With the economy struggling, some shoppers are turning to homemade gifts.
That won’t be a problem for one resident. Alicia Garcia, a clothing designer who hails from south Florida, specializes in making creative gifts with a homemade flair.
Ms. Garcia opened Pekuliar Treasures boutique in October next to Gumbeaux’s restaurant on Douglasville’s Broad Street.
“It’s our little treasure chest here,” she said. “Everything’s little jewels and treasures.”
Mrs. Garcia wove the Christmas wreaths and decoupaged the paperweights for sale. She designed and sewed some of the clothes on the racks — “definitely the more peculiar ones,” she said.
“Raw edges and flowers are kind of my signature,” she said, pointing out a little knit top embroidered with many flowers. “Unfinished edges, the more you wash it, the more it’ll fray and just kind of add character to the piece.”
She also paints on some fabrics. And she teams with fellow vendors in her co-op to make gift sets.
“A jewelry designer does wineglass charms for me, and I make a wine glass tote to go with it,” she explained. “I do reading pillows, and we pair them with bookmarks made with Swarovski crystals, and that is a reading set.”
She got a company to customize a Pekuliar Treasure scent for her “signature gift set,” a candle, soap and lip balm.
“Through high school I made my money making wreaths and decorating friends’ homes,” she said. “I used to take my allowance and go to Michael’s [craft supply store]. My brother though I was the strangest.”
At least her other relatives appreciate her ingenuity. “For Christmas, they’re all getting stuff that I make — not him, but the rest of the family,” she said. “Some will get the holiday couture gift set, which has a wreath, ornaments and a candle. My stylish girls are getting clothing pieces.”
Mrs. Garcia started a private chef business in Douglasville in 2006 with her husband, Antonio Garcia. That grew into an events and catering business.
“I moved into retail because I started doing special gifts for the events – favors, custom candles, place card holders, welcome packages,” she said.
Playing off the catering tie-in, one of the shop’s vendors, seamstress Allison English of Hiram, makes “vintage-inspired” aprons and recipe cards, Mrs. Garcia said.
Some of the vendors sell online too, at etsy.com.
That’s where you’ll also find RaeCheles, which is Michele Norris and her friend Rae Dotson, both of Douglasville.
Though they also sell at craft fairs and a couple of boutiques out of town, sewing is only a sideline for them, Ms. Norris said.
She has been sewing since she was 11. When she came home from home economics class all excited about it, her grandmother pulled out the sewing machine for her to “play” with, and it has hardly stopped since.
“I make everything,” Mrs. Norris said, “handbags, little girls’ clothes ... I’m working on aprons, ties and stockings all this week – gifts – and my girlfriend is opening her new shop in Texas. I have to help her get it stocked by the 15th.”
the raccoon comes out and is a seam ripper (or as we call "Jack")
the back view
