We’ve got a little country lurking underneath our leopard-print kitten heels.
Really, who can resist pig-faced spatulas, rustic wooden pumpkins and curlicued, napping cats crafted from rabbit and goat fur?
OK, so maybe we’re full up on goat fur.
Everything else, bring it on. The last stop on our Oxford Road Trip II: The Return is The Candle Place on Route 26. It’s large and very country and crafty, with bonus kitchen gadgets, cards and party supplies. The Candle Place makes for a great Sunday afternoon drive must-see and a fitting end-of-road-trip hurrah.
(Just watch out for Oxford Road Trip III: The Revenge. Strikes when you least expect it. We’re shopping sharks like that.)
* Large pumpkin flower box, $42.99
A big wooden pumpkin with a perched crow and some well-placed metal stars. What we learned in five minutes at The Candle Place: In country chic, crows are hot. Stars are a must. Pumpkins are now. So in-the-moment trendy that your fingers may tingle at the touch.
* Narrow brown bench, $79.95
Decorated with a green star. See? We told you.
* Piggy Wiggy gadgets, $3.95-$6.95
Egg timer, spatula or whisk in pretty-in-pink with a pig face. Choose one or pig out your whole kitchen.
* Moose penny lottery scratcher, $7.95
A little silver charm shaped like a moose with a penny embedded in the metal so as to always have something handy/decorative for the scratching of your scratch tickets. It doesn’t seem like that should require a 30-word description, but there you are.
* Five-foot-tall “house” with slatted sides, American flag-theme roof with birdhouse hole, $69.95
So we were divided on its purpose: birdhouse or well cover? Maybe both, provided said bird family doesn’t mind rooming with a giant pipe.
* Brown Sugar Disc, $3.95
Our who knew? of the week. This tiny pottery piece claims to keep your brown sugar from getting rock hard. We typically just smash our brown sugar with a heavy mallet nicknamed “The Sugarnator,” but we suppose this disc might work, too.
* Retirement Bingo game, $6.95
“I’ve got a diagonal with Dust Your Rocking Chair, Enjoy A Matinee, Take A Nap, and Eat Oatmeal!”
That can be you at your next party, Mr. I Just Won Bingo.
* Hang A Name interlocking wooden blocks, $3.95 per letter
Perfect for creating an adorable, personalized decoration for a nursery or child’s bedroom. However, when we were there they were out of the letter A and had very few I, N, E blocks left. So if you’ve just named your baby Annie you may be out of luck here.
* Snoozies, $12
Super-soft slippers in pink leopard print, paw print, flower print and other prints. Cozy, lightweight and non-skid. If only cars were made this way.
Best find: Petite party taper candles, 20-pack, 75 cents
Very tall — well, by American Association of Average Candles standards — with a burning time of 10 minutes, in bright primary colors. Get your birthday cake on. Just watch your hair.
Think twice: Raggedy Andy doll, $10.95
Old-fashioned rag doll complete with red yarn hair and a denim bow tie. Sure to delight any child. Except that if you give this to your 7-year-old, you will apparently be considered a Bad Parent because the little tag, in tiny print, warns this doll is a craft or collectible and not a child’s toy. That’s just sad. Sad and wrong. And completely opposite The Candle Place, which seems pretty happy and perfect.
Prices as of 8/17
Bag Lady and Shopping Siren’s true identities are protected by a pair of stylish, sweater-wearing Doberman pinschers (who don’t care where the birds go as long as it’s out of their backyard) and the Customer Service counter at the Sun Journal. You can reach them at baglady@sunjournal.com and shoppingsiren@sunjournal.com.
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