The jaunty little gnome that looks like John Lennon is about 6 inches tall. He’s handcrafted—starting as a sock, then filled with rice and a light material stuffing, now standing with wire-rim glasses perched on his nose. “Imagine,” he must be thinking, “all you need is love.”

Kristie Taffe opened There’s No Place Like Home, an arts and home goods store in Starbuck, in 2021. Having been a longtime creator of home décor, Taffe gathered the handiwork of a few local artisans and opened the collaborative shop in a 115-year-old building on Starbuck’s 5th Street. The original tin tile roof looks down on the paintings, textiles, cards, and custom signs ready to adorn shoppers’ homes.

“My husband is super handy and always making things,” Taffe explains of her creative process. “I’d see things on Pinterest that I like, and he’d make them. Finally, we bought a vinyl cutter for his body shop [also located in Starbuck] and I started making my own items with the cutter.” Her booth at the Starbuck Vintage & Artisan Market will be stocked with items made on that same commercial cutter.

She’ll have wood signs adorned with “Welcome” and “Home,” vinyl records with lyrics embossed on them, and—of course—the gnomes whose hair is hand cut by Taffe. There’s a lumberjack, gnomes adorned with red, white and blue, and—the most popular—a hippie gnome. You can find There’s No Place Like Home at 103 W 5th Street with hours on Fridays and Saturdays or online.