Farm Chicks Pre-Show Party at Anthropologie

Each June thousands of women (and some men..) make their way to Spokane, WA to visit the annual Farm Chicks show.  The Farm Chicks, dreamed up by Serena Thompson back in 2002, is known as the happiest antiques show on earth, featuring antiques, vintage, crafted goods and the most friendly and stylish curators around.  It’s absolutely incredible, a must do!

Last year I had two book signings at the Farm Chicks Show and had so much fun I wanted to be a part of this year’s show.  Serena and I tossed around ideas of how I could be involved.  We landed on a pre-show party on Friday night, to celebrate the excitement and rev the ladies up for all the shopping to be had the following morning.

One of my favorite stores, Anthropologie, opened in Spokane this past fall.  It was the perfect place to host the event!  Anthro offers many events across the US in their stores (check the hashtag #anthroevents on social to learn more).  Anthropologie graciously closed their store early to accommodate all 150 guests and celebrated with us over drinks, dessert and crafts!

With such a large group, we spread each station across the store.  Dessert and drinks were located near the entrance and craft stations were placed around the perimeter.  We offered three hands on crafts: Flower Crowns, Body Scrubs and DIY Tote Bags.

As guests arrived, they scoured the dessert table.  I had created a 13 foot dessert table with a county fair theme to coordinate this year’s Farm Chicks show concept.  The table was filled with hundreds of fair themed treats like popcorn, snow cone,  cotton candy and ice cream cone shaped sugar cookies in addition to a gigantic assortment of treats from Harry and David.  We had the most delicious cheesecake pops, mini donuts, brownie bars, and their classic Moose Much popcorn.  For those looking for a healthier option, I included gorgeous trays of dried fruit and nuts.   It was incredible…and wiped out in 8 minutes.  I guess the ladies were hungry.

Shawn Chamberlain of Flower Bar Co headed up the Flower Crown station with the most gorgeous display of flowers.  She brought in a gigantic assortment of ranunculus, peonies, roses and greenery displayed in glass jars and buckets, reminiscent of a flower market.  It was absolutely adorable, I couldn’t get over how cute it turned out!

Women fled to her station to make their flower crowns.  I don’t think there was a single head in the building without a crown.  Everyone looked amazing!

Emily of Eylander Sign Co led the tote bag station.  Emily had more fabric pens, stamps and totes than you could ever imagine and not a single tote left by the end of the night.  Women love to craft, that’s for sure!  The ladies were super creative in their designs and thrilled to leave with such a great take home.

Anthropologie led the body scrub activity.  Their table was filled with epson salts, lemons, coconut oil, mini mason jars and beautiful dishes to create in.  I was so busy I never got a chance to make a scrub but it sure looked like fun.

Throughout the night guests were able to help themselves to our Lemonade Bar.  You always find lemonade at county fairs so it was just the right fit for our bar!  We offered a variety of flavored lemonades: Strawberry Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade and Original Lemonade from Cascade Ice.  I included fresh fruit to each beverage dispenser as a label but also because fresh fruit in dispensers looks so pretty!  Cascade Ice water is one of my go-to party drinks because it is a sodium free, caffeine free, gluten free flavored sparkling water with a clean crisp, delicious taste.  (You can find it at grocery stores all over Seattle, including Albertson’s, Safeway, Fred Meyers, QFC and Winco.)

You can’t attend a fair without enjoying cotton candy so I made sure each guest was offered freshly spun cotton candy.  I found the cutest pink cotton candy machine at Nostalgia Products that fit our theme perfectly.  It was simple to put together and not too heavy to bring along on our 5 hour journey to Spokane.  My husband Dan (AKA Cotton DANdy) was hired to work the cotton candy station all night.  He is the best sport!  He happily obliged and made women cone after cone of airy, light clouds of sugar.

Because it’s an only-happens-once-a-year event, We made sure to include a photo op for guest to snap a photo to commemorate the night.  My talented friend and Seattle photographer Brit Solie flew in to capture all the excitement and fun of the night.

The night was a blast and ended way too quickly!  I always enjoy seeing familiar faces, old friends and of course all the new friends who came out to join us for the evening.  Spokane Anthro, you are wonderful!  Thank you for allowing me to host in your beautiful space!

 

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Photography by Solie Designs