mmmmmmm... why, YES, we DID have these
GIANT LETTER TILES & HOLDERS
at the Farm Chicks Antique show in Spokane, WA
on June 4 & 5, 2011 at the beginning of this month.
We had them at our show last weekend, too,
and will have more available for sale
at both of our July show appearances:
Rue de Park Lane in Kirkland, WA
BarnHouse in Battle Ground, WA
We came up with this product in April:
One day we hung our giant chalkboard
on the wall in our entrance hall.
Normally, an antique wooden rain gutter section
[that I've had for twenty years]
hangs beneath it to hold chalk and erasers.
Our hall is too narrow to allow for that
[it would be at ankle-height - NOT good!]
so I was holding the wooden rain gutter section
and turned into the family room...
where a group of Scrabble letters spelling 'RETREAT'
sat on a wooden Scrabble tile holder
on an enamel side table.
I looked at that, and then looked down
at the wooden rain gutter section in my hands.
A lightbulb went on!
and so I went into my studio and sketched the idea
for the giant letter tiles and wooden rain gutter holders.
Bob got to work on those,
and we debuted them at Farm Chicks.
They were VERY popular!
We had a lot of comments on how fun
and 'brilliant' the idea was.
(thank you Serena Thompson and Jenny Doh!)
We also heard a lot of comments about how
we had 'forgotten' to put the numbers on them!
We explained (a million times)
that we specifically chose NOT to put numbers on ours
or call them 'Scrabble letters' because
those designs and terms are copyrighted by Milton Bradley.
I took the idea of spelling words with letter tiles
(which we have ALL done with Scrabble tiles)
thought it would be cool in a larger size,
and made it into a new product.
Call it 'building a better mousetrap'...
we improved on the original for this particular use.
But we will not copy the game pieces exactly,
nor will we use the game's name for them.
THAT, my friends, is rude. And illegal.
And EXPENSIVE when the lawyers come callin'.
Besides, there's nothing more annoying than a copycat.
A lot of photos of our giant letter tiles were taken
at Farm Chicks, and we knew exactly WHY.
Yes, you certainly CAN make them yourself.
But when priced at just $4 each (or five for $20)
and $20 for a section of antique wooden rain gutter to hold them,
they are a GREAT deal for quality materials and workmanship.
Are you really going to go to all the trouble of
making them when they are THAT reasonable?
Especially after you consider all of the time spent
cutting, sanding, sealing, printing, and waxing
that goes into each one.
And the cost of the supplies.
Our price is actually CHEAP!
IN any case, we think they are fun
and we are glad we had our version out there
first on the vintage circuit.
Leading decor trends.... that's RETREAT!
;0)
Available from Retreat at upcoming shows in the Northwest and California.
We do not sell our products online.
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