I'm always adding new articles because I have found so much good stuff to share that you will surely find of great use to you and your family and friends. Much of what I share involves getting back to the basics and doing for ourselves. Simply click the above image to see the latest of the greatest finds.

I'm big into DIY projects and finding ways to improve things, saving time and money. Quite frankly, I'm tired of paying for overpriced junk and for other people's mistakes. If I'm going to pay for anyone's mistakes, they should be my own. If you agree, then click the above image for all sorts of ingenious ideas.

There's a plethora of stuff and information that I've found to share and I like to feature my favorites for quick and easy future reference -- for myself as well as all of you. Some I've already tried myself and will do again; some I am looking forward to trying. Just click the above image to see what I've added to my faves list.

About

Purple Iris Plaza is a Texas-based sole proprietorship owned and operated by yours truly, Nicole, which opened its virtual doors as The Purple Iris in 2009. Purple Iris Plaza is an eShop where you'll find a selection of new and gently used products, mainly home decor and collectibles, but also home essentials, fashion, books, movies, music and more.

Currently, all pre-owned products come from my family's stash of things we've collected over the years, so it is known how well cared for the items were. In the future, I will be adding products from other sources. I am very particular about what I offer in my shop, so customers can rest assured that they will be receiving quality merchandise.

Many have asked why I chose the purple iris to represent my business. Well, it's quite simply because I share a love of purple irises (and the color purple) with my late great-grandparents and grandma's sister, of whom I have many fond childhood memories. In honor of three of my most favorite people in the world, I thought it would be a great tribute to them and everything they represent not only to me, but to the times.

After spending more than three years building The Purple Iris at various marketplace venues, I decided to rename the business to Purple Iris Plaza and venture out on my own with my new shop at www.purpleirisplaza.com. I still sell on eCrater at www.purpleiris.biz, but my full inventory will only be available at my own shop.

My goal is to provide customers an easy, safe, and pleasant shopping experience, offering the best quality products I can find at reasonable prices. Being a writer, I also like providing useful information, so I created this blog as an outlet. Not only do I share information related to my business and shopping online, but I mostly share all sorts of things of personal interest.

Personal interests include cooking, camping, nature, travel, DIY projects, crafting, and, of course, shopping. My Pinterest boards are full of awesome ideas, so I pool a lot of information from there in a more organized manner via by blog. Of course, there are many of my own ideas that I like to share as well. So I have completely reconfigured my blog to make it easier to find all the cool stuff.

Over the years of selling online, I have befriended and shopped the stores of many of my fellow sellers. We've all worked together over the years to promote not only our own businesses, but those of the decent sellers we know, too. So I write blog articles featuring their shops and also feature general merchandise from all over the web under the Purple Iris Plaza > Featured Products section.

My desire to help others is the reason I started this blog -- oh, and to satisfy that need to write, too. LOL So feel free to browse and follow the blog as I continue to add more great information!!