When my friend Kristi announced that she had purchased two tickets for the Magnolia’s Fall Workshop, hosted by Joanna Gaines, and asked who wanted to go…I was pretty much screaming, “ME, ME, ME, did I mention ME,” I think that was verbatim, actually! I was so excited that she said YES, because I’ve been a fan of Fixer Upper for awhile now…it lets me live out my unfulfilled dream of flipping houses vicariously =) Not to mention that it was a chance to take a night off & have a girls night out, woot!
Okay, I’m sure you all want me to just get on with it already. Our first stop on our road trip was at the infamous Czech Stop in West, TX. I have heard about it for forever, but had never been, and let me just tell you that if you are ever in West you absolutely need to stop in! Their bakery has the most heavenly treats around, and while it was tempting to be selfish and eat everything we could for ourselves, we actually purchased some delicious treats to share…Kristi is now the favorite in her office I’m sure! 
Moving on, our next stop was at Harp Design Co. They have their shop located right next door to their home, and Clint Harp is the carpenter that works with Joanna & Chip on Fixer Upper. Their shop just had a grand opening that will run through tomorrow. Cute shop and I apologize for not getting more pic’s. 
Now, to get to the workshop!! We arrived early, or so we thought…there was already a pretty big line of people waiting to get inside, did I mention that there were 600 people attending?! Yeah, I was pretty blown away and had no idea there would be that many people coming! They came from all over, too…East Coast, West Coast, and everywhere in between. The event was held at The Phoenix Ballroom.
I don’t know that I would have called this a “workshop” really, more like a “meet & greet” with advice and tips on how to set an inviting table on a budget. Joanna and Chip are just as warm & wonderful in person, BTW. Joanna told us about how they met, and how she started her business. All the time poised & graceful when all of the sudden ACDC comes blasting through the speakers, as Chip bursts onto the stage with a chainsaw in hand, which he then proceeded to fire up! It was awesome in pure Chip fashion. They held a raffle, gave away all kinds of cool items, we didn’t win anything. But that’s okay.
It was time to move onto our hands on workshop part of the evening. There were a mix of wreaths being used as chargers on the tables, unfortunately, ours were made out of moss which Kristi is allergic to, so we quickly changed them out for some made from wood! Joanna taught us how to create a napkin holder by using some simple greenery, flowers, and some twine to hold it together. Here’s mine: 
She then went on to explain how you could incorporate other inexpensive items such as clipboards with a printed sign, or printed fill-in-the-blank notes that could then be hung with twine and used as garland, etc. Making everything warm, inviting, and memorable during a time of gathering:)
After the event we were all given time to shop, however, we did this beforehand, as well as getting a pic with Chip that we missed by 3 people when we arrived. I wasn’t able to get a pic with or of Joanna, but let me assure you she’s beautiful inside and out. It was a lovely evening and we left with some really good and practical ideas, along with lots of swag;)
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So jealous! I love them, so cool.