how to fix it he would learn. He was always a phone call away if I needed something. After I had my son I had only been home from the hospital for 2 days and had a panic moment thinking something was wrong with me (i had a C-section) from the surgery. Everyone else was at work I called him panicked and asked him to take me to the hospital. He lived between me and the hospital and traveled 30 mins to pick me up and then an hour and a half to the hospital. He never blinked an eye at it and the whole way there he eased my fear and anxiety. He truly was an amazing man and I miss him dearly.

#fathersday #dads #fathers

My Step Dad

This is Jerry Greene he is my step-dad. He was my go to father figure growing up. My father lived in Tennessee and we lived in Nevada so he couldn't be involved in my everyday life. Jerry stepped up to the plate of raising me. He helped me with my homework (when I actually put in an effort to do it), he took me to my first concert (all the way to Oakland California) and he taught me to drive (this was no easy task when it came to a stick shift). I'll never forget the time he was trying to correct my bad habit of riding the clutch when I made a turn. I was coming up on the road we lived on and he told me to downshift, let off the clutch and make the turn. I did this as I was turning off a paved road onto a gravel road. Needless to say, I started fishtailing and he said STOP so I hit the brakes. I spun around and ended up in the sagebrush in his brand new car. I just knew I was done driving. I backed it up and headed home like he told me to. As I pulled into the driveway he had me stop in front of the house instead of going to the garage. He opened the door to get out and told me to go drive around some more. I asked him if he was crazy because I had just taken his brand new Honda Civic off road. His response was "Hell no! That's why I'm getting out of the car."

#fathersday #dads #dad #fathers

Happy 242nd Birthday U.S. Army

Did you know that today is the Army’s 242^nd birthday? The U.S. Army was founded on June 14, 1775 this was over a year before we signed the declaration of independence. At that time, the Continental Congress authorized expert riflemen for enlistment to serve the colonies for one year.

On June 15^th George Washington was made Commander and Chief. He officially took command in Boston on July 3, 1775.

This year’s theme is “Over There! A celebration of The World War I Soldier” in recognition of the 100 year anniversary of World War I.

Interesting Army Facts

·         During World War II, supporting one soldier on the battlefield took one gallon of fuel per day. Today, the Army uses more than 22 gallons per day, per soldier.

·         The Army has a total of 1.1 million soldiers in its ranks and more than 400,000 civilians and contracted employees. If the military branch was a city, the Army would represent the fourth largest city in the United States.

·         * The Army has 158 installations worldwide; more than 132,000 miles of infrastructure for electric, gas, sewer and water; and over one billion square feet of office space.

·         * The Army owns more than 15 million acres of land across the United States, or about 24,000 square miles which, if the Army was a state, it would be the 42nd largest.

Sources

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/us_armys_242nd_birthday_2017_f.html

Losing A Beloved Family and Team Member

Words just simply cannot express how I'm feeling today. I got a call last night from Nancy (Mom) telling me this wonderful woman, that has become a sister to me, had passed away. We have a unique family dynamic here. Nancy is my ex-mother-in-law and her son Kenn is my ex-husband. She has stayed Mom to me and he is now one of my best friends. Trish was his girlfriend and quickly stole all our hearts. We didn't get to have her in our lives for a long time but the short time we had with her was a true blessing to us. Trish and I became close very quickly, I was surprised at the short time it took for us to become as close as sisters especially with the odd dynamic of me being the ex-wife and all. She had such a pure heart and fun personality it was impossible not to love her. I am still in shock over her being gone, I feel like a piece of me is missing. I know she is in a better place and free of the pain that plagued her daily. I take comfort in this as the grieving and healing process begins. Rest In Peace my dear sister. 

Crafting With My Granddaughter

I am finding that having my granddaughters at the shop with me every day is a great bonding experience. My youngest is still too small to craft with but she sure enjoys all the pretty things we have. Now Avery, on the other hand, is loving every aspect of it. When we were setting up she was excited to dig in and clean and help put things together. We have been working on flower arrangements together and she absolutely loves it. She has a good eye for placement and color combinations as well. At least one a week she insists on getting out the broom and mop and cleaning and she makes sure I remember to water our flowers by the front door. I decided last night when we were done with our teapot flower arrangement to make her a pair of earrings. She was so happy to have a pair that I made her. I think next I will let her make her own. These are memories that will forever be with her as special times with Grandma. I know I still to this day cherish the memories of doing things like this with my grandmas. Her maternal grandmother passed away before she was born so I feel the need to give both of them extra time and memories. I am truly blessed to have them and am thankful for them every day.

Changing Things Up

Part of running a store is changing displays around. We conquered that today. We moved the showcases up front now it's time to rotate some of the product around. One thing I have found is that furniture sliders are my best friend. These displays are not light. If we didn't have sliders it would be a grueling job. With the help of one of Kenn and my son KJ we got it done. Little Avery helped with replacing the product on the displays. It's great to have family helpers, things get done so much quicker.

New Location

     We are excited to announce we have a new location! We are now at 728 N. Jackson St., Tullahoma, TN 37388. We are in the same building as Little Caesars. We signed the lease on the 6th and have been busy setting up. We have had our little helpers doing a great job getting things done. We will open the doors on Thursday 4/27. We are still working on getting some things done but we are able to open for business. We can't wait to see you all again!