50% Off Blowout Sale!

Almost everything in the store is 50% off! (Excludes Putumayo, Devi Jewelry and Bouncies).

Here's just a sample of some deals you can find:

Little Odd Forest now $13-$30

Portuguese Pottery now $6-$21

Jacquard Tea Towel now $8.50

Oilcloth Bags now $7-13.50

We'll be open until 8pm on Friday and Saturday. Stop by and see us in person or visit us at www.efvillageshop.com!

DIY Cavallini: Reverse Paper Art

I was recently inspired by this Pinterest to create some art:



It seemed like a quick and easily project so simple it came from a Mommy Blog and was meant to keep five-year-olds busy.

HA! I was so naive.

First off, in my defense, I did make things way more complicated than they needed to be. My vision was larger than a mere handful of crayons. And that canvas was down right petite. No no no, my masterpiece was going to be a giant explosion of waxy color.

So, for better or worse, I set out to create be an artiste. Here are instructions (plus a few things I learned the hard way).

DIY Cavallini: Reverse Paper Art

Supplies:

• Box of crayons 
• Scissors 
• Hot glue gun 
• White canvas (don't be too ambitious) 
• Depending on how poor you are either contact paper or a cut out of a shape you like and rubber cement, double stick tape or a glue stick.

Step 1:

 If you have contact paper (a double sided sticky parchment), cut out a shape that you want to be left in a white outline. I chose an Eiffel tower from a Cavallini decorative wrap. Since I didn't feel like making the long trek back to Michaels I used rubber cement to secure the tower. It works because even though the cut out is firmly in place it also is easily lifted off later.





Step 2:

This is a purely gratuitous picture of my getting in the way. 

Step 2: (for real): 

Hot glue a row of crayons at the top. Do not make the mistake I did and unwrap them all. Not only is it time consuming but it also causes the colors to run together more than they normally would once you melt them. The wrappers keep colors separate. I also attempted to use adhesive letters to spell out a French phrase. It didn't work for me as they weren't stuck on well enough and started to fly off the canvas. But if you're feeling creative, give it a try.



Step 3: 

Using a hair dryer (It will get everywhere so I recommend stealing your roommate's) begin to melt the crayon wax. Note: Melting it on your kitchen counter with just a box in the background is a TERRIBLE idea. Wax splatters which meant we had to live with a nice rainbow sink and crayon flavored toast for a few days. Save yourself the headache of scrapping off crayon and do this outside or at the very least over newspaper. 

Step 4: 

This is what your canvas will begin to look like, only with defined colors because you listened to me and kept the wrappers on. The melting of the wax became quite the process. I had planned to remove the crayons from the canvas, which meant pulling them off and then dealing with the white streaks left with the glue. Instead make a picture where the crayons look great on top (like this).











The Final Result?

Once the mostly dry peel off the Eiffel Tower (or leaning tower of Piza, elephant, whatever you used). Touch up the outline with white paint and voila!

Mine still needs some touching up. I also went through and peeled off the chunkier pieces of wax and remelted them to make the colors smoother. 

Our Cavallini papers are only $4.50 and come in a variety of themes. Whether you're into London, Italy, or Paris, there's something to spark your creative fancy. 

See for yourself at www.efvillageshop.com!

Duval's World Cafe Promotion

As we ring up a customer's order we often get asked for a dinner recommendation. Obviously this is a difficult choice as Sarasota has some of the best restaurants in the world (trust us, we would know!).

While there's something for everyone on the Main Street strip (Patrick's, Sangria and Tequila Cantina are some great spots) a new restaurant on the block has caught our attention.

Duval's New World Cafe at 1435 Main Street is a truly excellent dining experience. Described as "seafood oriented with a New Orleans twist" the menu has a dish that is as adventurous as you want (a recent Monday featured a surprisingly delicious seaweed salad) to as mainstream as you like (the eggplant parmesean is to die for!). Are you middle of the road adventurous? I tried the famous chicken po' boy with chipotle remoulade. It didn't disappoint.




Oh, and when you visit, don't bother asking the server what's the best item on the dessert menu. Just order the salted caramel sorbet and stop by to thank us later.

We're so excited to welcome Duval's New World Cafe to the block that we're offering a special discount for all of their customers. Bring in a receipt from your meal and we'll give you 10% off your purchase at European Focus Village.

Artisan international food and special deals on European goods...who can resist?

Duval's is open Mon-Sat 11am-10pm and on Sun from 11am-9pm.

European Focus Village is open until 5 pm everyday (4 pm on Sundays) and 24/7 at www.efvillageshop.com.