by Lisa of Tinker and Po

I wish I had some amazing story about how TinkerAndPo was created, but in all honesty, we needed a way to pay the gas bill during the winter! My husband and I, and our two kids, live in Chicago and our gas bill can get up to $400 a month in the winter, so it was a huge concern. I work full time outside the house, and my husband is an attorney turned stay-at-home dad, and living on one income has it’s challenges! We decided we just needed to meet that challenge head-on!

I’ve always enjoyed making things, and especially re-purposing things, so recycling sweaters into fingerless gloves was a natural choice for me. I’ve recently added the TinkerAndPo Signature 3-Button Trim to about half my gloves, and I really love the way it adds a bit of color and fun to an otherwise somewhat boring, but necessary, outerwear item!

I get a lot of questions about the name of the shop and it’s significance. It’s actually our kids’ nicknames – Declan, who will be four on Christmas Eve, is Po, and Fiona, who is 18-months, is Tinker.

Another rather new development at TinkerAndPo is our Autism Speaks sales donation! Ten-percent of all sales are donated in my son’s name to Autism Speaks. The website alone was a friend to me at a time when I needed answers and guidance, before, during and after Declan’s diagnosis with autism. We’d planned on donating until the end of 2008, but we’ve received so much positive support that we’ll now be donating indefinitely!

Hurry up, guys, and give TinkerAndPo a try.