I have been a huge fan of Joanna Gaines since Fixer Upper first started.  We were living in San Antonio Texas and the Silos weren’t really even a huge thing.  Fast forward a few years and I had the opportunity to visit Waco, Texas while teaching at a photography conference.  I knew immediately that I wanted to stay an extra day just to visit the Silos and let’s be honest … shop.  What I didn’t realize was how much I would simply enjoy walking through the beautifully laid out space just soaking up the architecture.

Get there early to Magnolia

By accident, we arrived at Magnolia Press before anything else was open and quickly realized that the entire space was ours to wander around.  While the shops didn’t open until 9, it was delightful to be one of the only people on site.  Suzy and I snagged a latte each and began to just wander.  Because the space was so empty, I felt like I could really take in a lot more of the finer details of the space.  We even got into the church and had it all to ourselves. . . side note to any couple wanting to get married there . . . I am game!

Give yourself time in Waco

I made the false assumption that most of the shops would have duplicates of what the other shops had.  I was completely wrong.  Not only did each shop have its own personality and theme but it also had it’s own scent.  The art Chapter One had a candle bringing called Library and it was fantastic!  I might have shipped one or two to my house

Magnolia Ships

Since I had flown to Waco, my space in my suitcase was limited but I was delighted to find that if there was something too large or fragile to take home on an airplane . . they had a shipping space on site.

Come Hungry

Aside from the obvious places to eat like the bakery and coffee shop, there are also some great permanent food trucks on-site to have lunch and dinner.  The cupcakes are an obvious must but the Alabama Sweet Tea was a taste of home paired with the great bbq.

Venture Out

After lunch, we still had time before needing to leave to head home and so we decided to check out a few other places.  We first stopped at the Little Shop on Bosque which has been turned into an off-season shop for Magnolia.  There were great bags, candles, and jewelry options.  While there we ran into a friend who mentioned wanting to head over to Harp Design Co. 

Clint is famous for making incredible tables for Joanna’s show and also supplies the cutting boards for her shop.  I would have completely missed this experience if few hadn’t ventured outside of Magnolia.

While at Harp Design Co, I started chatting with one of the employees.  It turned out he was actually one of Clint’s business partners and invited us for a tour of the workshop.  This just might have been the highlight of the trip for me to see how and where these beautiful tables are made.