Gingham and florals.
Coffee and scones.
Tipple Teatime Happy Hour.
CORGI RACES.
Garden cocktails.
Spring fling workshops.
Custom tea and Unglued infuser.
All-retreat Evening Crafty sesh.
Spring Retreat had all the fresh vibes we needed!!
On the more gorgeous morning we've ever seen for an Unglued event our 2024 Spring Retreat went full bloom at Crooked Lane Farm in Colfax, ND on the sunny morning of Saturday, May 11!
Our welcome crew was ready to springtime party it up in gingham, florals, and full farm charm to welcome our 120 retreaters down the literal crooked lane and into a day full of all the best things we could dream up!
Retreaters were ready to party it up and kicked off their morning with a social bingo mingle, mimosas, and delicious Thunder Coffee...
The swag item for the Retreat was a special tea blend of Queen of Africa from Fargo's Chai Moto along with a tea infuser and a custom laser cut tea tag by Justin (and Snoop Dogg) so they could really drop it like it's hot at home. AND EDIBLE GLITTER. Also added by Justin as we packed up this tea delight.
Plus the world's most incredible scones to enjoy by Fargo's Moonrise Cafe! SO GOOD.
As everyone got settled in in SUNSHINE, our emcees Annie and Erica got the par-tea going and sweetened retreaters up with a little orientation to the farm and event time.
As McKaila and Ashley (me hi!) white gloved the Farm Tour so retreaters would know where the giant hayride would be to hitch to their winery workshop down the (crooked) lane!
And continued on the "tour" of bar boss Langston, McKaila's mom(!), our farm hosts, and all the action around the Farm for the day.
(and Maxine - the most recognized face at Retreat well known for being the protector of us all).
And because this was an English Tea Party inspired day we took to the social elitist dance moves of Bridgerton and The Buccaneers to get our pinkies up and our twirls in full swing before sending us all off to craft our butts off in Workshop Session 1.
(which meant it was time for that hayride to Dakota Vines nearby for some retreaters for their first workshop of the day! because it's Saturday and waiting until 5 doesn't count).
Workshop Session 1 captured our crafty hearts with a crazy variety of classes by local makers and artists teaching their favorite handcrafted projects around the Farm. From the tradition of blacksmithing to wood turning a garden trowel, or getting trend-tastic with charm necklaces and craft up some soap to keep it fresh, or keeping it spring vibes with a sewn garden apron and stained glass honeycombs, to getting dirty with wheel throwing - it was a win all around. Even limoncello making, you guys!
Then it was time for the most epic Salad Bar you've literally ever seen thanks to the genius of Kristina Lau. Color, variety, fresh as hell it would win the People's Choice Awards if we had them, which maybe that'll inspire us in the future to get some food trophies going on.
THEN it was time for Workshop Session 2 after also enjoying blondies and brownies again by Kristina!! Session 2 included workshops to the tune of scone baking, abstract flower painting, quilled tea cup earrings, spring mixology spritz-style, funky mug classes, sewn vintage potholders (CUTE), embroidered HOE tea towel lol, and more like stained glass, blacksmithing, and wheel throwing!
Around 3pm the vibes got fancy, the music was from your tea party dreams, the vintage floral tablecloths went down, and all the tea party food you can imagine was set - it was the Tipple Teatime Happy Hour! (Tipple being British slang for drinks! The more you know!).
Unglued Crew Matt Lee and also chef of Muninn created elegant tea party sandwiches keeping it both classic and intriguingly tasteful!
Plus of course we needed croissants, jam, and digestives...
Local Mandy shared her 22 year-old quarter horse mare Chesa Corky Bar to keep the Bridgerton-inspired afternoon peaking who got to wear a custom flower garden Kristina made!
Randi Kay created a tea lounge in our Lounge Tent with custom blends to sample, enjoy, learn more about, and just keep the day serene and peaceful.
Bar Boss Langston and Justin crafted up our favorite cocktails and crazy delicious mocktails with a featured menu of our drink dreams (so many dreamy dreams at this event).
And More Than Words - a local bookshop in Moorhead, MN - popped up for attendees to check out and shop some of the most perfect reads to go with a tea time happy hour!
And we can't go without an event and the handcrafted brewed mastery of Drekker Brewing Company to savor the sunshine with and cheers with our besties!
And as all moments of an Unglued event there was approximately 1 million more opportunities to make things including in our Make Shit Any Time corner - including UV resin hair clips, wood burned leather coasters, full ass embroidery kits, and more!
Including specific happy hour crafts like tea cup candles! Because how could a tea party craft event not have this?! It's perfect. And all vintage tea cups finds we could discover the past month...
Also included was mini cocktail infusion jars to craft up that included...EDIBLE GLITTER.
And Billie of A Meandering Maker set up a tea towel screen printing station to craft up the most perfect tea party towel we could ever imagine that her genius designed and perfectly unglued our crafty hearts <3
IS THIS NOT THE MOST PERFECT TEA TOWEL FOR THIS EVENT?!! I can't handle it.
And we capped off happy hour with none other than CORGI RACES. I still can't believe this happened.
Bacon, Pig, and Porkchop were joined by their buddies that I suddenly can't remember the names of...but 2 more corgis in full costume!
Retreaters placed their bets to see where this chaos led...and it led to the most adorable loaves running up and down leaving us with the most memorable corgi butts moments.
And then Workshop Session 3 was off! Classes included fruit tart making, spring wreaths, punch needle parties, wood burning a little box with wildflowers, round hoop weaving, wood turning a fountain pen, blacksmithing, stained glass, sewn plant buckets and more!!
For an evening dinner delight Blarney Stone of West Fargo catered bangers and mash to keep it as English as we could imagine - along with little build-your-own fruit pound cake to fill you up after a whole day of crafting so hard.
The evening continued on for one more last craft sesh - the All Retreat Evening Craft time with Jessica of Knask Designs! She custom laser cut wood flowers to paint and felt leaves to glue on a wreath. Along with creating stencils of spring-perfect quotes to try a unique process with joint compound and more!
When asked about the day in our feedback a new attendee said about what they liked "Literally everything. This was my first year and I couldn’t HANDLE THE CUTENESS." Because it was all SO CUTE!!
After all the attendees left and our crew cleaned up we walked into the field and saw the northern lights which was CRAZY!! Ah! What a way to end the gorgeous day doing what we love <3
And one attendee really melted our hearts "My life is better for these events and the joy and love you share. When days get tough I remember past events and think about what's to come. It's so much more than a craft event."
All these photos are by the amazing Studio Freshly who captures the best moments and is now a pro at northern lights photography.
Get ready for Fall Retreat coming October 2024!!
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