Ties and Bows Shop

The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce spotlight for November is Ties and Bows Craft and Novelty

Shop in Antwerp, Ohio.

Marilyn Graft is the proud owner of one of the newest business establishments in Antwerp. Ties and

Bows is located at 410. E. River Street in Antwerp, Ohio, which is most recently the site of

Bragg’s chiropractic office. Marilyn has enjoyed crafting since she was very young and it has

been a part of her adult life off and on between other jobs.

She started making stuffed elephants about 5 years ago when her granddaughter was expecting and

the nursery theme was elephants. She made blankets and burp towels and then decided it was

time for toys. She started with flannel and then decided to try ties. She would deconstruct the

tie, quilt it and make the elephant. Each quilted seam is hand knotted. No two are alike. Even if

the elephants are made from the same fabric, they are still different. Each one has its own

personality. One animal led to another as customers asked for dogs, cats, pigs, sharks, and

dinosaurs.

Marilyn was doing craft shows until COVID hit. When it was slowing down, she saw an ad in The

West Bend paper to join an outside show and rummage sale at the home of Krazy Krafters on

Canal Street. It was so much fun and the Krazy Krafters adopted her into their group. She rented

a room so that she could do inside shows as the weather was getting cold. Tonya Walker of

Krazy Krafters took it over and we expanded. Each time it was time to end, Marilyn and the

Krazy Krafters were saying, “If we just didn’t have to pack up the heavy displays and store them

until the next show”.  In August of this year, Marilyn took the plunge and purchased the old

chiropractor office to sell crafts and projects that she could not do at home because of space.

Krazy Krafters and Ties & Bows will continue to collaborate on sale dates and special events.

Tonya, Vicki, Michelle, Uncle Larry, and Diane have been a great help to Marilyn and her husband,

Ralph, in getting the shop up and running. Thank you does not go far enough to express their

gratitude. It is an ever-changing shop with several rooms to explore. You never quite know what

you might find. As you enter the front door you will see a variety of unique, inexpensive

displays, including bags of locally roasted coffee beans. While best known for the elephants,

Marilyn also does hats, bags, floral, and soon will return to making glass art. She is especially

proud when she sees a child (or adult) hug an animal and smile. Her passion is making someone

happy with that unique one of a kind item that she was able to create for them.

For a special occasion or ‘just because”, she will try to make what you want in a one-of-a-kind

reasonably priced item. She can use ties or fabric that belonged to a loved one to make beautiful

keepsakes.

Marilyn is happy to be a part of Antwerp and hopes people will stop in to see the shop and let her

assist them with what they may need. She can also work with vintage baskets to make unusual

floral pieces.

The Christmas shop is open and snowmen and snow-ladies are ready for a new home. The room will

feature nativity scenes to help us remember the reason for the season. She hopes to see

everyone in the shop especially during this holiday season.

The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce is excited to partner with Ties and Bows in the growth of

Antwerp and the surrounding community.

Krazy Krafters

My name is Tonya Walker, the best title I can think of is- Boss In This Crazy Hobby.

I don’t consider myself a boss, we try to make decisions as a group.

We enjoy krafting! We are Krazy Krafters it’s our hobby.

 We started doing kraft shows because we were running out

of room for our finished projects and still have more we want to try.

We do lots of krafts and try new ones.

We do krafts with the little ones in our family, encouraging their creativity as much

as possible, they might be future Krazy Krafters!

This isn’t one person. It’s a group of family and friends.

Mom, Vicki Thompson, does knitting, plastic canvas and has tried some floral arrangements.

Aunt Dorothy Brickel sews things. She does the cute stuffed owl pillows that everyone likes

along with some hot pads, placemats and table runners.

Michelle Walker tries to be the Martha Stewart of this krazy operation. She thinks she just needs to find the ideas and tell us to make them. She’s been told Martha’s been fired and to get busy! She helps with the krafts and always helps with setting up and tearing down at our events.

Uncle Larry Trautman helps with cutting things to size, putting hangers on things and making some of my krazy thoughts into a reality.

Aunt Diane Trautman helps with color combinations and ideas.

 We’ve recently added a couple of new krafters and hope they can continue to set up with us at future events.

Marilyn Graft does a few different krafts too. She sews cute stuffed dogs and elephants and does burp rags. She also has some wreaths and jewelry items.

Tina Winchester also sews. She has masks, bowl coozies, hot pads and does some quilting.

I do vinyl krafts, paper krafts can crochet and make some jewelry.

We have tried a few different things, some haven’t been in our kraft shows yet, maybe next year.

Somethings are one of a kind, some can be made to order, just ask.

We have done some custom and personalized items.

We try to keep our prices reasonable. We do our best to make our customers happy.

Our things aren’t perfect but they are made with care.

 We can’t say we make any kind of profits because we usually just go shopping

to buy more supplies shortly after our events. Our next big purchase plan is a sandblaster because we have lots of glass items we want to etch.

Maybe one of these days, after we win the BIG lottery, we’ll turn our hobby into a real business but for now we enjoy doing this for fun! #WeRKrazyKrafters

Check out their Facebook page at Krazy Krafters, or email them with a question at krazykrafters@frontier.com.

The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce is pleased to have the ladies and gents of the Krazy Krafters  partnering with us in the Antwerp Community.