Serenplicity has a passion for local products and community

Emily Southwood - Ormstown’s charming gift shop, Serenplicity, is celebrating a second year in their new location at 5 Church Street with a busy calendar of workshops and expanded café seating. Owner, Mary Sullivan, first opened the shop in 2013 at a nearby location. Since then, it has grown, moved, and expanded to include a full-time workshop space and a café that welcomes the public in for teas, coffees and tasty treats. The catalyst that inspired Sullivan’s passion for natural products came about by chance, many years ago, when she had a bad reaction to chemical products that she was using to remove rust. Figuring there had to be a better way, she began making her own liquid soap for cleaning. From there, she started experimenting making different products like bars of handmade soap, candles and bath bombs, all of which she now makes in large batches from her in-house workshop and sells on-site. Her self-taught skill for making natural products complimented her other profession as a music teacher, allowing her to make things, and eventually work the store during the day, as well as continue to teach in the evenings. Her desire to learn new things is reflected in the many workshops she now organizes to introduce others to new skills. Serenplicity currently hosts workshops on an array of topics in their expanded space, including: drawing for kids; water colour for adults, essential oils, beginner and advanced meditation, as well as workshops on soap and candle making. She explains that she likes any excuse to get people together for workshops, as well as the open houses that she hosts a couple times a year. “If there isn’t something going on, we create it,” she says. “For me, there’s nothing better than bringing people together.” The feeling is clearly reciprocated by volunteers who dedicate their time to the shop and the array of local artisans who sell their wares at Serenplicity. Like many, Sullivan holds the hope that small business in The Valley can not only survive, but thrive with the public’s desire to support local products and talent. On the agenda for 2018 is to acquire a new specialty coffee maker and expand on homemade pastries. Come spring, the backyard terrace will re-open for another season of welcoming the passerby to this lovely enclave in Ormstown. For more information on upcoming workshops see: @ Serenplicity on Facebook