Home is exactly what Ryan Shell, the creator of The Home T was missing in 2010 when he moved to New York City from his home in North Carolina. Five years later, he made an appearance on the ABC reality show, “Shark Tank,” to pitch his Made in the USA apparel line that stylishly lets you display your home state pride. Shell asked for $250,000 in exchange for 5% stake in his startup company.
What was initially disbelief from the sharks that Shell’s company could be worth five million dollars, they quickly changed their tune after hearing that The Home T did $1.1 million dollars in revenue in its first year. Three of the sharks — Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner and Daymond John — proposed an offer, but with no one willing to meet his asking price, Shell left the tank the same as he came in.
Not long after that day, Our Nation’s Creations reached out to Shell to see about selling his line in their brick and mortar store located at the Plant Street Market in Winter Garden, Florida. As one of our first vendors, it was only a matter of months before we became their number one boutique seller in the U.S.
Made In America
Everything you see on our site has been meticulously vetted to ensure that it is made in America. Offering products made solely in the USA, we strive to enrich the lives of both artisans and local businesses across the country with the development of new jobs and greater opportunities for growth in our nation. That mission has never been more important than right now.
In addition to promoting within the U.S., Our Nation’s Creations also works to promote local charities. Our number one mission is to support our fellow Americans, especially those in need. And just like The Home T, which donates a minimum of 10% of their profits to benefit multiple sclerosis research — because the disease has impacted their family — we choose charities that are near and dear to our heart. Each month we donate a portion of our sales to a local charity with a similar mission to ours. See more about one of our benefactors here. To purchase something from The Home T, check out our product page here.
The saying goes, home is where the heart is, but these days, home is where everyone is. That message is proudly displayed on The Home T’s line of insanely soft shirts, and resonates with customers now more than ever. Thank you for doing your part, and thank you for shopping Made in America. Alone we are strong, together we are stronger. Stay stronger!
By Lisa Costantini
]]>Matthew's Hope Ministries is a faith-based homeless outreach ministry serving the needs of those who have some connection to west Orange County. They serve our homelessness community in so many ways.
“I just want to help people. As much as I can. Matthew's Hope helps provide jobs, food, and now we can teach people how to eat healthy with our newest endeavor, The Harvest of Hope Chemical Free Garden & Greenhouse.” ~Scott Billue, Founder of Matthew's Hope
“This is something I am really proud to support because I love the idea of focusing on health and the idea of the garden in the homeless community.
I have recently been involved with the Libby's Legacy Pink Garden Project that was created due to a recurrence of breast cancer years down the road and realizing so much about our illnesses are related to good nutrition. The garden was created to serve breast cancer survivors with fresh organic vegetables.
So when I saw that Matthew's Hope was also doing a chemical free garden I just knew I wanted to be involved. I thought every community needs a garden!”
~Cathy Ciullo, Owner of Our Nation's Creations
Our Nation’s Creations has been a supporter of Matthew’s Hope since it’s inspirational beginning. We will continue to support them as we help bring their beautiful garden out into the community by sponsoring their garden market stand that will sell all of the ministry's garden goodies!
You can stay up to date with Matthew's Hope and their latest endeavors over on their facebook page. And keep your eyes peeled for the great market stand on 9th Street (just north of Colonial Dr) in Winter Garden, FL.
]]>
Need a little gift inspiration when it comes to your lady this Valentine's Day? Don't forget there's free delivery too!
No. 5 Bonnie Socks
Treat your Bonnie to a diamond, even if it's on a sock!
No. 4 Bonfire & Spun Sugar Scented Candle
Turn up the romance with this amazing smelling Bonfire & Spun Sugar candle. Sounds like the opportune moment to make some s'mores to us!
No. 3 It Was Always You Valentine's Card
Show your lady how much she means to you, with this super romo Valentine's Day card.
No. 2 Don't Quit Your Daydream T-Shirt
What better way to let her know you support her dreams?
No. 1 – Love Giving Key Necklace
Show her you love her with this engraved key necklace. These gorgeous pieces of jewellry have a unique story, they are created by people transition from homelessness and recycling used keys. Not only a thoughtful gift, but a great story to go with it!
However you choose to spend your Valentine's Day, we hope you enjoy your time together.
xx
]]>No. 5 Pocket Monkey Utility Tool
What man doesn’t like a gadget? 12 utility & convenience tools packed into one easy to carry around gizmo, he will love this!
No. 4 Plant Street Market Hoodie
A great sweater for Sunday couch slouching or heading down to the Plant Street Market for beer and food! On sale now down from $50 to $35!
No. 3 Florida Gator or Florida State Socks
Which ones to choose! Get it right, you don’t want to pick the wrong team now!
No. 2 The Ultimate Valentine's Day Card
Your guy not so big on the romance? Get him this valentines day card, it’s sure to put a smile on his face, if nothing else!
No. 1 – It’s a bromance thing
Freaker’s bottle insulator, for beer loving men (and women) everywhere! These keep your beer cold and your hands dry, plus they’re on sale $5.97! Awesome.
Happy Valentine's Day y'all!
xx
]]>Our top choice Valentine's Day product
It was hard to choose amongst all our products, but these Love earrings had to be the winner! Not only are they beautiful and the perfect finish to complete any outfit, but each time your loved on puts them on, they’ll think of you! Find them online here.
There’s even a heart warming back-story to these pieces of jewellery, which you can share as part of giving the gift. These earrings are created by people in Los Angeles, who are transitioning out of homelessness, using old keys found.....well anywhere! This means you will never have the same key as another person, they are all truly unique. How cool is that?
However and with whomever you decide to celebrate Valentine's Day and with, have an amazing day filled with love!
]]>This month we are taking you on a guided tour of the Plant Street Market, located in Winter Garden, Florida.
Our store joined the market right from the very start back in 2015! This artisan market was purpose built, with the idea of making it a destination, not just for the locals to enjoy, but also for the thousands of tourists and visitors who come to Orlando and Florida every year.
The ethos of the Plant Street Market is to create a community, whereby all the vendors can work alongside and support each other. This gives visitors the ultimate experience in shopping, eating, dining and not to mention entertainment! There is always something going on, from live music to yoga on the lawn and charity events, plus the Crooked Can Brewery where you can try out locally produced brews on tap!
We love being a part of this supportive community, so whether you plan a day out here with the family, meet your friends for drinks or make it a date night, the Plant Street Market has it all!
To find out more about the Plant Street Market and all it has to offer you visit: plantstmarket.com or check out their facebook video and watch out for our store!
]]>When is there ever another time where nations from around the world come together to compete for their Country?
The awesome Olympic Games never fail to deliver on speed, excitement and electric atmosphere.
The Games as we know them now were inspired by the first ancient Olympic games held in Olympia, Greece, back in 776 BC! That’s seriously old! Originally the Games were dedicated to the Olympian gods, particularly Zeus, he's kinda scary looking!
Fact!
All free Greek males were able to participate in the ancient Olympic Games, however, married women were not permitted to participate or even to watch!
Unlike the 41 summer events we now have in the modern Olympics, back then the Games were initially a one-day event. In 684 BC they were extended to three days, then again extended to five days in the 5th Century BC.
The ancient games included: running, long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing, equestrian events and pankration, which is basically a combination of boxing and wrestling, with very little rules! Ouch!
The Games Now
In the 20th & 21st centuries we saw the introduction of the Winter Olympics, specifically created for ice and winter sports and the Paralympics Games, for athletes with disabilities.
The Games have evolved from having only amateurs competing, to now allowing professional athletes to compete also. It is still a great opportunity for little known athletes to gain some much deserved international exposure.
No matter if you are a professional, amateur or even a couch surfing athlete, the Olympic Games has something for everyone to enjoy. Take some time to watch these extraordinary, talented people battle head to head in order to proudly take home a medal for their Country.
Good luck to all the athletes!
]]>So, Sunday June 19th is day we can show our appreciation for the Dad's in our lives, no matter what form they come in. Maybe we don’t all do this enough on a regular basis? Well at least the day gives us an opportunity to make up for the lack of ‘Thank yous’, during the year!
What is Father’s Day about, anyway?
The idea of the day is to celebrate and honor fathers, fatherhood, as well as parenthood.
‘Nothing’
Do you ever ask your Dad what he’d like for Father’s Day? Do you get the standard response of “Nothing”?
Actually you can now literally buy your Dad, well….Nothing! For one day only you can buy, (care of the folks at Century 21), a piece of Nothing, in Arizona. Check out this article for more details!
Source Century 21
So, how did Father’s Day come about?
Well, some sources think it may have been inspired by Anna Jarvis’ work in the 1800’s. She lobbied really hard to have Mother’s Day recognised as a national holiday, and as we all know, she was successful!
On July 5th 1908, a West Virginia church held a Sunday sermon explicitly honouring fathers. This was actually in memory of 362 men who died during a mining disaster in Monongah and was a one time only commemoration, rather than it becoming established as an annual tradition.
Sonora Smart Dodd, (pictured above), is renowned as the founder of Father’s Day, as we now know it. She wanted to establish a male equivalent to Mother’s Day and spent her time drumming up support for the idea. Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on July 19th 1910. After that the holiday slowly began to spread, even though it wasn’t very well received by many of the male population initially. A lot of men thought it was an attempt to domesticate manliness!
It wasn’t until 1972, when Richard Nixon signed a proclamation that Father’s day actually became a federal holiday.
Did you know?
There are over 70 million Fathers in the USA and each year we spend approximately $1 billion on gifts for them!
The End
So there you have it, a little history lesson on how Fathers Day came about! How will you be showing your appreciation? Check out our website for ideas, if you need a little inspiration!
Sources:
Wikipedia
History.com
Fathersdaycelebration.com
Huffingtonpost.com
encyclopediaofarkansas.net
]]>What is it?
Upcycling has been around for a while now, but is becoming an increasingly popular trend, and why not? It’s an awesome idea!
Wikipedia defines upcycling or ‘creative reuse’ as the process of transforming waste materials, useless or unwanted products into new materials of better quality.
Why should I bother?
There are so many great environmental reasons to recycle old items. It saves energy, conserves resources, reduces pollution and has some great economical and patriotic benefits such as creating new jobs. Plus up-cycled stuff looks great!
The US environmental Protection Agency has some handy tips on recycling your unwanted products and how to donate your used electronics.
Did you know?
According to the EPA, Americans generate 33 million tons of plastic per year, but only 9% of that is recycled (2013). So maybe we should all step up and do our part! Look out for products made from recycled plastic materials, so we can work on reducing that pretty alarming percentage.
Great gift ideas!
You can create all kinds of unique stuff from upcycled items, including gifts!
At Our Nation’s Creations we’ve just introduced these reclaimed wood signs, which make a perfect gift or look great around the home!
The best thing about creating upcycled items is that there will never be anyone else with the same thing! Like these wood signs, each piece of wood used is different, it has varying patterns, shades and design, because they are hand crafted.
Having something so individual and unique is increasingly rare these days!
There are so many ideas out there and best of all you could probably make most of them yourself, perhaps as a DIY family project for those rainy days! Here are a few ideas courtesy of Pinterest and Upcycle magazine.
Go on try it, give an old item a new lease of life! You’ll be doing your little bit for the planet and you never know, you might even enjoy it!
]]>Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May each year (USA), celebrates motherhood and maternal bonds.
The campaign to make Mother’s Day a recognised holiday began in 1908, led by Anna Jarvis, whose own mother, Ann, passed away that year. Anna held a memorial for her mother at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, which still houses the international Mother’s Day shrine.
Ann Reeves Jarvis was a peace activist, who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. She also formed Mother’s Day work clubs to address public health issues.
Anna Jarvis wanted to honor and continue the good work her mother had begun, by setting aside a day to honor all mothers. It took three years of Anna’s hard work for US Congress to pass the proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday in 1911.
In 1914, the 28th US President, Woodrow Wilson, signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May as the national holiday to honor mothers.
In a turn of events, Anna, even though successful in founding Mother’s Day, began organized boycotts of the holiday and threatened to issue lawsuits against companies who, in her view, were capitalizing and exploiting the holiday.
The sole purpose of this holiday, as Anna had envisioned it, was based on sentiment and appreciation of mothers through handwritten letters of love and gratitude, not through the purchase of candy and similar commercial products. Anna was arrested after protesting at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925, who were raising money through the sale of carnations. Anna did continue to promote Mother’s Day throughout her life, but was unsuccessful in thwarting what she considered commercialization of the day.
Whatever you beliefs are with regards to Mother’s Day, taking the time to thank and show appreciation to the mother figure in your life will be no doubt be welcomed!
Source: Wikipedia/ UMG.org
]]>At Our Nation’s Creations we are committed to supporting the production of items made in the USA, including all the materials used to produce them. Supporting our Country is a big part of our Ethos.
If you are truly passionate about buying USA made items, there are some pitfalls to be aware of when purchasing products. Unfortunately, some manufacturers are very good at masking or at least making less obvious the true origin of products. You may see the American flag on labels, which initially makes it appear like the product was made in the US, but in fact, on closer inspection they were actually made overseas. Customs and Border Protection require that all imported products have a ‘Country of Origin’ mark, which must be easy to find with casual handling. More information on the requirements of origin labeling is available on their website.
Consumer Reports, wrote a special report in 2015, highlighting that 'most Americans love the idea of buying a U.S. -made product instead of an import. But sometimes it's hard to tell what's real and what's not'. Watch the video here.
Our Nation’s Creations makes sure to research our suppliers and origin of their products, so that we give our guests the highest quality, 'Made In the USA' products available. In fact, most of our suppliers have a great story attached to their products, for example: ‘Notes to Self’, who produce socks with positive affirmations on them, donate pairs to non-profit organisations. The Giving Keys, recycle keys by making them into beautiful jewelry pieces. Not only that, but they employ people transitioning from homelessness to create their products.
We are proud to support US based manufacturers, producers and be a part of the ‘shop local’ movement. Our store is located in the Plant Street Market, Winter Garden, Florida, where each vendor is passionate about providing guests with interesting and ‘local’ offerings. Check us out!
]]>So who is this St. Patrick guy anyway? Well, St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland and the day was named an official feast day, in the early 17th Century. Fast forward to 2016 and he even has his own website!
The day celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations usually involve public parades, festivities and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Traditionally the restrictions on drinking alcohol were lifted, which has created a holiday tradition of alcoholic consumption!
Impress your friends with your Irish knowledge. Did you know……
The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway
One traditional Irish cure for a hangover was to be buried up to the neck in moist river sand.
It is not actually customary to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, but a sprig of Shamrock worn on a jacket lapel is.
We have some great gift ideas for St Patricks’ day from lucky green socks to drinks tumblers! Ideal for celebrating, check them out!
]]>The most popular account of St Valentines story, is that he was imprisoned for performing weddings of soldiers who were forbidden to marry. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. He wrote her a farewell letter signed ‘Your Valentine’ before he was executed.
It wasn’t until the 18th Century in England that Valentines Day evolved into the occasion we recognise now, in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery and sending greeting cards.
In Europe Saint Valentines keys are given to lovers as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart.
Whether or not you are a hopeless romantic, perhaps you can share this story with your loved one and gift them one of our beautiful Giving Keys? Remember, each one is unique, no one else will have the same key.
]]>We’ve taken some inspiration from Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge’s story. These two New Yorkers decided to buy a historic farm in the countryside, called Beekman 1802. They wanted to experiment in living better lives, season-by-season, neighbour-by-neighbour, however after both losing their jobs in the City during the 2008 recession, the farm became their survival lifeline.
Little did they know that with their city-honed skills, hard work and the support of their local community, their small farm would attract global interest. Josh and Brent’s dedication and unwavering belief in their new life, has even earned them a slot on TV’s Cooking Channel!
We love this unique story, not only is it an inspiration to us but, it adds further proof that nothing is impossible if you work hard enough for it, the rewards will follow!
Our Nation’s Creations is proud to provide our guests with Beekman 1801 products, including pie and cookie mixes, apple cider vinegar, pure goat milk soaps and beard oil to name but few!
We wish you all a happy, successful and prosperous New Year, no matter what your adventure!
Cathy and the Our Nation’s Creations Team
]]>Each and every one of us has different experiences, memories and stories of this holiday. We think this time of year is an opportunity to be thankful for all that we have, appreciate the people in our lives and giving to others.
The definition of the word Give in the dictionary is to, ‘freely transfer the possession of something to someone.’
Giving to others was the inspiration for our decision to offer you The Giving Keys products, in our store. We love the "Pay It Forward" concept connected to these unique and beautifully crafted jewelery pieces. The idea is for you to embrace your word, then pay it forward to a person you feel needs the message more than you. Not only that, but they employ those transitioning out of homelessness. How fantastic?
In our humble opinion, there is no better feeling than giving something to someone. When was the last time you gave something to someone? How did their reaction to your gift make you feel? Pretty good we’re sure! Time to do it again?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8owSgs_Nn7g
However you decide to celebrate the holidays, we wish you joy and happiness.
Cathy & the Our Nation’s Creations Team
]]>We offer an eclectic assortment of goods made only in America. Each item has been "vetted" so to speak to verify it's origin, including design, materials and production.
Please feel free to contact us if you would like something we may not offer, and or share your ideas about products you think we may be interested in offering.
Thanks again and please share, share, share our site!
]]>