A few days ago I was singing the praises of my dear friend and coworker (and our Mrs. October 2011), Cynthia.  Today I just have to share about her youngest son, Mitchell, who recently turned 10.

Mitchell is one of our youngest customers, and one of our favorites.  Last Christmas he made a confidential little phone call to me – wondering what Crosby & Taylor product he could SECRETLY purchase for his dear Mommy Cynthia.  He told me how much he had to spend. I gave him Cynthia’s employee discount – and then some – and he was able to purchase a Petite Salt Pot for her.

You might be wondering why it has taken me so long to share my Mitchell story?!  Well, 20 months ago Mitchell got struck with a horrible health problem and I wanted to wait until his beautiful hair grew back in – before I took his picture with his petite salt pot. Here he is now – the picture of health and beauty, with his gift!

Mitchell and his Christmas Gift

And here is a picture of his allowance which he so lovingly saved up to purchase his Mommy’s Christmas gift last December:

Mitchell's savings

But, the best part of all was the writing on the envelope:

Mitchell's tip

I was a waitress many moons ago and got a lot of nice tips. But I do believe this is the first tip I have ever received as a business owner. Too cute for words! Mitchell is a keeper!

Sometimes we make best friends with our co-workers. And sometimes our best friends become our co-workers. Here is a wonderful story of my dear friend, Cynthia, who has worked on and off with us, here at Crosby & Taylor for the past 5 years. She is my neighbor, my dear friend, but most importantly, my “sister from another mother”.

Here we are sporting our Pewter Pendants - ever the face of Crosby & Taylor. (I’m surprised we aren’t wearing Measuring Spoons around our necks!)  Do we not look like we are related?

Cynthia and me

This month Cynthia is our Mrs. October. Each month last year we honored one employee but Cynthia somehow got passed over because she is seasonal and part-time. Not fair – you exclaim! And I completely agree.

Here is our wall of FAME – each employee has a poster celebrating his or her greatness!

Our Crosby & Taylor wall of fame!

Of course, Cynthia is so camera shy that she wouldn’t even pose with her poster.

Cynthia's Mrs. October poster

She was busy assembling Christmas ornaments and just couldn’t even look up for a minute.

Life is short, as they say. I really try to cherish each and every day. Having people like Cynthia in my life – and with us at Crosby & Taylor  – is something to appreciate. I hope you will call in to place an order one of these days and get Cynthia on the phone. You will love talking to her. She’s just that kind of person!

We are thrilled to announce that Paula Deen has picked us again!   Check out the November/December issue of Cooking with Paula Deen!

Turn to page 14/15….

Paula's Picks - The things I love, from my home to yours

The photo is a bit on the small side so here is a nice big picture of our NEW! Angel Measuring Spoons! Since Paula already owns nearly all of our other styles, we wanted her to have something new for the Holidays! These are now available for purchase at our online store. (And remember – we always have free shipping on orders of $50 or more.)

NEW! Angel Measuring Spoons

We are pretty proud of the back sides of the Spoons, as else. The texture almost resembles the stitching on a home-made quilt.

Spoons - detail

Adam and Dan

Behind every product we create and ship, there is a team of individuals who works with us in our Crosby & Taylor studio in Eugene, Oregon.  These folks work hard to assure that the high quality standards of each product are met.   We simply would not be where we are without our team – so we like to brag about them from time to time.

We are so fortunate to have  the Trent brothers (TWINS actually), Adam and Dan, working with us. These guys are masters in the art of getting what we need and helping us get it out the door and on its way to you!

If you have a set of our Measuring Spoons or Cups on a Pewter Display Post, chances are that Adam assembled that for you and Dan cleaned it up and hammered it straight!

They get the job done!  Their old brother, Matt, also used to work with us but he moved on to the world of Credit Unions. Go Northwest Community Credit Union!

Adam and Dan grew up in Oswego, New York. I grew up in Canton, which is only about 2 1/2 hours away. It still seems kind of crazy to me that we all ended up working together some 3000 miles away.

Some people work for me for years and still can’t figure out which one is Dan and which one is Adam.

A few years ago, their brother, Pete, came out from Atlanta. We already had an old photo of the 4 brothers up on our shop fridge:

The Trent Babies

I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get an updated picture of the 4 of them. It was a pretty entertaining photo shoot! I can’t remember now how many beers it took to get them to suit up for the photo – but I believe it was more than a few! Adam and Dan are happy that I cropped this photo. They really didn’t like being photographed in the little shorts that I got to match these #12 shirts!

The Trent boys - "all growed up"

Last, but not least, here is a picture of Adam taken during an incredibly productive work day last Christmas season:

A big day for Adam!

Like I said, this pair of twins knows how to get things done in a pewter shop!

Angel Candle Holders

Are you thinking ahead to holiday decorating? Due to the soaring cost of metal, we must retire two of our very favorite products – our Reindeer and Angel Candle Holders and are offering them at a discounted price.

The Reindeer and Angel Candle Holders are now available for the special price of $29 each while they last. These lovely items will make a statement on your holiday table or on your mantle (like we have in our home).

Their timeless appeal and quality craftsmanship make them a wonderful gift to be enjoyed for years to come!

No Coupon Code needed. Prices have already been changed on our website. Click here to go directly to these products.

We love hearing stories from families who bring out their special Crosby & Taylor pewter pieces at Christmas year after year. Visit our Pewter for Christmas section to see our selection of Holiday Measuring Spoons, Pewter Ornaments, Nativity Sets, Stoneware, and special Santa’s Keys.

Reindeer Pewter Candle Holders

Angel Candle

I have heard that some people really get into decorating their cubicles at work. We don’t really have cubicles at Crosby & Taylor since much of our work is done around melting pots and casting machines and such.  But my guys still find ways to decorate. I always get a laugh when they add something new.

Here is one of our melting pots. Who would have guessed that you could cover a ventilation pipe with fascinating reading material?!

Melting Pot and Ventilaton Pipe

And then, here is Derrik’s shipping area. If you look really hard, you can find his lap-top and printer, admist all this decor…

Shipping Area

A few years back, we did some custom pieces for Conecuh Sausage. Before we got started, they generously sent us some product samples. We really enjoyed them – and we still enjoy their outrageous logo so Derrik also has this up on his wall:

Conecuh Sausage

And then there is my office, of course….I have a huge bulletin board covered with all kinds of inspirational pictures and words and ideas.  One of my son-in-laws was visiting the other day and I noticed him looking at my bulletin board. I’m sure he can’t imagine how anyone can work in such chaos. (I bet HIS cubicle is immaculate!)

My "cubicle"

Here is a close-up view of one of the treasures on my board o’ inspiration- - an autographed Pewter Measuring Cup! When I was at a book-signing a couple of years ago, I asked Paula to sign a Cup. That meant more to me than a signature in a cookbook! Her husband, Michael, commented that Paula LOVES her cups.

Paula-autographed Measuring Cup

So there is a quick tour of our world of Pewter! I hope you enjoy decorating your work spaces, as well!

One of the best things about running your own business is that you can choose your hours. Ask my children what that means and they will say that it basically means I work 60 hours a week/7 days a week. Oh, that may be true. But today, Sunday, it was peaceful and quiet at the shop and I actually wandered around a bit looking at all the wacky things that my guys weld and then put up. I know I know, it was probably on my dollar….but heck! you have to give them credit for thinking outside the box!

These are some of the silly things that I found here and there…

As you can see – if you are familiar with pegboard – this thing is tiny! It obviously started with a donkey from our Nativity Sets and then, who really knows where it went from there?!

Horseman with sword??

And then, what is this?! It appears to be a pewter ant – made from the bowls of our Celtic Spoons and our retired Raindrop spoons?! What will these guys think of next??

Pewter Ant??

I hadn’t noticed this silly guy until today! We make our molds from very malleable, squishy rubber. It appears that this creation was made from some random rubber left over from a mold-making event. This rubber guy was then attached to the wall in a spot where someone else had been previously testing out the rubber stamp (that we use on the bottom of our Stoneware.) I say – give our mold-maker an “A” for creativity. (Of course, I hope the mold came out as well – ha!)

Silly Mold Man

And then I came upon this…. This appears to be a Pewter stick figure. I guess someone was kind of tired and decided to express himself in pewter.

I stumbled upon more treasures but some of them were even more outrageous. I don’t think they really need to be shared. But, like I said…”A” for creativity – right?! And now I better make sure that they are back to welding what they are supposed to be welding  – like spoon and cup posts!