Opening soon for the 2015 season!

We are going to be open on Monday, April 13 for the new season. We've been working hard on some great new things! I've been making handmade cards, aprons, pillows, and lamps for the shop. So along with our great souvenirs, you can find a one-of-a-kind souvenir to take home with you.

 We've got some colorful new handmade pillows, upcycled from T-shirts. This one is a wonderful Route 66 design. The backs are almost as fun as the fronts with interesting mixes of fabric and exposed zippers (similar to the ones featured on clothing this season). These pillows are great for a man cave, family room, or even the car.

Back

Here's one upcycled from a Harley shirt.

Here's a peek at the aprons. They are handmade and handpainted. Never hurts for the cook to look sassy in the kitchen! Soon I'll be making some full length vintage inspired aprons too.

We have other new things in the shop as well, and some that are currently being printed up, like our new custom T-shirts. 

Another great addition to the museum complex is the Walldogs Museum, which has moved in next to the shop. The Walldogs Museum will open at the beginning of May.

"Route 66 in Illinois" Book Signing

 On Saturday, authors Joe Sonderman and Cheryl Eichar Jett will be here signing copies of their new book, and chatting about Route 66. This book is chock full of great photos of Route 66 in Illinois back in it's heyday!

Come downtown to Old City Hall Shoppes on Saturday, 10-noon and 2-4pm to meet Joe and Cheryl!

Santa on Route 66!

I took this picture last night as I was leaving the shop. Santa's house is on the square in downtown Pontiac, ready for Santa to arrive during the Light Up Parade on November 29th. If you've never been to the parade you should come downtown at dusk and see what you've been missing! Many great floats, all made out of lights, will be escorting Santa Clause into town.

If you've never been to our Old City Hall Shoppes page on Facebook, please check it out and "like" us. I regularly post cool things that are going on in Pontiac and at the shop.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..........

 This display is over our Main Street door and includes lots of vintage toys.

 Necklaces, bracelets, sachets, and also vintage items on an antique dresser. 

 Go Bears! This year, I've been watching more football, and the displays got some orange and blue action.

 Vintage quilts, touches of black and red, and a whole different kind of Christmas tree, cut from a local farm and painted white.

 Red and black instead of red and green. Nice!

 Glowing Christmas tree decorated with ....

vintage photos and snowflakes.

 A simple old nativity.

Little touches of red and Christmas items on a dresser.

New Jewelry

Today, I've been pricing some pretty new jewelry. These are made from stones such as malachite, amazonite, peridot, lapis, rose quartz, and amethyst among others. The prices range from 6-12 dollars....a great way to spice things up for not much cash! They make nice stocking stuffers too!

Fall...Autumn Decorating with Antiques

 Check out our "witch's boots." OK...maybe it was a witch...you never know!

 We amped up the fall colors and added some jack-o-lanterns made from gourds, and a few blackbirds.

This lamp is unusual...handmade by a Harry Potter fan, I bet. The books, globe and glasses are all part of the lamp itself. You don't find one like that everyday!

Amber and orange and black dishware.

Vintage purse in beautiful fall colors.

Lots of black and red and orange. It's not cool out there yet, but pretty soon we'll be breaking out wool blankets like these!

Route 66 Bags

 I've started creating bags from some sweet Route 66 fabrics. So far I've got a box bag that is a great size for make-up or shaving kit, and wristlets. All the bags are fully lined with no exposed seams.

I've got tote bags and aprons in the works as well, and several other cute Route 66 fabrics, so stay tuned!