Recently, my team and I took a short trip to the Round Top Antique Show. You know Round Top in Texas, the tiny town with a population of 90, who hosts about 100,000 visitors during the two week biannual show. Since we had so much fun, I am sharing a look at the ‘day in the life’ of our trip to Round Top. Keep in mind our goals!

Goals for Visiting Round Top in Texas

• Source vintage & handmade products for the shop.
• Meet fellow entrepreneurs, creatives, makers & artists.
• Find inspiration from displays & unique finds.
• Shop for one of a kind pieces for clients & our own homes.
• Connect & have fun with our team.

But first, meet part of our team who hit the junkin’ trail with me.

First, there’s Susie, the dreamer and doer behind everything. From owner of the home decor shop, From: Susie to interior designer and founder of the 626 Foundation, a non-profit design firm. In the Spring of 2021, Susie began publishing her own magazine, named HomeMade as part of her seasonal Decor Box. Most recently, she and her newly married husband Rob, became podcasters.

Then, there’s me, Amy Williams, Susie’s bestie, content creator, here and for my personal blog, CuterTudor.com. Reagan Hain is the assistant interior designer, operations manager and Susie’s doppelganger. Next on the team is Lauren Sigala, the social media gal, Pinterest guru, mood board designer and answer to when you ‘Like to Know It.’ Lastly, there is Courtney Dani, an amazing photographer who makes sure that Susie never posts a bad photo of herself. Like ever.

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Biscuits, Bloody Mary’s and Be Happy

We started the day with homemade biscuits and the big Texas sky on the back porch of the Wander Inn. You can read more about the Junk Gypsy’s iconic rentals, here, where we love to stay during trips to Round Top in Texas.

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Our first stop of the day is at ‘The Arbors’ where you can find a variety of high end boutiques, clothing, fine art, imported decor and one of Susie’s favorites, the Bloody Mary. We look for makers and artists that we can add to the shop. Last year, this is where we met artist, Mary Gregory, who is featured in our summer collection.

While our goal is to search for handmade and vintage finds for the shop, we did a little personal shopping, too. For instance, we met fellow entrepreneur Madison, 23 year old owner of Happy Heart Clothing. We loved her creative spirit and found some cute accessories for our own girls. ‘Support the Makers’ not just a slogan on a t-shirt… we truly love to support makers, artists and small businesses.

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Search and Rescue

Susie searches for unique pieces that she loves and believes that her customers will love, too. Furthermore, when she purchases multiples of one product for the shop, know that each one is still hand picked. She rummages through stack of baskets, buckets of bowls, and rows of grecian planters to rescue items and give them a new life. Sometimes, she is looking for a perfect combination of imperfections. Other times, it may be individual character, but quality is always on the forefront.

Shopping for vintage and handmade finds isn’t as easy as it looks… questions arise with each item. For example, how will we get it home, how well will it ship to customers, is the price right for me to profit yet customers to buy, does this vendor offer wholesale, will customers find it as beautiful or interesting as I do, is this item timeless or is it too trendy, do we already have similar items in the shop???? Lots of questions that get answered by sales reports, calculators, measuring tapes, or just a gut feeling. However, often times, these questions are simply answered with prayer as we run back to purchase them, hoping they are still there. That’s living on a prayer!

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Team Work Makes the Dream Work

It is a truly rewarding experience to have the team together. Not only do we share a vision for the shop, but it is helpful to have others to bounce ideas around and receive respected feedback from one another. For example, here’s what it sounds like when we are searching for products.

Susie probably said something like, ‘hey, look at these round mini boards! What can we do with these?’ After pausing, she follows up with, ‘they could be ornaments.’ The wheels immediately begin to turn and Amy chimes in with ‘or personalized gift tags or mini charcuterie boards. Lauren adds, ‘a candle holder or coasters.’ Then, Amy describes how they could be used on a tablescape at each place setting.

A few minutes later, Susie finds the rectangular version of the mini boards. She holds them up in the air together and places the round one slightly in front of the rectangular board. Then, Amy responds ‘that is the cutest juxtaposition, Susie.’ And describes how it looks like layered cutting boards often styled on a kitchen stove backsplash. She follows up with ‘that would be so cute on a tiered tray in the kitchen.’

So, Susie bought as many as we could all carry in our arms.

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Unless, you have been to the Round Top Antique Show, it can be hard to imagine how many different ‘shows’ are set up. There are so many fields of tents and clusters of buildings spread out for miles from south of Warrenton, to north of Round Top in Texas. In addition, the surrounding small towns will have their own antique shops and pop-ups open. I’ve even seen garage sales plopped smack in a farmer’s pasture. Literally, the thrill is in the hunt.

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Relax and Recharge

By midday, we were full of inspiration, but starving. There are quite a few amazing food trucks spread out between the venues. However, we heard good things about The Garden Co. at Round Top, so decided to enjoy lunch on the plant filled patio. The cafe is located in an old farmhouse surrounded by other small shops.

Before long, we were back at it! More goodies to be found including the gorgeous mustard dipped pottery. The lighting in the building was so beautiful that we had a styling/photography session right there. Find the pots, here.

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Connecting in the Conga Line

When we returned for the evening at the Wander Inn, Amie and Jolie Sikes, Junk Gypsies, hosted a get together for guests. Therefore, we met travel bloggers, leather craftsmen, fellow shop owner Farmhouse Frocks and other Round Top venue owners. They served us beer, wine and the most amazing charcuterie board with 4″ tall chocolate covered cream filled ‘ding dongs.’ Plus, the cutest sugar honey bees and honeycomb over brie cheese. It was fun connecting with new and old friends, alike, and ending the night around the campfire.

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The next morning was filled with more shopping, more fun and more Bloody Mary’s. How else could I get Susie to climb on the back of ‘Lion King’ without getting caught?!

Want to know our best tips to visiting Round Top in Texas? Then, read our previous blog post, the Ultimate Guide to Round Top. Lastly, follow us on social media, like Instagram, so you get all the behind scene action and dibs on the latest and greatest finds From: Susie.

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