wishing all a blessed and happy new year!  stay tuned in the coming year for tutorials on everything from making soap to painting furniture.  and thank you for following along with us at the dancing goat studio!!!

jingle all the way

 

santa claus is coming to dancing goat studio! we are shining up the sleigh bells and prepping for a holly jolly christmas season.  the dancing goat has artful giftables under the tree and decorating ideas galore.  for example:

 

-fill a vintage ruffled bowl with shiny brite ornaments for use as a festive tablescape. 

 

-re-purpose utilitarian canning jars with hot chocolate and marshmallows for a quick party hot chocolate bar.  add a couple of clear glass holly coffee mugs and candy cane stir sticks.

 

-add a red accent table or chair to a corner of your home for instant holiday cheer. or invite your guests to cuddle up with a recycled sweater pillow found at the dancing goat.

most importantly remember that the holidays should be infused with tradition.  honor the old and begin some new traditions to make the season all that it is meant to be.

 

 

home for the holidays 2012

 

vintage decorating carries an air of nostalgia that can't be found at a big box store.  mix-up what you already own with quirky retro decor found at the dancing goat studio.  this season find an assortment of  brightly colored "shiny brite" ornaments, strands of vintage christmas lights and fresh cut greens for an old school spin on the season.

 

create an "up-north santa look" with red/black plaid found here in pillows constructed from  american made woolrich wool and repurposed sweaters/flannel shirts.   metal lunch boxes from yester-year make functional table-top accents or work well as unique christmas cookie gift boxes.

 

snow-white reindeer can be found in all corners of dancing goat and make for great season round woodsy accents for your home or porch. add old crates and servicable glass jars filled with ornaments or cookie cutters to add a touch of shabby chic.

 

simplify your holiday season with decorations that carry your home into the long days or january/february. stop into the dancing goat for great decorating ideas and artful giftables. 

 

check out our expanded holiday open dates for bonus shopping opportunities!  enjoy a blessed holiday season and thank you for another great year at the dancing goat studio!!  

autumn 2012



we apologize at dancing goat for being behind on our blog posts.  fall is a busy time of year as we scramble to paint furniture for the upcoming winter, before the cold minnesota weather settles in.  many d.g.s. photo's from september - november can be found on the "dancing goat studio" facebook page.  just "like" us online and recieve updates and photo's on a more frequent basis. and as always, thank you for visiting the dancing goat studio blog!!!!

one week to september event

september theme at dancing goat studio is a riot of subdued color. working on grays, blues, espresso, cream and khaki colors. the theme is feeling nutty with acorns, blue skies and squirrels in mind.

here's a sneak peek to what is coming up:

retro revival and art fair fun

dancing goat studio is stepping back in time to mid-century decorating. bright orange, robins egg blue, avacado and berry pink paired with cool black make this fall inspired fabric the perfect backdrop to our groovy theme. fun fall leaf ceramic decor finds it's way into the dancing goat and hanging swag lamps make a bright comeback. rustic retreat plaids in red , blue and orange also create a cabin kitsch nook.

the weekend of august 17 and 18 will bring in an artsy fartsy crowd with new london's fine arts fair and music festival. so stop in to say hello and see what's new. there is always so much to see at dancing goat studio!!

 

book purse special orders are starting to come in at dancing goat. consider a funky altered book purse for the gifting season and pick out a perfect one of a kind present for someone special in your life. special orders are easily made via e-mail and photo coorespondence. contact kim at kwendlandt@tds.net for more information.

summer bounty

typically this is the time of the month that i pre-view fabulous re-design photo's from dancing goat studio, just prior to the second weekend occasional sale. but instead, i am showing pictures of 'what i did instead'.

the motto of dancing goat is to recycle, repurpose and
re-design. at dancing goat the phrase 'earth friendly' is thrown around a lot. often times the term is used to describe the buying of a repurposed book purse or a repainted wood table, instead of buying box store wanna-be's (pleather and pressed wood). the main concept at dancing goat, is the idea that it is better to recycle what we have instead of filling, the already overflowing, landfills with our castoffs. in short the recreating of and finding beauty in the seemingly ordinary and less than perfect.

many of you already know the story behind the name 'dancing goat' but here is a refresher for you and a reminder to myself: i have been teaching papermaking to children through 'artist in residency' programs for 18 years. the kids make paper out of recycled shredded paper from the school offices and together we discuss recycling and how important it is to our environment. during these some 18 years of teaching, my husband, children and i moved to a hobby farm and our first farm animals were goats. we also began an enormous vegetable garden that produced far more bounty than we would ever be able to consume in a summer. often times, tomatoes and zuchinni in the garden would grow too large for consumption and would become 'goat food' for our two crazy goats: butterscotch and baxter. every fall, my husband would clean out the straw (aka goat poop) in the goat pen and cover the garden with it's nourishing goodness. at some point through the years, i realized that being 'earth friendly' was not a new concept. following the first earth day in the 1970's the term 'green' was coined and escalated in status in the 1990's. the idea of being earth friendly was not a term used by farmers through the years, but it has always been a way of life. so the dancing goat studio name, is a nod to what farmers have been practicing for years. so when you drive down a country road and get a wiff of a farmers 'manure pile', understand that he is and always has been the ultimate 'green living' model.

with all this in mind, please forgive me for canning the vegetables in the garden, instead of working diligently on the dancing goat august redesign. we have been open several weekends in a row for special summer events and have worked hard to keep the store restocked at all times. there are many new items, but the new august theme 'retro couture' will be done for next weekend instead, august 16, 17 and 18. of course, unless we have a bumper crop...