Discover ‘Lilacs & Laughter’ in the heart of downtown Morris

MORRIS – Sisters Merri Cobler, Cheryl Warning and Deanne Ebelherr said they remember their mother Dorothy Rivett filling up their van with homemade and refurbished items and taking them to multiple craft shows throughout their lives.

“We would load up our cars and back then we had a little van. We were just talking about how much we laughed,” Warning said. “We would go all over the place.”

Last November, the sisters combined their love of crafts and decor into “Lilacs and Laughter,” a decorative craft and retail store located at 401 Liberty St. in downtown Morris.

They named the store after a Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey song called “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.” The song tells a story about a young couple who falls in love on a dance floor.

“We were trying to think of a name for mom, something that we loved and would mean something to all of us. We knew we couldn’t use the name of the song. We looked up the lyrics to see if there was anything we could use in the song and it was there at the bottom,” Warning said.

“Now in a cottage built of lilacs and laughter, I know the meaning of the words ever after. We knew that was it. Mom loved lilacs and her backyard was surrounded by them,” she said.

The sisters had wanted to open a business together for years and when Ebelherr noticed the building went up for sale, she called her sisters to ensure they were interested.

“The timing just seemed right. We are all retired. It’s so peaceful in here and the ambiance of the store it just makes me happy,” Ebelherr said.

Each sister brings their own unique charm to the items they choose to refurbish, visualizing what the item can be next.

“I see something and I visualize it as something different and I pick it up, Cheryl does the same thing. I like sewing and making new crafts, Merri is known for her gnomes,” Ebelherr said.

The shop carries an array of refurbished, handmade and crafting items such as; candles, signs, keychains, gnomes and furniture.

The only item not for sale is their mother’s rocker, which holds the last item she was working on before she passed away at the age of 91.

“She did her cross stitch all the time – it says life is a beautiful ride and it has a bicycle that she pulled out. Maybe one of these days one of us is going to finish it,” Ebelherr said.

“The store is a big reminder of her. She would love it and she would love to be here. If she were still here she would come with one of us everyday,” Cobler said.

Lilacs and Laughter is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.