The weather was too nice last week to stay inside over the lunch hour, so I took a mini getaway to the East Village to see what kinds of fun items I could find.

Heading into the core of the district, I was glad to see that all the original stores on the street level of the Soho Lofts seemed to be alive and well. My first stop at Soho was at Mike Draper’s alternative clothing store, Smash. Many of the throwback-style T-shirts he makes feature cheeky sayings about Des Moines or Iowa, and browsing through the displays is always entertaining.

After I rounded the corner from Smash, the colorful glassware displayed in the windows at From Our Hands art gallery caught my attention. Pretty flowers made from slumped glass and aluminum stood out among the items catching light from the sun. At the rear of the store, I found one of the most popular pieces the store sells, Passion Flowers. Store owner Ann Harmon told me the interesting story behind the brightly painted sculptures, which are made from recycled aluminum printing plates at a vocational workshop for adults with mental and physical disabilities.

I also found other interesting items at From Our Hands, such as stools made from belts and industrial-looking sculptures that incorporate found objects, such as flashlights and tin coffee pots.

Next door at Urban Belly, I perused the baby clothes and designer diaper bags. I learned that the store sells the same bags used by Hollywood celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Courteney Cox. I also got a laugh out of a little-boy-sized long-sleeve T-shirt that read “Lock Up Your Daughters.”

Just on the other side of The Village Bean coffeehouse, I stopped to visit Paolo Bartesaghi at Accenti and Arte Gallery. He had just gotten in a new shipment of products from Italy, which were tucked inside silky shipping bags. In the midst of all the scarves, handbags, jewelry and other women’s accessories, Bartesaghi showed me the Santa Maria Novella colognes and body products, which he said are manufactured by the world’s oldest pharmaceutical company, which was founded in 1612.

Next door at Arte, I was impressed to learn that Bartesaghi’s gallery was only the second store in the United States to carry Salviati glass and crystal. The store that beat   him to the punch was Bloomingdale’s in New York City.

Simply for Giggles next door had lots of   things for children’s rooms that caught my eye, particularly the alarm clock that makes animal sounds. Besides decorations, the store also has a lot of baby gear, including a display of fun shoes for little ones.

I had to go in for a closer look at the funky cowgirl boots I could see through the open door of the trendy boutique aimeé. The brown pair had feminine pink floral accents and the black pair had splashes of bright periwinkle, yellow and green. Store owner Amy Hassebrock told me she has carried the Old Gringo line of boots since her store opened two years ago, and she said the styles are still hot in New York City, where she buys most of the items in her store.

Kitchen Collage was bustling with women looking for specific kitchen gadgets, such as a tool to pit some kind of olives I had never heard of. I made my way back to the cooking area to see if anything was going on. A tray with little chocolate cookies indicated that a cooking demonstration must have taken place a little earlier in the day.

Heading east on Locust Street, I peeked in the windows of the store that used to be Fusion Furniture Gallery. It looks like that space will soon become home to a boutique called Velvet Coat.

Crossing Locust, I stopped at Melrose to check out the spring fashions, and co-owner Alexis Fratto-Farrell filled me in on how she chooses items for the boutique. Most of the clothing lines she sells are produced on the West Coast and sold at high-end boutiques in Los Angeles. About half of the store is devoted to designer jeans, and much of the rest is filled with stylish tops that would be appropriate for evening get-togethers or a night on the town. Fratto-Farrell says Melrose plans to expand into space that the store had shared with S.Teshan Boutique, which recently closed.

I ended my shopping next to Melrose at Projects Contemporary Furniture. I spent most of my time looking at the home accessories wall, which had items such as a corkscrew that could be mistaken for a sculpture, a colorful clothes shaver for getting fuzz balls off sweaters and a flyswatter that stands upright on three tiny legs. If you look closely at the flyswatter, you see that the swatter part of it has a person’s face. I’m told that the face is “Dr. Skud,” the name that appears on the item’s price tag. On a table next to the home accessories, I saw some fun decorative bowls.

Afraid of a ticket from the parking meter enforcement squad, I headed back to work for the afternoon, refreshed by what I had seen.