Do you dread holiday shopping? Are you struggling with your budget but still want to give back to the community? Not to worry, Our Children's Store has you covered for all the fall holidays! They have a wide array of gift items for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas, as well as gourmet foods, jewelry, children's games and toys, housewares, and unique gifts made by children. Thanks to generous support and volunteers, 100% of the profit generated at their seasonal store goes to 25 local children's charities such as CASA for Children, Children's Trust Fund of Oregon, Girl Scouts, and Legacy Emmanuel Children's Hospital. This year they are located in Lloyd Center on the second floor near Marshall's and Sears. They are open Monday thru Saturday from 10am to 6pm and Sundays from noon to 5pm.The store is also available for private parties and what better place to have your office party!

Their motto is "Buy once. Give twice," and who could argue with that? We can't. See you there!

Are you a teacher or do you know one? Did you know that we offer a discount to educators? That's right. We appreciate all the hard work and long hours you put in educating our children and helping to shape our future. We know that you often put their own money into your classrooms and to help make that a little easier, we discount any item bought for our schools. The amount of the discount depends on the item. Used merchandise can be marked down considerably more than new but either way, we can save you money. So come in soon and see what we have to help organize your classroom! We, at Portland Store Fixtures, thank you for choosing to be a teacher.

As you may know, Portland Store Fixtures helped sponsor SCRAP's annual Iron Artist contest this year. If you don't know about SCRAP, shame on you, Google them immediately. In the meantime, SCRAP is a local Portland nonprofit whose mission is “to inspire creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the community.” Which is a fancy way of saying if you do any kind of crafting, work with kids, know kids, or still are a kid, you need to get yourself to their store and be amazed and inspired by the plethora of cool and random bits to be found. Their inventory changes with donations but you might find bottle caps, unused letterhead, yarn, magazines, tile samples, greeting cards, wall paper sample books, pens, fabric, stickers, and so much more. If you're completely overwhelmed and can't make up your mind, you could always pick up one of SCRAP's prepackaged kits that are guaranteed to spark your creativity. Still stumped? Sign up for a workshop and find cool new ways to reuse. Businesses might be interested to know that SCRAP takes donations of materials. Before you throw it out, find out if it can have a new life somewhere else!

Back to the contest – Teams are given a pile of random stuff (similar to what you might find in the store) and asked to create something with it in keeping with a theme. This year's theme was Alchemy and the winning assemblage was put together by the Pollin8ors.

Look easy? You should enter next year! The winning entry is chosen by celebrity judges, who, rumor has it, are not adverse to bribes. One of the many judges was one of our favorite people, Frank Etxaniz, Executive and Artistic Director of Children's Healing Art Project. CHAP “brings the healing power of art to children in crisis and their families with a mobile team of teaching artists working in Portland's children's hospitals.” CHAP art classes offer children in hospitals a space to just be a kid - get messy and have fun. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, CHAP is always looking for volunteers or you could always have your next party at CHAP's art studio. One of the ways CHAP funds their classes is to rent out their Art Studio for parties. Activities included might be painting old clothes, beading, or jumping on the bed (kids paint their feet and jump on a mattress). Sure, the parties are aimed at children but we're sure you could talk Frank into a party for a slightly older crowd of 'kids'. If you have any doubts left about just how cool Frank really is, take a look at his car!

But back to Iron Artist – even if you don't enter the contest, there is plenty to do and see. This year's live music included Sub-Atomic and Spun Monkey Patrol, among others. There was also a beer garden, food, booths by local artists and businesses, and activities for kids. Among the booths could be found our very own Richard Perkins, who makes lovely wood gifts from 100% recycled material, and also Kat and Erin, who manned a booth for your favorite store fixture destination.

Even the mannequins got in on the fun! So mark your calendars for next year and don't miss out!

Need body parts? Large frames or a mirror? Have you thought about the holidays yet or looked in a Chinook book lately? For the answers to these questions and more, read the whole October News.