La Salle’s Chaos and Curiosities embraces the quirky and spooky

Every so often, a person will cross the threshold at 524 First St. in downtown La Salle, glance around the shop and exit shortly after entering.

Shopkeeper Karli Sarver smiles knowingly when talking about the phenomenon.

"We know," she said. "We're not their jam. That's OK."

Store co-owner Haley Burch laughed. "But you know they're telling somebody that there's a really weird store on First Street."

Sarver and Burch are the founders of Chaos and Curiosities, a home decor store that specializes in oddities, curios, artisan crafts and esoteric collectibles. The shelves are teeming with unconventional items such as coffin nails in glass vials, taxidermied mammals and mummified chameleons, butterflies in bell jars, zombie-like stuffed animals, jewelry made of animal bones and crystal-studded candles.

The owners use a handful of words to describe their wares: Spooky. Macabre. Artistic. Beautiful.

Despite an occasional customer's quick departure, the overwhelming response to the store has been positive, with both foot traffic and sales remaining steady.

The business is a little over a year old. The duo opened a storefront in Peru in summer 2023 before moving to their La Salle location in spring 2024. However, Sarver and Burch started crafting and selling their oddities several years earlier.

"We got started by doing farmers markets," Burch said. "Karli made jewelry for a long time, and then she and I started making weird, kind of spooky stuff."

Buyers flocked to the oddities they sold. They expanded their sales to craft fairs, then partnered with stores like True North in Morris and Refurbished Treasures in Streator to stock their goods. Both women were working full-time jobs, and it was difficult to keep up with the increasing demand.

"We were running all over the place putting up inventory," Burch said. Eventually, she posed a question: "Wouldn't it be nice if there was just one store that sold all the really neat stuff and we owned it?"

"And then we did it," Sarver said.

Their shop's two front rooms feature cabinets and shelves where buyers can browse. In the back is a reading room where local tarot readers, palm readers, graphologists and mediums can meet with clients. A fourth room is where Sarver and Burch spend their days crafting and creating much of the merchandise.

Whenever the shop's doorbell jingles, one or both shop owners will leave the workroom to greet customers with a cheerful hello. They welcome questions or conversations about their inventory, then leave customers to explore. As soon as foot traffic ebbs, they're back to devising and designing in their creative den.

Some of their projects include Scare Bears, which are plush Care Bear toys converted into adorable monstrosities, and Adopt a Ghost, which are hand-sculpted clay ghosts that are painted and accessorized, then stored in a jar. They also make shadow boxes, bone jewelry and their top-selling Mystery Coffins, which are curated boxes of small items such as bones, stickers, crystals, jewelry, pins and more.

Sarver and Burch aren't the only creators stocking the shelves. More than 30 artists sell their work at Chaos and Curiosities, ranging from wall art to jewelry to taxidermy to table decor.

The shop aims to carry an array of art and decor with price points to fit multiple budgets.

"You'll have somebody come in that's like, 'I'm going to buy this $150 pig's foot.' Or somebody that comes in and says, 'I'm going to buy that $13 candle,'" Sarver said. "We love to have the pricing where you can come in here and find something affordable. Or if you come in here and want a one-of-a-kind piece of art, you can get that as well."

Stocking unique art and gifts is a point of pride for both shop owners.

"We had a tattooed pig's foot once," Sarver said. "Where else can you go get your girlfriend a tattooed pig's foot for Valentine's Day?"

Burch noted that some customers are drawn to the chance of discovering something new or unusual.

"People come in here and they say, 'What's the weirdest thing you have? What's the grossest thing? What's the strangest thing?'" Burch said.

One of the more unusual discoveries among their shelves are diaphonized specimens. Diaphonization is a process that makes an animal's body transparent. Dyes are then added to bones and cartilage to highlight the skeleton.

"The diaphonized specimens were a huge hit," Sarver said. "Those are really time-consuming [to create]. Diaphonized specimens can take anywhere from six months to a year, especially the bigger specimens. They're not something you generally find."

Diaphonized animals sold at the shop have included frogs, octopuses, eels and other fish.

Sarver noted that all bones, preserved animals and insects sold at their store are sourced ethically – many are found during scavenging expeditions in the woods. She sees beauty in giving deceased animals and insects a chance to exist in a new form.

"To have somebody be able to take that home and appreciate it forever is really beautiful," she said.

While Sarver and Burch can find beauty in death, they also harbor reverence for life. Two rescue animals call the shop home. While customers browse, they can stroll past reptile enclosures to see former breeder snakes Beetlejuice and Lydia.

Before leaving, check out the shop's guest book to leave a note or read other customers' reactions.

"The amount of tourists that come in and say, 'This is the coolest store!' is cool," Sarver said. "My favorite is when people are coming home that used to live here – they've moved away since but come home to visit. They say, 'I would've never guessed a store like this would be here.' And so many people come in who are like, 'This is the coolest store in our area. There's nothing like this around.' We love to hear that."