The Clothesline Diva

08/12/2026

Last week, we made our big announcement and tried to paint a picture of WHAT The Clothesline Mercantile will be. We are trying to slowly answer the important questions. Eventually we will get to the WHEN and WHERE, but for today let's get to know WHO is behind the scenes working to bring this store to you.
We, April and Theresa, are sisters who grew up in the 70's and 80's where childhood memories are eating homegrown food that came from our garden and our pasture, sometimes with cream flakes floating in our Cheerios! We lived outside with our bare feet running as wild as our imaginations and yes, we drank out of the garden hose, (IYKYK) well, April still does! Our fondest memories are being at our grandparents' homes, one was on a lake, the other a farm. Like most kids we enjoyed being with our childhood friends,
uncles and cousins.

As adults, we went our separate ways and raised our families and got together for holidays, dinners at our parents, and some Sunday night card tournaments or game nights. We are very different people with different goals and priorities, but there has always been some kind of aligned thinking. For example, we have a lot of the same tastes in many types of things. Many times through the years we show up at a family meal, one of us looks down and says, "I have those shoes." Is this typical sister behavior? We don't know, but things like that happen to us a lot. It is the similarities in taste that help us work together and agree on what should be displayed at The Clothesline Mercantile.

Recently, in the last year or so, we have taken up antiquing. We have been on several excursions as far away as our friend's house in Pennsylvania. One thing we love about antiquing is how it takes us back to our childhood. It is so exciting to find the dishes our grandma had, or a clock mom had. We love to go thrifting and antiquing! It has brought us together better than most anything could.

Thats just a little bit of who we are, but it goes with what we would like to offer: a little bit of nostalgia, clean living with clean ingredient products where you can use your imagination to make it smell to your own creativity, all while you shop and have a sweet treat! We don't even mind if you stop in on other days just for a marshmallow Coke!

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

More peeks at some of the things you may see at The Clothesline Mercantile!

08/10/2026

Check out these sweet treats!

Today was a very special day. My sweet grandson, Kooper, O’Fish-Ally turned ONE! What better for a fish themed party than a bucket of bobbers!

08/08/2026

It's a market day, and there are so many good vendors here! I love The Crawfordsville Farmers Market! We sold out of 2 scents today, can you guess which ones? It's a first for one of them!

08/07/2026

The Clothesline Mercantile, WHAT is it?
How do you pronounce the word "Mercantile?" Miriam Webster says it's mer•kan•teel, that's not how we pronounce it! We say it with a long "i" sound at the end, We must be wrong, but we will just call our pronunciation the Hoosier one!

No matter how you pronounce it, what do you think of when you hear the word? A place with a long counter and things to purchase behind that counter? A place to buy yard goods with a barrel full of dishes packed in saw dust? A place where you get sugar by the pound and a hat out of the window display? Do you think of something from a western movie or maybe Olsen's Mercantile from Little House on the Prairie? Maybe that's just us! We think it sounds old fashioned, like the world before Wal Mart, the world even before K Mart!

What is The Clothesline Mercantile? First, it is a place where a couple sisters come together to share what we are passionate about! (This post is answering the "WHAT" question.) We will post again soon and answer the WHO and WHY questions and then the WHEN and WHERE!

The Clothesline Mercantile will have a long counter! It will have things to purchase behind that counter, we don't think we will sell hats in the window display, but there will be some dishes, they just won't be in a barrel! Let's start behind the counter and make our way through the items to be sold:

• The Polka Dot Apron, will have different sweets, maybe seasonal! Cake pops are a favorite, caramel corn, caramel apples, that's just a start!
• Fountain drinks and flavored ones! Do you crave a good marshmallow or Vanilla Coke? You can sip while you shop!
•Everything The Clothesline Diva sells will now be a place to refill to order! Laundry wash, hard surface cleaner, room sprays, car diffusers, hand sanitizers and many new products can be refilled! You will be able to make your own to order! You can choose from over 25 scents to mix and match to personalize your products!
•Antiques!
• Pictures
• All kinds of decor.
• Odds and ends and unique finds!

M

08/05/2026

Crawfordsville Farmers Market has been a great experience!

08/05/2026

📣📣🚨 We have a HUGE Announce ment! We've been keeping a delicious secret and we can't hold it in any longer! It comes in 3 parts, and makes the most sense in the pictures! 1. Last week I shared my sister, April Stonebraker Dowell's post, she makes yummy things and she changed her look and her name to The Polka Dot Apron! 2. I simplified my logo last week! 3. Now, we merge them! The Clothesline Diva and The Polka Dot Apron will open a REAL Brick and Mortar store soon! What will we call it? The Clothesline Mercantile! Do you want to know more about our store? More info coming in the next post! Stay tuned we will share the where, the what, and the why very soon! Follow us on the page, The Clothesline Mercantile, soon!

08/04/2026

School is starting around us this week, but let's face it, SUMMER is not over! Let's not usher it out just yet! We've had some really nice weather, so that calls for an extension of the season. Some years it's so blasted hot, we're begging for fall! So have a slice of watermelon and soak up some rays, it's still summer! 🍉🍉☀️⛱️🍦

But!!! Fall is right around the corner and we all know it's a big deal and loved by multitudes of folks! Clothesline Diva has to plan! Fall scents? What are your faves? Fall laundry wash? What should it smell like?

07/31/2026

Does The Clothesline Diva logo look different? It has been simplified a little. There is a lot of work being done behind the scenes for some new and exciting changes! It will be shared very soon! Until next week, Crawfordsville- one week from tomorrow, we will be back! I miss my vendor neighbors!