Bayt Boutique, owned and operated by Jenny Marrs, is being featured as part of our member business series.  If you have an online or brick and mortar shop and are a AWB member and are interested in writing a feature about your business, please contact julie@arkansaswomenbloggers.com.

 

Adoption. It’s a miraculous, redemptive, unpredictable journey and my little family is currently navigating the twists and turns on this road to our baby girl. Our precious “S” is waiting for us in an orphanage on the other side of the world {in Central Africa}. And, here we are. Here, in our warm home, eating our nutritious meals, sleeping in our cozy beds, longing and aching to bring her home safely.

There is little to do at this point but wait and pray. We are waiting on paperwork and government processes and all kinds of crazy red tape. The thing is, I want to hop on a plane and go have a little chat with a few government officials and help them see things from my perspective. I’m in momma-bear mode and am ready to duke it out with anyone standing between me and my girl.

You can understand why I need to do something productive while I wait, right? No need to end up in prison somewhere in the middle of Africa.

I’m immensely thankful that God planted a fundraising idea in my mind several months ago. At a time when my plate was overflowing and “one more thing” just seemed to be too much. Before we saw our daughter’s face, we started this little project to raise money to bring her home.  And, now, as I paint chalkboards in my garage, I feel content that I am doing something. I’m getting us one step closer to our girl with each brushstroke and that, my friends, is therapeutic and powerful.

We recently launched an Etsy shop featuring artisan-created items for your home {the local artisan is my talented husband – I think we’d agree that “artisan” just sounds nice and fancy}. He’s a home builder who is immensely talented at building and designing. He’s always built furniture for our house and for close friends. After posting images of some of his work on my blog, we received an overwhelming amount of praise and requests, which led us to believe that people may just want to buy this stuff. Hence, our store became a creative outlet and a means to raise money for our hefty adoption expenses.

The store has a shabby chic, vintage-y vibe. We feature chalkboards, kid’s tables, picture frames, benches, unique furniture, and other home accessories.

Our shop is named Bayt Boutique {we originally started this fundraiser while we were waiting to be matched with a child in Ethiopia before seeing our girl’s face and changing countries}:

Meaning of the name?

“Bayt” is the Amharic word for “Home.”

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia.

as in, we sell items for your home

& 

these items help to bring our daughter HOME.

We have also begun hosting “Trunk Shows” in downtown Bentonville where we sell larger items and feature unique items not on our Etsy site. Our next trunk show will be held Saturday, December 8^th at our space just off the downtown square, next to the ice skating rink {208 NE 3^rd Street}. We have used our facebook page to disseminate information about our trunk show schedules and will continue to do so. Please follow us for more information!

And, because I love this AWB community so, please feel free to visit our site at www.etsy.com/shop/baytboutique and enter coupon code: AWB2012 to receive 10% off your order.

Thanks for helping us get closer to bringing our daughter home!

Jenny

 

Etsy site: www.etsy.com/shop/baytboutique

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/BaytBoutique

My personal blog: http://www.blessingsandraindrops.com/