Candles, cards, ceramics and soaps from New York makers
A gift shop on Main Street in Geneseo. Nearly everything on the shelves is made within 100 miles of here.
- Open seven days
- Free gift wrapping
- Anything held for three days
71 Main Street, Geneseo, NY 14454 Get directions
What we sell
From a $6 card to a $90 serving platter.
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Candles
Beeswax tapers, jars and pillars from a farm in Avon, and soy candles from two other makers.
$14 to $36
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Cards
Letterpress cards printed in Rochester, for birthdays, thank-yous, weddings and sympathy.
$6
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Ceramics
Mugs, bowls and serving plates from three potters.
$28 to $90
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Soaps and bath
Goat-milk soap from Dansville, bath salts and beeswax lip balm.
$8 to $24
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Kitchen goods
Cherry cutting boards, printed towels, maple syrup and local honey.
$12 to $68
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Gift wrapping
On anything you buy here, done at the counter while you wait.
Free
Gift boxes
Put together in the shop and wrapped, ready to give.
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Thank-you box
$36
A letterpress card, a small beeswax candle and a jar of local honey.
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Finger Lakes box
$68
A jar candle, a stoneware mug, a map towel and a bar of goat-milk soap.
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New home box
$95
A cherry cutting board, a printed towel, a pillar candle and a bottle of maple syrup.
Order a day ahead, or put one together at the counter.
Some of our makers
Six of the makers whose work is on our shelves, and the ones customers ask about most.
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Nora Whitfield
Beeswax candles, Avon
Keeps 30 hives on her family’s farm, and every candle comes from their wax.
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Maggie Achterberg
Letterpress cards, Rochester
Prints on two presses built in the 1950s, in a studio she shares with a bookbinder.
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Dmitri Volkov
Stoneware, Mount Morris
Works in a converted dairy barn and fires a kiln load every other week.
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Marie and Colette Fontaine
Goat-milk soap, Dansville
Sisters with 18 goats. Their soap has been on our shelves since the week we opened.
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Walt Brenner
Cutting boards, Perry
A retired shop teacher who uses cherry and maple cut within 20 miles of his garage.
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Quinn Abernathy
Printed towels and totes, Canandaigua
Has drawn and printed a map of every one of the eleven Finger Lakes.
Workshops and evenings
Small classes at the big table in the back, taught by our makers. Book a seat in the shop or by phone.
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Candle pouring with Nora Whitfield
1 pm to 3 pm
Pour two beeswax candles to take home. $45, materials included, eight seats.
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Holiday open house
5 pm to 8 pm
Cider, cookies and 10% off everything for the evening.
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Small Business Saturday
10 am to 8 pm
Six of our makers in the shop all day, and a free tote with any purchase over $50.
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Wreath making
10 am to noon
Fresh balsam, a wire frame and everything to finish it. $55, ten seats.
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Letterpress holiday cards with Maggie Achterberg
1 pm to 3 pm
Print a set of ten cards on a tabletop press. $40, six seats.
Add to calendar: Letterpress holiday cards with Maggie Achterberg
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Hand-built mugs with Dmitri Volkov
1 pm to 4 pm
Make two mugs, and Dmitri glazes and fires them; they’re ready to pick up in three weeks. $60.
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Valentine’s card table
11 am to 2 pm
Drop in and make a card with our paper, stamps and ink. Free.
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Dried-flower wreaths
10 am to noon
Lavender, statice and wheat on a grapevine base. $50, ten seats.
Every maker, met in person
I opened Thistle & Twine in 2018 with work from nine makers I’d met at farmers’ markets around Livingston County. Today there are about 40, and most of them live within an hour of Geneseo.
I meet every maker before their work goes on a shelf, and they’re paid within 30 days of a sale. If you’re after something we don’t have, ask me; there’s a good chance one of them makes it.
Jess Carney, owner
In the shop
- Shipping anywhere in the US from $9
- Gift cards sold in the shop and online
- Special orders from most of our makers
- Workshops at the big table most months
The shop
What shoppers say
I came in for a birthday card and left with a mug, two candles and a bar of the goat-milk soap. Jess wrapped all of it while I waited.
We stop in every time we visit our daughter at SUNY Geneseo. There’s always something new from a maker we haven’t seen before.
A lovely shop full of things you won’t find at the mall. Parking on Main Street can be tight on a Saturday, so give yourself a few extra minutes.
They held a set of bowls for me over a weekend and shipped a second set to my sister in Ohio. Both arrived wrapped like presents.
The wreath workshop was the best $55 I spent all December. Ten of us around one big table, and plenty of balsam to go around.
Good to ask
What are your hours?
Monday to Saturday 10 to 6, and Sunday 11 to 4, with longer hours in December.
Is there parking?
Two-hour parking on Main Street, and a free village lot a block away.
Do you hold items?
For three days. Call or text with your name and what you’d like, and it’ll be behind the counter.
Can you special-order something?
Usually. Most of our makers take orders: a mug in another glaze, a bigger candle, a dozen cards with your names on them. Allow two to four weeks.
What’s your return policy?
Bring back anything unused with the receipt within 30 days for a refund, or exchange it any time. Candles that have been burned and soap that’s been used can’t come back.
Do you ship?
Anywhere in the US, from $9, wrapped the way we’d wrap it at the counter. Call or email with what you’d like.
How can I pay?
Cards, cash, Apple Pay or Google Pay in the shop, and a card over the phone for anything we ship.
I make things. Could you sell them?
Email Jess a few photos, your prices and where you’re based. We take on new makers twice a year, in January and July.
Visit the shop
We’re on Main Street in Geneseo, open every day. Call or text to hold something, or send a message here.
- Phone
- (585) 555-0169 · Text us
- Address
- 71 Main Street
Geneseo, NY 14454Get directions - Getting here
Park on Main Street for up to two hours, or in the free village lot a block away.
There’s one step at the front door. Ring the bell beside it and we’ll bring out a ramp.
Hours
| Mon–Sat | 10 am – 6 pm |
|---|---|
| Sun | 11 am – 4 pm |
- Fri, Nov 20 — Holiday open house10 am – 8 pm
- Thu, Nov 26 — ThanksgivingClosed
- Fri, Nov 27 – Wed, Dec 23 — Holiday hours10 am – 8 pm
- Thu, Dec 24 — Christmas Eve10 am – 3 pm
- Fri, Dec 25 — Christmas DayClosed
- Fri, Jan 1 — New Year’s DayClosed
From the day after Thanksgiving until December 23, we’re open 10 to 8 every day.
Hours confirmed October 2026