The makers behind the shelves | Pennywhistle Gifts

A wall of shelves filled with candles in many colors

How a maker ends up on our shelves

Mostly the same way: Marisol meets them at a fair, or a customer brings in something a friend made, or somebody walks in the door on a Tuesday morning with a box. We look at the work, and ask what it costs to make. If it is good and the price is fair, we order a little, see how it sells and order more.

We pay makers within two weeks, not ninety days, and we never ask for a discount below their wholesale price.

Are you a maker?

A few of our makers

JA
Jo and Pete Maxwell
Birchbark Candle Co., Hadley
Soy candles poured in small batches in a barn behind their house, with wooden wicks and scents that smell like the Valley in each season.
AC
Ana Cardoso
Hilltown Clay, Goshen
Throws mugs, bowls and espresso cups in a studio over her garage and fires them every other Sunday. Our best-selling mugs.
LO
Lucy Okafor
Okafor Press, Easthampton
Illustrator and printmaker. Her risograph prints, hand-lettered cards and screen-printed posters have been on our walls since 2016.
WA
Walt and Greta Sorensen
Little Barn Toys, Williamsburg
A retired shop teacher and his daughter, making wooden toys from local beech. Nothing they make has a battery.
DB
Dee Bartholomew
Mill River Soap, Florence
Cold-process soap in small batches, scented with essential oils only. The garden set is our most-wrapped hostess gift.
CW
Carol Whately
Whately Linen Works, Whately
Finishes and hand-stitches stonewashed linen towels, napkins and aprons at her kitchen table with two part-time helpers.
DR
Dev Rao
Photographer, Florence
Prints his favorite photos from trips as postcards, and sells more of them at the shop than at any gallery.
MH
Mae Halloran
Northfield Chandlery, Northfield
Hand-dips tapers one at a time in a converted milk house. A pair takes her an afternoon.