Susanna Prince
Crackerjack Contemporary Crafts Newsletter
Celebrating the Handmade since 1986
In This Issue
Upcoming Events
Things to Celebrate
Has Spring Sprung?
Quick Links
Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
Become a Fan!


Facebook jpg.


Issue: # 19   March 2010
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Will wonders never cease? I am happy to announce that you can all join us on Facebook. Become a fan of Crackerjack on Facebook and follow all our events and sales and special offers. This is a whole new world for me, and fortunately we have some great Facebookers on staff! It's quite an amazing place - world - that brought the whole concept of the web home to me. Whereas websites seem very linear to me, Facebook seems very three dimensional, and beyond. So far we're just getting going, but I am intrigued to do more exploration! Watch for more to come!

Other news is that we are changing our Lay-away policy to make it an even better service. We are removing the Sixty Day time frame for payment. Instead, you can take longer to pay off your purchase as long as you make a payment every month of at least $10. And there is never any charge for this service, or interest. Just our desire to make life easier! You can make a payment using a credit card over the phone, mailing a check, or stopping by with cash. Our hope is that this will help you avoid costly credit card interest, budget your purchases and allow you to buy something you love. The best thing about Lay-away, I think is the anticipation of ownership, and knowing that when you take your purchase home it is fully paid for - no interest, no surprises on your credit card bill, and it's yours, all yours!

The results of our contest around Twenty-Ten or Two-Thousand Ten is in the "Has Spring Sprung?" article below - congratulations to the winners!



At the very bottom of this email is a coupon for Zents that can be used both in the store and on our website, so don't miss it.

 

                               Concretas by Zents            Pear Zents Eau de Toilette                    


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We're excited to be able to offer
Gift Certificates online now! They can be either in an electronic form to be used on the website, or a paper form that can be used either in the store or online. So you can give a gift to someone in another city to shop with us online, and they can give you a certificate to use in the store or online! How easy is that?

And don't forget our other services - Gift Wrapping, Lay-Away and our Wish Cards. The Wish Cards work like this - you choose an item or two you would love to receive, we write down all the particulars on the card, and you give it to that special someone who will be so happy to know exactly what you want! It works like a charm!


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                     Our Hours

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        Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
           Sunday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.


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 Upcoming Events

From our friends and neighbors:

             Susanna Prince

F
or those of you who have not been to the Center recently, we have welcomed two new stores!

Izilla Toys gave Wallingford Center a try for the holiday season and has decided to stay. Their brightly lit orange and green space is filled with all sorts of toys, both the familiar and unique.

Peron's Closet is a beautifully appointed Children's Clothing Store which features new and gently used clothing through size 6.

And watch for the Opening of a new Fabric Store in the Southwest corner of the building. Fabric Crush is moving from Magnolia and is expected to open soon - maybe next week!

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As I've mentioned, I am on the Board of the Northwest Art Alliance and so want to invite you all to our Spring Show. Be sure to say "Hi" to the artists whose work you recognize from Crackerjack!

                                                                                                                                                                

BNW Ad and Coupon 2010 Spring



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Easter Egg Hunt - Saturday April 3
This annual event is kicked off at 9 a.m. by the Bubble Man, followed by the candy hunt at 10 sharp. After the hunt enjoy kid-friendly activities like face painting and music!

                      bunnies and eggs



Things to Celebrate!


March 1 - Pig Day
                Plan a Solo Vacation Day

March 4 - National Grammar Day - I love it!

March 7 - Daughters' and Sons' Day

March 9 - Barbie's Birthday

March 12 - Girl Scout Day - have you bought your cookies yet? Thin Mints or Tagalongs?
                   They're $4.00 a box now. I'm always shocked - they were 50 cents a box when
                   I was first a Girl Scout!

March 14 - Potato Chip Day - In the summer of 1853, Native American George Crum was
                    employed as a chef at an elegant resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. One dinner
                    guest found Crum's French fries too thick for his liking and rejected the order. Crum
                    decided to rile the guest by producing fries too thin and crisp to skewer with a fork.
                    The plan backfired - the guest was ecstatic over the browned, paper-thin potatoes
                    and other diners began requesting Crum's potato chips!

March 17 - St. Patrick's Day - see a recipe for traditional "Boiled Dinner" below

March 19 - Swallows return to San Juan Capistrano Day - how do they know?

March 20 - Proposal Day
                  National Quilting Day - The new fabric store, Fabric Crush, is opening this month
                     inside Wallingford Center, so come on by!

March 22 - As Young As You Feel Day! This is one to celebrate and embrace all year long!

March 25 - Letting Go of Stuff Day - a call to clean out that closet!

March 26 - Make Up Your Own Holiday Day - hmmm. A lot of fantasy this month, don't you
                      think?

March 29 - National Mom & Pop Business Owners Day. Wallingford Center is a great collection of
                    Mom and Pops! Supporting Local businesses keeps your community vital and a
                    greater percentage of the dollars you spend stay in the neighborhood. So shopping
                    small local businesses preserves what you value!

March 30 - Pencil Day - come by the store today and receive a Pencil of your very own!


Has Spring Sprung?
 It seems that in the Pacific Northwest, that is the perennial question! We will have a day, last Saturday for instance, when you feel as though you've been transported to California. Yesterday we awoke to frost, and today while walking Green Lake I was buffeted by cold wind and rain.

I have to stop here and plug our Maralyce Ferree raincoats. I lived here for over thirty years before buying a raincoat, and finally bought one of Maralyce's. I LOVE it! Aside from its good looks, it kept me dry today and blocked out that cold wind. I have a red and black reversible style with a hood, and what I really like about it is that with its silky texture, I can wear it for a dressier occasion as well as around the Lake. We always have a selection of styles and sizes in the store, and can special order for you if your desire is for another color or size. And Spring is the perfect time to acquire one - they are good layering pieces. Add a sweater or light jacket underneath for warmth, layer on the coat for wind and rain protection, and look fantastic!

So back to Spring. Is it here or not? The forsythia has come and gone, a lot of trees are in bloom, even daffodils have been seen and the tulips are beginning to swell. But it is March still. So I'm not sure. But it is a good time to freshen things up with a brightly colored scarf and earrings, a good time to try out a new color, something that hints at the promise of Spring until it is here to stay.

And now that it's March what are we going to call this year? The votes are in and the winner is: (drum roll please!) Twenty-Ten!!!! By about 60% to 40%! We received some great reasons why it was the preference of the voter including it's easier, snappier, catchy, trendy, has more of a ring to it, is much more cool, I like the way it sounds, it rolls right off the tongue, is more hip and up-to-date, I miss the Nineteens - it will be nice to get back, and I don't have time to say all those words! Someone also said it was easier to rhyme - hadn't thought of that, and my sister Marianne wrote that she remembered buying a Three Dog Night single a million years ago on a 45 (remember those?) and the song was In The Year Twenty-Five Twenty-Five, so she took that as a good endorsement of Twenty-Ten.

As for Two-Thousand Ten, the reasons were as varied, although I did notice that a lot of those in favor of this option tended to write more, and one gave her reason as liking to use more syllables than necessary! Others reasons were: I like the year sounded out rather than shortened, keeping the pattern we've had - 2006, 2007, etc., people have said two thousand something ever since the year two thousand (must be young!), my kids have been taught this in math and have tested and corrected me enough that it has stuck. Along the same lines - "nobody said twenty-nine last year and for the sake of teaching number value alone, the traditional phrasing is essential (Yes, I work at a school!) Besides, Twenty-Eleven sounds dorky!" Twenty-Ten sounds too predictable and - my personal favorite - Two-Thousand Ten sounds classier! Others said it sounds more exciting and new, and it's going to be a good year! Well, it is new and hopefully it will be a good year for us all!

Lest I forget - there was also one vote for "just ten"!

Congratulations to our winners: Sofia and Dawn each won a Twenty Dollar store gift certificate, and Peach, Erin and Sara who each won Ten Dollar certificates!!!!!

NEXT MONTH: April Showers...





May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies, quick to make friends. But rich or poor, quick or slow, may you know nothing but happiness, from this day forward.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



Kathleen Koch
Crackerjack Contemporary Crafts

Thank You for your continued patronage of a local independent business and for supporting American handmade!


Corned Beef & Cabbage


Also known as Boiled Dinner.

Put a packaged corned beef in a dutch oven with all the juices and seasonings. Barely cover with water and cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour per pound. Remove meat to cutting board, tent with foil to keep warm. Increase heat to bring pot to a boil. Add peeled potatoes, whole onions cut into quarters, peeled carrots cut into chunks. Continue cooking about 15 min. Add wedges of green cabbage and boil for about 15 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.

Slice meat diagonally across the grain, serve with vegetables and horseradish and/or mustard.  Accompany with Irish Soda Bread and Irish beer for a truly authentic meal!

 
Save 2o% off your entire Zents purchase!
                      Online or In Store!


Print out and present this coupon at time of purchase if buying in store. For online purchasing enter Coupon Code 1258257067. Offer Expires: April 30, 2010. Can not be combined with other offers. Customer Appreciation Card will not be stamped for purchase.