{The Holiday Season: Last Minute Gifts}

With Christmas only being a week away (what?!), I know there are several of us who are or will be searching for those last minute gifts, stocking stuffers, or both.  Well, I just thought that I would suggest some places to shop for those last minute gifts and stocking stuffers instead of recommending specific items.  Here at the Olive Basket, my goal has been to bring attention, exposure, and some local love to local boutiques that are in the area.  I have focused a lot on the area that I live in currently because I have just had so much fun exploring my new surroundings and discovering all the unique boutiques that abound in Central Texas.  My hope with all of my posts is to bring these unique and lovely places that inspire me to you in hopes that you might visit these fabulous boutiques and be inspired too.

{Find a directory of your local shops @ Restylesource}

So, during this season of hustle and bustle and last minute gift pick-ups, I would like to encourage you to shop your local boutiques for those last minute finds.  Your local shops will have the BEST selection and the most unique selection and they will provide the most personal and relaxed service you can find this time of year.  So even though you are picking up your gifts last minute, your recipients will appreciate the one-of-a-kindness of their gift, and your local shops will truly appreciate your support and your business.  So, here is a selection of some of my very favorite local shops here in Central Texas, but also in my hometown of Evergreen, CO, and my nearby home-city of Denver.  Please check them out if you live in one of these areas, and if you don't, explore and find some of your local boutiques that are sure to be a hop, skip, and a jump away.  Happy Local Shopping!!!!

{Side Note: All the photos in this post are directly from the shops and resources listed - click on their links under their pictures to go directly to their Facebook Pages}

My Favorite Boutiques in Central Texas:

{The Nest Box - Taylor, TX}

{Cherry Tree Creative - Taylor, TX}

{Fourth Street Bakery - Lexington, TX}

{Petals, Ink - Austin, TX}

{Spice Village - Waco, TX}

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My Favorite Boutiques in Evergreen, CO 

(my hometown!): 

{The Comfortable Home - Evergreen, CO}

{Rustic Point - Evergreen, CO}

{Mountain Daisy - Evergreen, CO}

{Nellybelle General Store - Evergreen, CO}

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My Favorite Boutiques in Denver, CO (my home-city!):

{Old Glory Antiques - Denver, CO}

{The Perfect Petal - Denver, CO}

The Nest Box: Home Mercantile

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about celebrating the growth of a couple of local shop favorites that I have here in Central Texas.  Each of the shops I featured in that post are opening second shops or expanding their current one, and I am super excited this week to feature the opening of The Nest Box!

The Nest Box, which is the adjacent and complimentary shop of Cherry Tree Creative, located in Taylor, TX, opened this past weekend, and I just couldn't wait to share with you what I found.  As you probably know already, Cherry Tree Creative is one of my very favorite shops here in all of Central Texas (you can read about that HERE), so I was beyond ecstatic when Cherry Tree's owner, Curie Humphreys, announced about a month ago that she was opening The Nest Box in the empty space right next to Cherry Tree.  Curie does a beautiful job of bringing local artisans together at Cherry Tree so that every item you find there is locally made by the artisans in her community.  The Nest Box is a collection of all the favorites and finds that Curie gathers that will compliment those locally made goods at Cherry Tree.  And, as you would only expect from Curie, she amazes you with her beautifully curated collection.

Filled with all the little things that could feather your nest, you can easily find a vast selection of unique vintage home goods, antique furniture pieces, apothecary-style candles, linens, throws, and all the little touches that make a home warm and cozy.

Curie has a keen eye for gathering all of these lovely goods and puts her beautiful touch on bringing it all together in a way that draws you in and tugs at you until you must take something home.  Several of the visitors that attended the Grand Opening of the Nest Box this past weekend stated "I could just live here!".

Your experience at The Nest Box is most definitely a warm welcome and invitation to linger.  And, if you do decide to linger, you can pick up a little treat to fuel your shopping.  The Nest Box is also featuring scrumptious baked goods - cookies, cupcakes, breads, mini pies, and such - that are made locally at Fourth Street Bakery.  

The Nest Box is of course a treat in and of itself, and I am so happy for Curie's success in bringing her beautiful vision to life, and so happy for Taylor Texas to have such a destination for all of us Central Texas shoppers!  I am going to leave you with a few photos from The Nest Box to enjoy, but please be sure to make The Nest Box and Cherry Tree Creative a must-stop when you are in the area - you will be delighted beyond expectation!

 

Enjoy & Explore more of The Nest Box:

Store Hours: Thurs. 10-7pm; Fri. & Sat. 10-5pm

Follow: Facebook.com/TheNestBox

The Owl Wine Bar & Home Goods

About 30 minutes east of Austin, sits Elgin, TX.  A small town, known mostly for it's sausage making, is home to a historic downtown area that is slowly filling in with local merchants eager to bring this town's historic district back to life.  One of the pioneers of Elgin's revitalization is the duo behind the Owl - Molly Alexander and Gary Luedecke.  They opened the Owl - a wine bar and home goods shop - two years ago and have done a beautiful job of bringing together a unique "one-stop-shop".

The Owl, located in a fabulously renovated historic building, offers vintage home goods, a wine bar with a good selection of wines, beer, and simple appetizers, and live music every Friday & Saturday night.  So you can shop, sip, and relax all in one beautiful spot!

Although the wine selection is good, most of my attention when I go to the Owl is on the fabulous mix of home goods.  They do such a great job of mixing vintage finds with antiques and estate sale finds to create an eclectic mix of home goods that speaks to any style.

The upholstered furniture you find throughout the shop is mostly estate sale pieces that are only the very best of the estate sale.  The hand-selected pieces that are brought into the Owl are thoroughly inspected and only the pieces that are in the most pristine condition find their way to their showroom.  If you didn't know that, you would think they were newer pieces or re-furbished pieces at best.

And, of course you can always find a lovely selection of owl merchandise - vases, pitchers, matchboxes, and even salt & pepper shakers.  

 

The Owl is most definitely one of the best places I have seen that beautifully displays an eclectic mix of home goods.  Whatever your style or preference, I am sure there is something they have that would please your palette.  And, for some reason, while my husband and I were visiting the Owl to collect pictures for this post, we got a little carried away with our cameras and therefore have a few extra photos for you to peruse.  So, I hope you will enjoy our mini photo tour of the shop, and if you happen to be in or around Elgin, TX, be sure to stop in and see the Owl for yourself and have a glass of wine too!  Enjoy!!

Enjoy & Explore more of The Owl:

Visit their Website or Facebook page for Store Hours and Live Music Schedule

ElginOwl.com

Facebook.com/ElginOwl

Celebrating Growth

I had planned for today's post to be about my October Market Finds - a feature that I started last month highlighting artisan products that I come across in my explorations.  But, I felt led to talk about something different today and save that post for next week.

Within the last week and a half I have found out about 3 strong businesses here in the Central Texas area that have announced the growth or expansion of their business.  Their stories have inspired me ever since I first discovered each of them and to now see their opportunity to grow and serve the communities in an even bigger way gives me great joy and I just want to celebrate with them.  So today's post is a celebration of their news, their vision, and their love and commitment to their communities.  Celebrate them with me today and stay tuned for future posts about each of them here on the Olive Basket!

I launched the Olive Basket with my feature post about one of my most favorite shops that I have come across in all of my explorations - Cherry Tree Creative.  Curie Humphreys is the creative owner behind this business and if you didn't get a chance to read about her and her shop Cherry Tree Creative, just click HERE.  

Curie announced just a little over a week ago her plans to open The Nest Box, and I am super excited about her news and about seeing her new shop.  There was an empty space right next door to Cherry Tree, and it was just a perfect space for her to take a hold of and to provide a shop not only accessible from Cherry Tree (she's opening a space in the wall between!), but complimentary to Cherry Tree as well.  

{photo credit: The Nest Box}

The Next Box will be a curated collection of home goods to feather your nest and will offer favorites and finds that compliment Cherry Tree.  Her grand opening is scheduled for Thursday, November 6, which happens to also coincide with her event at Cherry Tree, "Christmas on Main Street Open House".  If you happen to be in Taylor, Texas, that weekend be sure to stop in and see The Nest Box as well as all the new Christmas goodies that Cherry Tree will have.  I am super excited about this opportunity for Curie and love that she is extending her offerings right in her own community!  

About a year ago, I stumbled across someone who was at the time writing a blog, decorating houses, and hosting an Open House to tour her newly renovated farmhouse.  Her story and her style captured my attention and I have been a fan ever since.  Since then, her story and style have captured a good portion of the country's attention too as her and her husband's home building and renovating business - Magnolia Homes - hit America's living rooms in a new HGTV show called Fixer Upper.  What a hit that show has been!  And, it's amazing to see how much people love their show and love them.  Since Fixer Upper launched at the beginning of this year, Joanna Gaines has since opened her shop Magnolia Market.  She owned her own shop years ago and had vision of doing it again, but her and her husband Chip Gaines' business was taking center stage.  However, it seemed like a great time to open her new shop, Magnolia Market in Waco, TX, this past spring.  Her shop is adorable of course, and very reflective of her style and of Fixer Upper.  

{photo credit: Magnolia Market}

I haven't written about Magnolia Market here on the Olive Basket yet, and had been waiting to do so for some reason.  And, now I will wait a bit longer as Joanna just announced Monday, that they will be moving their offices and expanding Magnolia Market to a new location.  This location is quite unique as it includes a grain barn and two silos, but her vision for it is super exciting.  She plans to increase the footprint of her shop and the offices for their business, but in addition she will utilize a 12,000 square foot space in the grain barn to host monthly Trade Days that will feature antique vendors and local food trucks.  

{photo credit: Magnolia Market | Magnolia Silos}

I love the vision and more importantly I love what this vision will bring to the town and community of Waco.  You have to read the story of how they decided to make this move and you can read it HERE on her blog.  Joanna and Chip inspire me in that they have taken every step of this new found success, exposure, and growth of their business with their faith at the front of it all.  If you don't already follow her blog, please do.  She has a lot of great ideas but she talks a lot about her everyday life and her faith journey as well.  MagnoliaHomes.net/Blog - It will inspire you!

I have plans to write a post about this last business in the upcoming weeks, and as I was visiting the Owl - a home goods shop over in Elgin, TX - I learned that they were also expanding their business.  Elgin is a small town just south of Taylor, TX, and about 25 miles east of Austin.  The owners of the Owl, Molly Alexander and parnter Gary Luedecke, invested in their town a couple of years ago when they opened this home goods shop and wine bar.  

{Logo photo credit: G&M Drygoods}

While visiting last week and snapping pictures for my upcoming blog post about the Owl, I learned that they were opening a second business in Elgin - G&M Drygoods.  Just a block down the street from the Owl, G&M Drygoods will offer gifts and small goods that compliment the goods they offer at the Owl.  They plan to open this upcoming weekend and you can be sure that I will feature G&M Drygoods here on the Olive Basket as well.  

The celebration of these businesses for me is not only to see each of them grow and prosper, but to celebrate the fact that they are doing it in their very own communities located in small town America.  Each of these businesses could have chosen to relocate or open their second location in a more populated area or a more retail thriving destination, but instead they decided to stay in their own communities because it's where they live, they love where they live, and they want to not only be a part of their own community but to give back to it in this way.  That's pretty amazing to me and I respect and admire each of these business owners and community members.  Thank you for loving where you live, for investing in where you live, celebrating where you live, and inviting the rest of us into your community.  Congratulations to each of you!

{SIDE NOTE:  In this post, all links to these businesses and/or to related posts are highlighted in Maroon - please click on them to go straight to their individual Website, Facebook page, or Blog. Thank you so much!}

Old Bryan Marketplace

A few weekends ago my husband and I were looking for something to do for the day and out of the blue we both decided that it would be kind of fun to drive over to Bryan, TX.  We had been through Bryan once before some time back but hadn't really stopped or seen much of this town.  So for whatever reason, it seemed like a good day to go back to Bryan and see what was going on over there.  Located just a few miles from Texas A&M, Bryan's historic downtown area is a nice mix of shops, restaurants, cafes and even a few art galleries, and it seems to be quite the destination for the local community as well as for those of us venturing over from the Austin area.  My most interesting find of the day however was a large brick building that caught my eye as we were driving along one of the main streets of this historic area.

We decided to stop and check out what could possibly be behind this warehouse-y looking facade, and as soon as we entered, I knew this was going to be a fabulous find!  The Old Bryan Marketplace occupies a 22,000 square foot historic building (built in 1908) that has been renovated and re-purposed into a beautiful modern-day marketplace where you can find lovely treasures of all kinds for your home, your pantry, and even your closet.

They have a beautiful mix of antiques and new furnishings, home decor, lighting, florals, bedding, books, teas and jams, kitchen supplies, and even women's and children's clothing.  Every corner of this rustic building invites you to discover the beautiful finds that lie within.

You could literally spend hours here discovering all the goodies they have to offer, and if you find yourself needing a little refreshment, you can always stop and enjoy a nice lunch or dessert at Madden's Restaurant located right inside this marketplace.

After talking a while with one of the friendly employees here, we did discover that a long-time resident of Bryan was the owner and innovator behind Old Bryan Marketplace.  Kay Conlee had vision for this building and her community when she decided back in 1996 to purchase this old historic building.  She renovated the building and brought back the life and charm of it's brick walls, old pine floors, and leaded windows, and then put her love and passion for antiques and home decor into a place where the local community could appreciate and enjoy.

In addition to Kay bringing her own beautiful offerings to this building, she set aside space in this historic gem for other businesses to occupy as well.  A restaurant, event venue, interior designer, and jewelry shop all call this building home too.

I don't have as many pictures as I would like to have of this great place, but I have to say this was such a fun find for me.  I am always inspired by people who love their community and are able to invest in their community in such a bold way as purchasing and renovating old buildings that become, not only a mainstay, but an initiator of revitalization in their town.  If every small town across the nation could be restored to it's heart and it's purpose, wouldn't that just be wonderful?!  Old Bryan Marketplace has done this for Bryan, TX, and it is well worth the visit if you are ever in the area.

Enjoy & Explore more of Old Bryan Marketplace

Store Hours:  Mon.-Sat. 10am-5pm

Website: Oldbryan.com

Facebook Page:  facebook.com/oldbryan