Do you need a new Easter Bonnet? Or Easter Basket gifts? Hostess gifts?

We have them, so stop by!

WE WILL BE CLOSED ON EASTER SUNDAY

We are open today, despite the snow!

If you are in the neighborhood, come in and get warm and do some Valentine’s Day shopping!

Now through Valentine’s Day, buy 1 Valentine from our selection of Valentine’s Day cards, and get a second for half price!

Can’t make it in? You can always purchase a gift certificate either through our website (which will be delivered electronically) or by calling the store (206-547-4983). At the store, we can package the certificate as a gift for pick-up, or mail it. If you choose mail, you can also add a card! And we will pick up the postage!

We will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day so our staff can enjoy the holiday with family and friends.

We will be open on Friday our normal hours – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Our heartfelt thanks and gratitude for your continuing support!

Valentine’s Day is Wednesday February 14th!

Valentine’s Day is the feast day in honor of Saint Valentine, a Roman martyr who lived in the 3rd century.

Saint Valentine was a bishop in Rome during the reign of Claudius II as the golden era of the Roman Empire was coming to an end. Lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil strife. Education declined, taxation increased and trade diminished. The Roman Empire faced crisis from all sides and had grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. More and more capable men were required as soldiers and officers to protect the nation from takeover. Claudius felt that married men were too emotionally attached to their families, that marriage made them weak, and thus, not good soldiers. So he issued an edict forbidding marriage in an attempt to assure quality soldiers.

The ban on marriage was a great shock for the Romans. But they dared not voice their protest against the mighty emperor.

The kindly bishop Valentine also felt the injustice of the decree. He saw the trauma of young lovers who gave up all hopes of being united in marriage and agreed to counter the monarch’s orders in secrecy. Whenever lovers thought of marrying, they went to Valentine who met them afterward in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. It was only a matter of time before Claudius came to know of this “friend of lovers,” and had him arrested.

While awaiting his sentence in prison, Valentine was approached by his jailor, Asterius, whose daughter was blind. It was said that Valentine had some saintly healing abilities, so Asterius requested that Valentine restore sight to his daughter. Valentine was able to grant this request and he and the daughter formed a deep friendship.

When Claudius II met Valentine, he was impressed by the dignity and conviction of the bishop. Valentine, however, refused to agree with the emperor regarding the ban on marriage. The emperor tried to convert Valentine to the Roman gods but was unsuccessful in his efforts. Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully. This angered Claudius II who gave the order of execution of Valentine.

It caused great grief to Asterius’ daughter to hear of her friend’s imminent death. Just before his execution, Valentine asked his jailor for a pen and signed a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a phrase that lived ever after. Valentine is believed to have been executed on February 14, 270 AD.

Thus 14th February became a day for all lovers and Valentine became its Patron Saint. It began to be annually observed by young Romans who offered handwritten greetings of affection, known as Valentines, to the women they admired on this day. With the coming of Christianity, the day came to be known as St. Valentine’s Day.

But it was only during the 14th century that St. Valentine’s Day became definitively associated with love. UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly, author of “Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine”, credits Chaucer as the one who first linked St. Valentine’s Day with romance. In medieval France and England it was believed that birds mated on February 14. Hence, Chaucer used the image of birds as the symbol of lovers in poems dedicated to the day. In Chaucer’s “The Parliament of Fowls,” the royal engagement, the mating season of birds, and St. Valentine’s Day are related:

“For this was on St. Valentine’s Day, When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate.”

By the Middle Ages, Valentine became so popular as to become one of the most popular saints in England and France. The association of Valentine’s Day with romance and courtship continued through the Middle Ages and evolved over the centuries. By the 18th century, gift giving and exchanging hand-made cards on Valentine’s Day had become common in England. Hand-made valentine cards made of lace, ribbons, and featuring cupids and hearts began to be created on this day and offered to the man or woman one loved.

This tradition eventually spread to the American colonies. It was not until the 1840s that Valentine’s Day greeting cards began to be commercially produced in the United States. The first American Valentine’s Day greeting cards were created by Esther A. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, who made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap”. It was when Howland began making Valentine’s cards on a large scale that the tradition really caught on in the United States.

Today, Valentine’s Day is one of the major holidays in the U.S. and has become a booming commercial success. According to the Greeting Card Association, 25% of all cards sent each year are Valentines. The Valentine’s Day cards are often designed with hearts to symbolize love and Valentine’s Day is now celebrated all over the world.

Excerpted from: http://www.theholidayspot.com/valentine/history_of_valentine.htm

We’re extending our hours to help you squeeze in all you need to do!

Let us assist with ideas, gift presentation, gift certificates and bows!!!

The New Lunar Year is the Year of the Rooster. Happy New Year on Jan. 28th!

Celebrate in style with this set of dipping bowls, adorn yourself with charms and your kitchen with a new towel. And then send your wishes for the New Year into the sky with our fun and festive Wish Papers!

We’ve been nominated in the Seattle A-List competition for Best Gift Shop! Please help us move up in the ranks to ultimately win, an appropriate achievement in this, our 30th year!

Click below to Vote!

Stop by any Thursday evening in March, from 5 to 7:30, for an informal Demonstration of what to do with scarves. Feel free to bring in a scarf of your own that you’d like to have some tips on wearing, or play with some of our beauties!

Join us throughout March as we celebrate scarves and

continue to offer help in utilizing this most versatile accessory!

Our Pop-Up Shop is located across the hall from the main store and is filled with Holiday Delights, from a great selection of artist-made cards and gift wrap, to jewelry by new and local artists, gift suggestions, small glass pieces and lots and lots of handmade ornaments – something for every style of tree!      And plenty of snowflakes to set the mood!   

Extended Holiday Hours begin Friday Dec. 18th when we will be open until 9 p.m. every night before Christmas except Sunday when we’re open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., and Christmas Eve, the 24th, when we’ll close at 5 p.m.

Happy Holidays from Crackerjack!