If your holiday season includes gift-giving, we hope
you will consider shopping at Mirador. We have tried to stock
items that are not only beautiful and practical, but are
environmentally friendly and/or locally-made.
Glassware
We have quite a collection of glassware, both decorative
and practical (and some is both). And most of our glassware is
from recycled glass or made with reused glassware.
For the table, we have drinking, martini and wine glasses, mugs,
water pitchers, decanters, napkin rings, condiment bowls and
salt & pepper shakers. For the kitchen there are herb jars,
cruets, storage jars and bottles, and bakeware such as pie plates,
loaf pans, baking dishes and casseroles. For the bath we have
lotion bottles, toothbrush holders, soap dishes and toiletries
jars. For the rest of the house we have suncatchers, vases, paperweights,
candle holders, bottles wrapped and decorated with twisted wire
and beads, and other decorative bottles. Many of the pieces are
available in vibrant colors; most of them are made locally or
regionally.
Put On a Hat!
Have you heard the adage, if your hands are cold,
put on a hat? If the body is in a cold environment, 80% of the
heat loss can be through the head. Well, we have some very nice
hats that will take care of that.
There are hand-knit hats by Natalia Fay of Southeast Portland,
each a one-of-kind combinations of yarn, color and design. There
is a hat here for everyone in the family from baby to adult.
If you want to warm up and recycle at the same time, hats, scarves
and ear warmers by Ruth Neilson of Redmond, WA are made with
Fortrel EcoSpun, which is fleece made from recycled plastic bottles.
These warm and cozy pieces are in red, green, black and grey.
Handcrafted Brooms
Scheumack Brooms of Eugene hand crafts brooms with
100% natural fiber broomcorn with handles and dustpans made from
sassafras and bass. The wood is locally & sustainably harvested;
each piece is made using traditional broom-making and woodcarving
tools and techniques. We carry kitchen, witches, hearth, cobweb,
kid's and whisk brooms as well as a carved wooden dustpan. Special
this year is the Nimbus 2000 broom, which Harry Potter fans will
recognize and is not your mass-produced version!
Rubberwood Products
Rubberwoood, also known as Hevea, is grown for rubber
production. However, after 25-30 years, the trees cease being
productive. The trees are then cut down and are used for making
wood products. Rubberwood plantations are also intercropped,
increasing the use of the land and reducing the need for other
land.
We carry many Hevea wood products. These include dish racks and
cutlery holders, a mezzaluna/bowl set (a mezzaluna is a rounded
knife with handles at both ends, useful for chopping vegetables
such as onions), paper towel holders, bread boxes, salt &
pepper mills, knife blocks and picture frames. Most of these
products are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council to be
from sustainably-managed forests.
Spirit of The Scents
It is speculated that historically, perfumery started
with the burning of resins and gums and evolved into combining
these materials with vegetable and animal oils for ceremony and
pleasure. Hearkening back to these earlier practices, we have
an incense line that is indeed gums and resins that are burned
on charcoal. These can be paired with a hand made incense bowl
for a nice gift; you might also choose stick incense and a burner
as another option.
Another scented gift could be an aromatherapy burner with some
soothing Lavender oil or one of the other 30+ pure essential
oils we carry. For wearable scent, you might turn to the Eden
Botanical line with pure essences formulated in oil or crystallized
form. These scents vary from woody to floral and can also be
used in the bath.
Durva Healing Scents has put together some very nice bath salts
in five scent combinations, all with essential oils. Also by
Durva are essential oil blends that come with a meditation to
set the stage for a particular intention.
All The Trimmings
There are certain items that just seem to go along
with the winter holidays and we have covered all of those bases.
Calendars The year is winding down and just
about everyone is going to get a new calendar for keeping track
of the next year. Some of our calendars our whimsical, many concern
food growing or abundance and there are quite a few with a peaceful
focus. We also have a good selection of date books, including
one in banana fiber that you can start anytime of year because
you fill in the month and day. Any of these would be a nice gift
to someone or that special calendar for a work space or kitchen.
Candles With the darker days and evenings
upon us, it seems we are inclined to want lit candles around
us. We have holiday pillars and votives by Aroma Naturals, scented
with pure essential oils, as well as many others by the same
company. In beeswax we have tapers, pillars and votives made
by Hal right here in Portland. We also have beautiful tapers
from England in an array of vibrant colors and unscented vegetable
wax votives from Eugene. To hold those candles, we have candle
holders and candlesticks, many made from recycled glass. There
are many possible combinations here that would be nice for gift
giving.
Holiday Cards We have both boxed cards and
singles and most of them are made from recycled paper. The individual
cards we have are by Ted Naos and he calls them ornament cards.
Some of them become hanging ornaments and some will sit on a
table. Either way, they are beautiful, made from recycled paper
and can be enjoyed for years.
Wrapping Paper We have three different wrapping
papers made from recycled paper, two prints and one solid, and
one great retro print (literally about 25 years old) that are
all sold by the piece.
This and That
Other gift items to consider are mobiles locally-made
from chopsticks, Japanese lanterns made from paper with leaves
and flowers embedded in it, rocks beautifully decoupaged with
pictures of mandalas and spiritual beings (such as Krishna &
Buddha), colorful wands used to make soap bubbles of various
shapes, locally-made knitting needle art with wire and bead snails
and dragonflies for your plant pots, handbags and packs made
from recycled truck inner tubes, small purses made from beautiful
upholstery samples, many useful and unique kitchen gadgets, and
lots more!
ViewPoint
ViewPoint is a regular column in which we discuss
Mirador's relationship to our lives, to our community's life
and to the life of the wider community of the city, state, nation
and world in which we live.
After 9/11
The events of 9/11 have compounded the areas of concern
we have and we could go in many directions for "the view".
But, as my high school English teacher used to stress in our
composition class, narrow your subject. I'll do that here by
saying that one of the areas we focus on is the role of the small
business in our society: The local hardware store, barber, cafe,
bookstore, gift store.
Mirador experienced an immediate, major drop in business, as
did most businesses that we've heard about or talked to. It seems
totally appropriate that people would pull back in response to
a shocking event and uncertain economic times. It is fairly certain
the large amounts of money will still be spent for holiday gifts
and therefore, it is good to remember that every day we vote
with our dollars for the kind of world we want to live in and
what will be in it. Perhaps this time period will have a positive,
lasting effect on what kinds of products and enterprises get
financial votes from people as they carefully discern how and
where to spend.
Naturally, we hope that more and more people will actively support
small, local businesses. This isn't just because we are one,
but because we believe that they provide economic diversity and
stability to a community. Local merchants will do their darndest
to weather challenging economic periods where an absent owner
might be quicker to throw in the towel when the numbers don't
pencil out.
Local ownership means that the profits circulate in the community
and local wholesale distributors, suppliers and artists are patronized.
National companies will tend to have contracts in place that
force them to order from outside the state and the region. Local
ownership means business decisions are made by people in the
community rather than in distant boardrooms; this leads to a
greater awareness of the general health of a community.
So while wishing you a peaceful, safe holiday, we also wish you
the security of a vibrant local community to enjoy and we want
to thank you for your support this past year.
Lynn & Steve
Shopping at Seven
Corners
Besides Mirador, the Seven Corners neighborhood has
several other locally owned stores you might want to check out.
Gallery Schmallery
This gallery, at 2132 SE Division, carries "art
for all". Lael Easton, who owns this gallery and is part
owner of Infusion Gallery on Alberta Street (another good area
for gifts), makes silver and fused glass jewelry. She also carries
art items from other artists (many of them her friends) and has
a different artist featured monthly. Many of the art items are
small and would make perfect gifts. Since she is only a half
block up Division from us, we have been able to see the various
artists' pieces as they come. This is beautiful, unpretentious,
affordable art: Art for all.
Seven Corners Cycle and Fitness
Corey Cartwright, the new owner of Agape Cycle and
Fitness, at 2314 SE Division, is changing the name of his shop
to reflect the evolution going on in our neighborhood. He carries
new bicycles and fitness gear and the parts and accessories to
go with them. He also services bikes and fitness equipment. Corey
has already become a part of our community, taking part in the
Seven Corner Localization Initiative and becoming a member of
the Division/Clinton Business Association. If you or someone
on your list is into bicycles or fitness gear, go see Corey!
Climb Max
Climb Max, 2105 SE Division, carries the "most
complete selection of mountaineering and climbing hardware on
the planet." A long-time catalog store, their storefront
opened up not too long before we moved to Division Street last
January. Being afraid of heights, we confess to not understanding
this sport, but we can say that cars come and go from this store
all day long!
Red & Black Café
You won't find any gifts at this café, located
at 2138 SE Division, but if you need a break from shopping or
just need a break from life, this is a great place to get a cup
of organic coffee (they have their own Red & Black blend
roasted by Stumptown Coffee). They also have some great lunch
and dinner selections and a few good local brews on tap (including
one of our favorites, Laurelwood Organic Free Range Red). Besides
locals and shoppers, the Red & Black has become a meeting
place for many small groups and has a few computers for internet
access. Truly a community center!
Santa Visits Division/Clinton
Santa will be visiting the Division/ Clinton neighborhood
this holiday season. See Santa at CollectaBears, 4039 SE Clinton
Street, Saturdays after Thanksgiving (November 24, December 1,
8 and 15).
See Santa and get your picture taken with him. The requested
$5.00 donation goes toward paying for street trees for the Division/Clinton
area.
This is the first year Santa has planned to visit our neighborhood,
so be sure to take advantage of this historic occasion!
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