Dancing Bumblebee Cottage Is Now Located In The West Bottoms KCMO

Now that you've read the previous entry about Maud, Claude, Mable, Walter and Dancing Bumblebee Cottage, I want to make an exciting announcement.  Dancing Bumblebee Cottage is now located at the West Bottoms in Kansas City, Missouri.  Our booth is on the 4th floor of the Central Bag Company Building at Pete N Repeat Repurposed.  We are on the back wall in booth number 0015.

Dancing Bumblebee Cottage at Pete N Repeat Repurposed

Central Bag Company Building

1323 West 13th Street

Kansas City, Missouri

Of course, we're still on Etsy (link in the right sidebar) but we'll be bringing to the West Bottoms items that would have been found in Maud and Claude's cottage as well as Mable and Walter's Kansas farm house in the early 1900's.  

The West Bottoms is a plethora of pop-up antique shops open on the first Friday weekend of every month.  Pete N Repeat Repurposed is also open every Saturday for your shopping pleasure.  There are 2 freight elevators to take you up to the 4th floor.  That's half the fun!  Maud, Claude, Mable and Walter are always tickled to see items they used in every day life bring joy to generations.  You'll find furniture in their found state usually with chippy paint and loads of love embedded in every scratch and bump.  Graniteware, antique shipping boxes with glorious advertising, children's furniture, and antique items with Adirondack flair will be sourced. (Maud's family, the Phipps, were originally from the New York Adirondack region before moving to Kansas, so of course Maud had an infinity for items from the Adirondacks).  Walter was handy and especially loved anything handmade, so you'll see folk art featured, as well.  Mable loved to sew and I do, too, so the shop will have some handmade feed sack pillows on display.

Since this is a new venture, we've just gotten set up.  Here's our booth for this upcoming weekend starting on Friday:

As time goes by, most treasures will have little stories attached to the price tag because everything has a story and Maud, Claude, Mable and Walter want to share with you the history behind each item.   Within the month, the booth will have a large canvas picture of Maud and Claude welcoming you to Dancing Bumblebee Cottage.  But until then, stop out to the West Bottoms and visit our cottage.  We're delighted to have you stop in.

Maud, Claude and Dancing Bumblebee Cottage

You may be wondering why we named our shop, Dancing Bumblebee Cottage.  It all started back in 1912 when Maud Phipps married the dashing Mr. Claude Fitzgerald.  And did it ever start the rumor mill!  Maud was just 16 when Claude blew into town as the J.R. Watkins Salesman.  He had a plethora of filled bottles from tonics to vanilla extract and the well-to-do Phipps family welcomed Claude with an open check book.  And also, as it turned out, their daughter's heart.

After their marriage, they settled just outside of Wichita, Kansas.

Claude still peddled his wares in the bustling city and quiet countryside while Maud quickly learned the art of being a new mother to their first-born child, Samuel, who was then followed by their daughter, Anna.  Since Claude was quite successful, he was able to provide a charming mid-sized cottage on a one-acre lot adjacent to a large farmhouse owned by the Remington family.

The Remingtons, Walter and Mable, procreated quite evenly with 8 children; 4 boys and 4 girls.  Walter was a rancher tending to a large herd of cattle while Mable tended to the herd of children running to and fro.  Over time, Mable and Maud became the best of friends while their children played together.  It was not uncommon for Maud to hear the pounding of footsteps running across the prairie land when Mable let the kids out to play. The children always ran over to Maud's house for a few tea cakes and cool peppermint tea that she mixed up with peppermint extract from her husband's stash of goods. After awhile, it seemed like they were all just one big family.

Mable loved to garden and kept not only a large vegetable garden right next to the summer kitchen, which was a feat in and of itself in the scorching Kansas environment, but she also grew the most exquisite flowers even winning blue ribbons at every Kansas State Fair contest she entered.  So, it wasn't long until Maud was a budding gardener, too.  In front of the porch, magic happened.  There, Mable and Maud turned the dry soil into a spectacular show of color.

Maud would exclaim with glee, "Mable, I sit on the porch in the early evenings as an audience of one bearing witness to a most intricate dance between bumblebees and the swaying lavender. The sound of buzzing punctuates the air like a mini orchestra.  It's mesmerizing, Mable.  It's utterly mesmerizing."

And thus the little cottage bore the name, Dancing Bumblebee Cottage.  It was the home of Maud and Claude, where love was always abundant and friendships were continually strengthened. It was a cottage built on strength and character.

Dancing Bumblebee Cottage is that home you remember as a child.  The home where once you crossed the threshold, all your worries were left outside and the walls welcomed you with a warm embrace.

This is Dancing Bumblebee Cottage.  I hope you enjoy your stay.

New Year's Sale!

Happy New Year to my valued customers and friends!  It's 2014 and you know what that means!

It's time for our annual New Year's Sale.  Enter the coupon code YEAR2014 at checkout to receive 14% off your purchases now through February 5, 2014.

I still have an extensive inventory and need to make room for new auction finds this year.  Since Valentines Day is just a little over a month from now, consider picking up your sweetheart a vintage gift from the heart. Just click over to our Etsy shop on the right side bar and browse!

Here are a few ideas:

Blessings to you for a wonderful year ahead!