Story

THE STORY
It was a conversation with my grandmother about her experience growing up on an Iowa farm during that Great Depression that was the catalyst to Potter+Butler's direction. As she said, there wasn't much hoopla around birthdays or weddings - nobody had the time or money for such extravagance. But what did exist, the single element that separated a day of celebration from any other day, was the cake: a beautiful, big, sweet, festive cake.

With one detail, a day was transformed into a celebration - a moment of brilliant joviality. The cake, in a sense, became a cue for my grandmother and all her family and friends to let laughter fill the room, to pour on the love, to allow the day to carry an elevated sense of excitement and togetherness.

Though I come from a background in wedding planning, where a million dollar budget bought the biggest and best weddings, it was the handmade, simple wedding by the lake with a potluck reception that filled me with the greatest, most grounded sense of celebratory satisfaction.

The notion of a single detail - the festive cake or a dangling garland - acting as a cue to celebrate, is what drives my creations.

Through Potter and Butler, I am devoted to creating handmade products that enhance the ever-present and delightful spirit of a merry celebration and inspire authentic celebrations in the lives of other bright lovelies.

THE NAME
The name, Potter and Butler, is a tribute to two great-grandmothers, Etta Potter and Mirium Butler, who, though they never knew each other, shared an insanely similar set of inspiring characteristics. Potter and Butler were independent, strong, free thinking, hard working, artsy, talented, bird-lovin’, caring about the greater good, resourceful, and stylish (in their own right ) ladies – who could make anything, and more often than not – did make everything – by hand.

As we are inspired by the things we love, the fond memories we tap into, and the beauty we encounter through even the smallest details – both in life and in celebration -  we are delighted to honor the crafty women who came before us, and we tip our hats to the creative women and men among us who choose to see the good and beauty that is to simply be celebrated in this great life.

Potter and Butler is a little bit of us. It’s a little bit of them. It’s a little bit of now. And a little bit of then. And it is our intention for the raw delight of handmade goodness, that was so alive and well in the lives of Ms. Potter and Ms. Bulter, to be part of your life  - and all the merry celebrations that adorn it.