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We’re so excited to be bringing you more apparel from the ultra flattering, super comfy, Made in America line of Hourglass Lilly! Every apparel piece I own from this line has become a wardrobe staple and immediate go-to! The fabric is soft as feathers and the styles are timeless. Meet Kat and Araceli, my new friends from Hourglass Lilly at Fashion Market!

Araceli (left) and Kat (right)

I asked Kat to tell you what she loves about her line…

“I love the variety of prints in the same silhouettes, and the soft, comfortable quality of the fabric… It’s like when you go to the beach and the breeze moves your dress in the wind, you know?” Kat laughs…”Our clothes feel like that!”

I’m in love, you’ll be too.

The ‘Flatter Your Figure Frock’ is one of our favorite new arrivals!

You may recall us asking for your help designing a nook in the Made in America House at Homearama. Well, thanks to the our creative Facebook followers, we came up with the idea to let visitors write a message to men and women serving our country overseas.

Next Friday we’ll package up the hundreds of messages everyone wrote and send them in a military care package. And here’s how you can help!

If you donate any items to the care package between now and 3pm on Tuesday, July 24th you’ll be entered in a drawing for 2 Toby Keith tickets. He’s playing the Farm Bureau Live Virginia Beach on Thursday, July 26th at 7pm.

To be placed in the drawing, deliver any items from the list below to A. Dodson’s during our business hours of 10a-5p Monday-Saturday. Feel free to add suggested items to the list in the comments section below.

We’d like to give a special thanks to Toby Keith for donating these tickets in support of our Made in America initiative!

Rules of Engagement
* One entry per person.
* Drawing will be held at 4pm Tuesday, July 24th.
*The winner will be contacted by phone.
* If the winner does not confirm acceptance of the tickets within one hour a new winner will be drawn and contacted by phone.

Suggested Items
Crystal Light Packets
Deodorant
Sunscreen
Baby wipes
Baby Wipes
Phone Cards
Magazines
Books
Movies
Hand Warmers
Foot Warmers
Tooth Brushes
Mouthwash
Body Wash
Body Spray
Pringles
Crackers
Cookies
Beef Jerkey
Comic Books
Travel Size Games (chess, checkers)
Deck of Cards
Suntan Lotion
Non Carbonated Drinks (Propel)
Underwear
Pictures From Home
Hard Candy
Blue and Black Pens
Notebooks
Envelopes
Sun Glasses
Travel Size Packets of Laundry Detergent
Powdered Drinks, especially Gatorade
Blank Writable CD’s
Crossword Puzzles, Word Searches, Soduku

… and LOVE what you use!

Those wise words from Alison are central to her interior decorating style. When dreaming up ideas for Homearama, or any project for that matter, she tries to take a product that she already has or that may be in rough condition, and give it a new life.

Take the tulle ballerina table in the little girl’s room, for example. The A.Dodson’s team found a small tabletop, gave it a fresh coat of white paint, and then attached legs to the bottom. Keeping true to our theme, we then sourced Made In America tulle, which we purchased from Tulle Source, and attached it to to the underside of the tabletop.

We also love the rebirth of this bookshelf. Before a stroke of A. Dodson’s inspiration, it was looking pretty drab and dusty. With some fixing up and staining, it turned out to be a beautiful piece in our loft room at the Made in America house.

The key behind both projects is keeping an open mind about a piece. With a little creativity, sweat, and paint you can bring new life to even the dullest, seemingly hopeless furniture!

Facebook friends, we’d love to see any projects that you’re working on. Tag us, and you may just give us our next inspiration for a piece!

We learned a lot as we set out to design and furnish the Made in America Homearama house. The bottom line? When you buy American made furniture, you buy an heirloom!

Alison and Tina (shown right and left respectively) journeyed to the High Point Furniture Market in April to search for American made furniture. They returned with more than sofas. They came back with the knowledge that American made furniture is different! They also came back with glowing stories of a woman they met, Nanette Price of N Design International.

Price works with Key City Furniture to create beautiful collections of American made furniture. She says, “American craftsmanship simply can’t be replicated, from the inside out. Moreover, the pride that the crafters take in making each piece is second to none. They make sure it’s done right!” She is proud to have paired with Key City to showcase her Coastal Classics collection in our Made in America house because of their dedication to high-quality work.

Founded in 1927, Key City is now owned by the gradsons of the founder of the business, and Price says the tried and true techniques are passed down through each generation. On their sofas and chairs, they use Appalachian wood for their frame, which is sourced from a sustainable forest. The hand-tied coils and ten way hand-tied technique in the frame is the highest quality in furniture making and cannot be replicated with a machine. This ensures the most stability and comfort. These products are simply built to last.

Tina and Alison were blown away by Key City’s ten way hand-tied sofas. According to Tina, “an eight way hand-tied is fabulous but a ten way hand-tie? It’s exemplary quality!”

Let’s hear it for the ole U-S-of-A!

When A. Dodson’s accepted the challenge of designing and decorating a house made entirely of 100% Made in America products, we knew we were in for an experience. We’re trying our darnedest to document every lesson we learn and every “No WAY!” moment we have because what we’re learning is stuff everyone should know. And so here goes…

Check out the cool ceiling in the bottom right photo. We're loving it!

When selecting trim for your home, American lumber is a much better choice because it’s just been milled versus lumber that’s been sitting around waiting for transport from, say, Chile for 6 or so months. When lumber sits around it begins to twist and warp making it much harder to work with and ultimately causing you to purchase extra or settle for subpar results.

And, of course, it goes without saying that buying lumber made in America supports American jobs. In an industry that’s been one of the hardest hit in the last 4 years, every single purchase makes a difference for our economy.

Stay tuned for our next installment of Made in America | What We’ve Learned when we talk about the difference 5% can make in Hampton Roads.