Host a studio design party and get these free perks in addition to our standard Hostess Credits!

Parties totaling $250 - $500:  Your choice of "Keep the Change", "One for All", or Checkbook Cover PLUS $25 in store credits to spend!

Parties totalying $501 or more:  Your choice of small or large "Makeup You Mind" or Brush Roll PLUS $50 or more in store credits.  Credits increase as party totals increase.

Our Newest Class!

We supply the tote - you create your very own look with fabric pens & take it home that day!  Tote is approximately 9"H x 9"W x 3"D with double straps. 

Cost is $35 and includes one tote & decorating supplies.  Reservations and $10 deposit required - call 937-431-1888

The ultimate experience for little JennaClaire fans.  Girls, bring your dolls and wear your best party outfit.  You will be treated to pink lemonade, cookies & treats, goodie bags & balloons.  Then put on your "designer hat" and design matching bags for you and  your doll (or stuffed animal)!  Choose from 2 different styles, and use our fabrics & ribbon trims to create your masterpiece!  We will sew the bags for you - they are usually ready in 3 - 4 weeks for you to pick up!  (This class also available for private birthday parties.)

Holly tells of her unusual upbringing as a child of the “The Gerbil Czar.”  Her father, Donald Robinson grew up in Dayton and has had a long-time fascination with gerbils.  After reading an article about “America’s Newest Pet” in 1965, he purchased four pairs of gerbils and gave them a home in his Virginia garage.  It didn’t take long before he was the proud owner of hundreds of gerbils.

He regarded raising gerbils as a hobby, at first, but after retiring from the U.S. Navy, he focused all his energies and enlisted the help of his wife, in-laws, and his children into expanding his hobby into a business.  The business eventually became the world’s largest supplier of gerbils, aka. The Gerbil Czar nickname.

Through.the years, the family added more animals to the mix.  All in all, the farm housed goats, sheep, peacocks, hens, geese, turtles, parrots, horses, dogs, cats, and, of course, about 8,700 gerbils, with 2,700 new gerbils being born every week!

Holly Robinson has written feature articles, essays, and advice columns for national magazine on health, science, and psychology. She holds a B.A. in biology from Clark University and an M.F. A. in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts.

When the Whistle Blows is set in a railroad town in West Virginia in the l940s.  In it, we meet young Jimmy Cannon who loves trains.  More than anything he wants to work on the B&C railroad when he grows up, just as his father and ancestors before him have worked on steam engines.  Fast paced and action packed, readers join Jimmy on midnight Halloween romps in graveyards, robberies, explosions, a secret society, and a championship football game.  At it heart, this is a story about a boy and his father in a time when trains reigned supreme.

Kirkus Reviews gave When the Whistle Blows a starred review. “Ultimately, Jimmy learns to accept that the days of the steam engine are over, to better understand his emotionally distant father and to embrace his role as newest member of his father’s society, which turns out to be centered not on the railroad after all, but on faith, brotherhood, and love.  An unassuming masterpiece.  (Historical fiction, 10 & up)”

We have invited members of the National Model Railroad Association and the National Railway Historical Society to bring railroad memorabilia and a working model railroad layout.  Both adults and children will enjoy that.

Fran Cannon Slayton lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her novel was inspired in large part by the stories her father, aunts, uncles, and cousins told her about Rowlersburg, West Virginia.  Many of her relatives actually worked on the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad.  To find out more about Fran, visit www.francannonslayton.com.

Forty years ago, Buzz Aldrin became the second human being, minutes after Neil Armstrong, to set foot on a celestial body other than the Earth.  The event remains one of mankind’s greatest achievements and was witnessed by the largest worldwide television audience in history.  Few people have not seen the iconic photograph of Aldrin standing on the surface of the moon with the blackness of space behind him and the lunar module reflected in his visor.  It has forever changed the way we view both the moon and the earth.

That flight made Buzz Aldrin one of the most famous persons in the world.  While we knew a great deal about his life as an astronaut, he has never shared much of his personal life, until now.  Following his career in the U.S. Air Force and as a public relations representative for NASA, he experienced the twin demons of depression and alcoholism.  Redemption came when he embraced sobriety and gained the love of the woman who became his wife, Lois.  He has now dedicated himself to being a tireless advocate for the future of space exploration, not only as a scientific endeavor but also as a thriving commercial enterprise.

Ron Kaplan, Executive Director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame will join Buzz for a Q&A session during the event.

Design your very own creative tote & take it home that day!

Cost is $35 and includes one tote & decorating supplies.  Reservations and $10 deposit required:  call 937-431-1888

Parking:  Magnolia Lane, Holly Drive, and the lots north and south of Von Maur

Our Newest Class:  Design your very own creative tote & take it home that day!

Cost is $35 and includes one tote & decorating supplies.  Reservations and $10 deposit required:  call 937-431-1888

Parking:  Magnolia Lane, Holly Drive, and the lots to the north and south of Von Maur

Color in your very own creative tote with our fabric pens & take it home that day!

Cost is $35 and includes one tote & decorating supplies.  Reservations and $10 deposit required;  call 937-431-1888

Parking:  Magnolia Lane, Holly Drive, and the lots north and south of Von Maur