So adored this lovely shoppe when we popped in for the first time today. Creatively and beautifully…read morecurated fair trade items. Left with a unique owl lamp and a hand-made tapestry perfect for our new home. Highly recommend for one-of-a-kind home items.

I bumped into this great little country antique shop on one of my weekend wanderings around Galena…read more Although the mailing address is Elizabeth, the store is actually located in central Schapville, a small village between Elizabeth and Scales Mound. And not to easy to find, I may add. There are lots of unmarked divergent paths out here in the boonies! So just keep an open mind and an adventuresome spirit. Schapville is so small that there are only two "stores," this one and the pop machine next door. When I arrived, I was greeted by a very friendly old dog named Stanley. This is a seasonal business, so you need to come between May and October. The store is a beautifully renovated old grange space used by area farmers. It offers a selection of fine antiques, and a nice array of same on two floors, a cooler with local cheeses (they were featuring one of my favorites that day-Iowa Maytag Bleu.) There is soda, homemade jams and jellies and other condiments, and fresh eggs from the owner's chickens. There is kind of an overall chicken theme going on here, just short of chicken worship, I would stay. The owner, Donna, is a fun and interesting person to chat with. Free fresh popcorn, too. There's a wood stove with a fire near the front and a seating area which is very inviting. Definitely a must-stop in Jo Daviess County if you are looking for a nice little jaunt out of Galena, or doing a day trip in the area east of The Galena Territory. The scenery is superb.

What a historical place, and how the volunteers are all passionate about keeping this piece of…read moreGalena history alive! We were walking down Main Street at Galena, and stumbled upon this place. Turned out it was a live museum! There are volunteers blacksmithing while telling the significant history of the shop and blacksmiths at Galena. On top of that, they are 100% supported by the admission fee ($5 per person), and proceeds from the gift shops (many are items forged by the volunteering blacksmiths). We enjoyed our visit, and learned an interesting piece of history!

This was the most interesting thing we did in Galena! This is a real working blacksmith shop. The…read morestaff is very friendly and they volunteer their time. We got so much information on how things worked and the origin of the shop and its history. When you are there take a look at the picture of the original shop. It looks exactly the same. I disagree with the other yelper that said they need updated signs and that it looked like a "crappy old shack". It is historical and looks like a crappy old shack because that's what it would've looked like. As for cleaning the place, why would you clean a place that uses coal to fuel the fires? Take your children here and show them how things were. Make a donation or buy an item that was made there to keep them open. They have bottle openers, hooks, pokers, decorative lamp pulls, and meat turners for grilling. I think it just depends on the day you are there what has been made.

Small shop on Galena's Main Street. There's nothing in particular that's wrong with it, it just is…read moredefinitely geared toward a younger crowd. They have clothes--lots of t-shirts; pop star candles in the style of devotional candles (pretty sure I saw a Nikki Minaj one, which... no), and other sorts of fun, irreverent items. The clothes were adorable for teens! But I'm not really sure a person like me (plus size; over 21) would find a lot here. I did like the way they painted the floor and ceiling. Cute and whimsical.

Awesome place on Galena's Main Street. A wide variety of items. Truly something for everyone…read more Stickers, pins, gadgets, clothes, notebooks, cute gifts and more. Plenty to look at, appreciate and purchase. Service was friendly and the store was clean and well organized.

Very nice selection of antiques with appropriate pricing. Owner is very friendly and helpful. I…read moreplan to go again!!

My friend and I stopped here on the way home from a Galena weekend. The owner of the Glass Museum…read moreis so knowledgeable about all pieces of collectable glass. There is a gift shop with all nice variety of collectable glass at reasonable prices. Be sure to see the Museum part section for a $5 donation. Her collection is organized by color and is so interesting all the unique pieces are just stunning. The owner walks though with you and we learned a lot and enjoyed the beautiful collection, and bought some gifts too.

I was not expecting this on Highway 20 on the way into Galena, though I see it is listed on the…read more"Galena Country" tourism website. This building (gift shop is one room; museum is one room) features more than 4000 pieces of glass art, including a piece by Dale Chihuly ( a shelf art type piece, not my favorite here). They start off grouped by color, including varieties of Depression glass. There are some incredible vases and perfume bottles, tiny pieces with incredible detail; at least one Victorian paperweight; a collection of bride baskets (glass-handled ones and glass inserts only; the silver handles required too frequent polishing); a number of Murano Venetian glass pieces; a large selection of beautiful paperweights; a few small statues. Mostly blown glass, thought there is some cut glass in the gift shop. Tour finishes with a UV circuit around the room so the pieces of "uranium" glass are revealed. The gift shop ranges from superaffordable jewelry and smaller bottles to pieces which were obviously de-accessioned. If you like art glass (you know who you are), definitely worth a stop. This started as one woman's collection; our guide was her husband, who is also knowledgeable and will happily tell you about their trips around the world looking for beautiful glass pieces. Admission $5.

I wandered in to see if they had any jewelry that I wanted. I didn't need any--not by a long…read moreshot--so I'm actually kind of glad they didn't have anything that caught my eye this time. But they have an extensive collection of jewelry, all throughout the store, of differing price points so if you have a jewelry fetish you'll be in your happy place. In addition to the jewelry they have some clothes and a larger than expected collection of shoes. The shopkeeper was helpful when I was looking for something with iolite, trying to track down whether there was something. No luck but I appreciated the effort!

We stopped by this past summer with my elderly mother from California. My mother was still grieving…read morefrom my father passing away just 6 months previous. We stepped in to find a Dragonfly pin. I believe it was Heather or Jane that quickly showed us a case that had one that was perfect. We felt so comfortable in the store as we said it had good energy. I returned today with my husband and yet again drawn to the jewelry buying an OM bracelet and a Dragonfly bracelet for my mom. As far as the clothing, I found a beautiful top that was reminiscent of my traveling days through India and had to have it. Wonderful things in this store, wonderful energy. Once again greeted with such a friendly smile, great conversation and even a hug. This store is a true gem in Galena.

My favorite antique store in Galena, it can be hard to find on Main St because the sign isn't big…read more It's by far the most authentic antiquing experience you'll have in town. Though you might have to sort through some things to find what you're looking for, that's part of the fun!

Instead of neatly arranged rows of high-priced antiques, this store resembles a junk shop, with…read moreitems scattered everywhere. Each item is clearly marked with its price, however, and the owner was very helpful in identifying where he had the items we were looking for. Reasonable prices, helpful service, and the feeling of success in finding something amidst all of the piles and heaps, made this a very pleasant shopping experience

Great place to spend the day with friends. So much variety of pottery to choose from. Great holiday…read moreselection. Affordable prices. Can't wait to go back!

Love this place! There are so many options of things to paint (of different sizes and price) and…read moreBev is really helpful. I had an after work event here and everyone was able to hangout and paint whatever they wanted. Another group from work came in and painted things for a fundraiser. Many, many options.