The 2020 Upside Down Tree

 Each year, I try to pick a theme for my Christmas decorations. +

Last week, while getting supplies, I saw a few tall flocked trees that I liked, but I just couldn’t bring myself to pay for new trees to go outside. After all, I’ve got about 16+ in the shed, most came from the thrift store or garage sale for $7 or less. I didn’t want to do an exact replica of last year, but I was drawing a blank, till I started dragging out the trees from the depths of my storage building. 

 

There was my silver tree that I’ve hung upside down before. It’s pretty scraggly, missing a few branches, a little (lot) wonky, but it still has potential. (wish I'd taken a before picture.) 

 

As I was hanging my tree by the camper, I got to thinking. You know, this tree is like 2020. There’s a lot that’s been upside down and crazy this year. Things are wonky... but there’s still been good things happen this year. This year lots of things have been missing, but just like adding all the tinsel, ornaments, and glitzy stems to help fill in the gaps, there’s been new and different alternatives that have came along to help fill the hole. 

 

With some effort and some creativity, this tree can be pretty, although not the norm.  It absolutely can’t stand on its own anymore, but really none of us can. Branches are tied together and there’s some gaps here and there. The top section can’t hold itself upright, but it’s not noticeable when it’s hanging upside down. With a little effort, love, lights, ribbon, garland, and ornaments, its a totally different tree. 

 

Let us remember that even though there’s been lots of craziness and ugliness in 2020, there’s still good and pretty things that have happened this year that are worth celebrating and appreciating. There’s still love, new life, weddings and new beginnings, friendships - both new and old, new and established businesses trying hard to make it and some having there best year ever, there’s new homes for some, taking time to try new things, spending more time with family, gardening, experimenting, being creative, overcoming obstacles, enjoying nature, a stronger wave of supporting our local businesses and makers...I’m sure there’s much more to add to this list. 

 

Yep, the upside down tree and 2020, they are different... but hang in there friends - just like that tree top that can’t hold itself up, we all need each other to support each other through it all. Grab a branch from the second section and tie it to one from the first section. Now, do it again. And again. And again. 

Now let your light shine. 

P.S. The rest of my "tree farm" is inspired by  my pink and aqua camper Christmas tee. Find it here. 

GypsyFarmGirl Now at P20 on the Square in Gilmer and other News!

We've got some exciting news to share this week! 

Earlier in the week, I got a message inviting me to have a space inside the P20 Land and Cattle Interiors and More in our hometown. For several months, I've watched P20 open up in one location and then move to their current store. I've told Jeff before, that if there was a store in town that I might be interested in working with, it would be P20. I actually met De Ann when we had a space in Mineola a few years ago and remember having a fun conversation with her. She's ordered a few tees and I've stopped in to grab a few gifts and a cute metal chandelier for my camper. As always, when I got the message this week, I first debated with myself if this is something I can take on, it would be another set of inventory to keep up with, do I have time, yada, yada, yada. I went by and looked at the space Wednesday while I was in town and by Friday afternoon, I had my little space set up. When I got there, they had cleared even more room for me, so I'll actually be expanding a little more in the coming weeks, but this happened suddenly and we will make improvements as we go along. Two different customers came in and bought 2 shirts before I finished setting up, so that was exciting! 

I've heard the P20 customers love Piggy things and I just happen to have two different pig shirts that I'll be taking up there in a few days! As always, I love to hear the things that you want to see and have. Your ideas help inspire us to create new things for you. (Please keep in mind that I stay clear of copywrited, licensed, or trademarked designs, to the best of my knowledge.) 

If you've not shopped in P20 yet, it really is the cutest little store! From furniture and decor to sheet sets, burlap door hangers, Little Bit Loopy crochet by our friend Shone, hot sauce, seasoning mixes, purses, jewelry, and so much more. Catch my Live Facebook announcement and get a little glimpse around the store. 

It's hard to believe, but  I remember shopping for school clothes in this very building and now I have clothes for sale there. Never dreamed I would be making clothing, when I was growing up!  If anyone remembers the name of that store from the 80's, please let me know. It's located on the corner of Davis St (west side of the courthouse square) and Hwy 154, also know as West Tyler St downtown.

You can find P20 on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with store hours, special sales, and events happening downtown. 

Now, to settle the rumors that were flying right after I made the announcement about P20 - we still have our space at Kickin' K Cattle Co in Quitman, Texas, with no plans to leave there (I actually have a contract there.) This was an opportunity that was presented to us this week, and 2020 being what it is, well I decided to embrace the opportunity that was extended to me. P20 is in our hometown and I pass through Gilmer almost every day, so stocking it will be convenient and our Gilmer friends and family have been so good to us showing up at all our events over the past few years. We only have one event left on the calendar - the Gilmer Yulefest on December 5th (I'll have my camper on the square that day!) With no other pop up events or shows on the radar for foreseeable future, we felt this was a good move to have some things available for you to conveniently shop downtown. Gilmer and Quitman are about 40 minutes apart and I live between the two towns, but they both attract different clientele. With two spaces, this gives our friends more convenient options to shop locally. If you are not local or prefer to stay home and shop online - that will always remain an option as well. You can shop our website at www.gypsyfarmgirl.shop (newest tees are always available here before etsy)  or our etsy shop gypsyfarmgirl.etsy.com. You can also "tap to shop" some of our items in our Facebook and Instagram pictures, if you see the little shopping bag icon in the bottom of the picture. Don't forget the Tee of the Week deal is back on our website or if we have the shirt in either boutique space, you can show them the image from our social media with the current special and they will honor it. 

The pictures below are from our Kickin' K booth in Quitman. As you can see, right now, it has way more inventory there, but we will be adding more to P20 soon. We make all our own shirts, so it does take some time to get everything made and ready for the booths.

So that's the new and exciting news happening around here. As always, we thank you for being a part of this journey with us! I couldn't do it without all of you! Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season ahead. 

News and Updates

Hey Y'all! I know I haven't blogged much lately, but I wanted to stop in and tell you about a few things. We've been as busy as ever, this year and haven't set down long enough at our computer to write many blogpost (sure wish I could easily blog from my phone, like we used to.) 

We have brought back the Tee of the Week special on our website (not on etsy.) We had the tee of the week special earlier in the year and it went away during the summer, but we are excited to bring it back for the foreseeable future. Watch our Facebook and Instagram pages to see the current featured tee. You can actually shop from both our facebook or instagram shop now, by simply tapping the picture (when we have the product tagged in the picture.) On our website, go to the menu and scroll down till you see the Tee of the Week option. The special will expire on Saturday night and a new tee will be announced by Monday of each week (hint: if you check the website on Sunday evenings, you may get a jump on the sale.) 

If we have the featured tee in our space at Kickin' K Cattle Co Boutique in Quitman, you can show the weekly sale graphic to them and they will honor the sale. The sale is not advertised in the store, so you must tell them about it. 

We have been adding lots of new tee shirt designs to our website as well, so make sure you check on all the new releases. Here's just a few of them! 

This design is special to me - I had a request for a tee with a longhorn cow. I looked for longhorn graphics, but couldn't find any that tickled my fancy. That's when we recalled taking pictures of Longhorn along the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails in 2011 or 12, so we took the picture, edited it, and worked it onto a new, original design. 

I know it is short notice here, but we will be at the Christmas Bazaar at the Gilmer First Methodist Church on November 7, 2020 from 9-4 in the gymnasium. 

Here's a little more notice for our last scheduled show of the year - On December 5. 2020 we will be at the Gilmer Yulefest and I will have Miss Gussie my camper there. (Yulefest will be modified from previous years, so not sure the exact time or where we will be parked yet. For the Yulefest event, by nephew and owner of Jake's Jigs will be joining us! Jake is just 14, wants to be a pro fisher, has won several 4-H virtual fishing tournaments and makes all his jigs. 

Other than these two shows on the calendar, we have a few weddings and events to create flowers for. Our website and etsy shop remain open and shipping daily. As always, for local customers, I can meet or deliver, if needed. We so appreciate all of you who have supported us over the years. You're the best!