Girl's Night with Fleur De Lis Bridal and Grbic Catering

Girl's Night Out is always a lot of fun but this last one was especially exciting.  Our friends, Connie and Kristin at Fleur De Lis Bridal, joined us to show off a new line of dresses for special ocassions, while raising money for Mercy Cancer Center. 

Here we are with Connie and Kristin. Two mother-daughter teams!  

The dresses are just fabulous!  Here are a couple of them.  They're so well made and flattering!

Sarah and I couldn't help but play with them.

Fleur De Lis had three models wearing the dresses throughout the night.  It was so nice to see what they look like on someone instead of just on hangers.  Recognize one of these models?  The dark haired beauty on the right is Emily, our lovely employee!

The second special part of the evening was that a high school friend of mine whose family owns a restaurant/catering company offered to help raise money for the charity by catering the event.  Erna Grbic and her sister Senada brought the fabulous food and wine from Grbic Restaurant and Dining Hall. 

Here they are with their amazing pastries, Grbic salad, cheeses and wine.  Yum!  It was all so good!!

Erna and Senada also packed up some of their wonderful apple strudel for everyone to bring home.

Here's Sarah and me in front of the arbor we set up.

Emily, me, and Sarah

Emily and Sarah strike a pose

Everyone was hanging out, chatting, and enjoying the food. 

Emily and Angie were both in white.  Angels??  Hmm...not sure.

This was our best Girl's Night yet.  We raised money for Mercy St. Louis Cancer and Breast Institute while having lots of fun and meeting new friends.  The food was amazing and the dresses adorable too.  Thank you to everyone who made it such a success!  We have the best customers and friends any store owners could ever ask for!! 

And if you missed it, don't fret!  We will have another Girl's Night Out soon!

Suckers for Succulents

I had no idea what a succulent was until recently.  Now, everyone at The White Rabbit is obsessed with them.  In case you don't know what they are, here's what Wikipedia says:

Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaves, stems, and also in roots.

Not to be confused with cactus; cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti.

Now that you know what they are, you're probably wondering what's so great about them.  Our favorite thing about them is that they don't need a lot of water and their root systems are short so you can plant them in anything!!!!

The other thing we love about them is that they come in lots of colors and shapes and they are just so darn cute!

Above is Emily planting some into a container in the store.  When you plant these little cuties, you can't just use any soil.  You have to use special soil that has sand or something that helps drain the moisture.  The main things to remember are that they need filtered light, preferably from a south facing window, and you shouldn't over water them.  Once a week is about right.

Once we figured out that we could plant them in vintage containers, we started grabbing everything in the store and planting like crazy.  Above is an old drawer.

We are selling them individually for $4(small) or $6(large) or already planted in a container.  The bucket above is $10 and the succulents we planted cost $14 so someone took this home for only $24.

Sarah, our resident expert on succulents, grabbed this old coffee container.  I think this is my favorite one that we've done so far!!!  She ended up taking it home to live with all of her other succulent babies. P.S. If you're ever in the store, go ahead and quiz her on the names of each type of succulent.  She knows them ALL!

After the coffee can, Sarah planted these old printer's drawers and they both flew out of the door the same day.

This is Sarah's friend Alex.  Look how excited she is to be taking home her new friends!!

Old silver looks so amazing planted!  Imagine these for a wedding centerpiece!

What is our next succulent project?  We can't wait to make these amazing wreaths. 

Aren't they just to-die-for??

So....what are you waiting for?  Get to The White Rabbit and pick up some amazing succulents.  Or pick out a container and we'll plant them for you.  You will quickly become as obsessed with them as we are.

Remembering some of our favorite finds!

Every once in a while, we look back at old pictures of the store and have a moment of sadness for the things we truly loved and wish we could have kept.  Did you buy any of these things from us?

I think about this dress sometimes.  It was sort of a pale pink/purple color and the bottom was SO beautiful.  Doesn't it look like a Sarah Jessica Parker dress?  I wanted to hang it in my room from a wardrobe and just look at it all day!  I hope it's in a good home.

There was just something about these chairs.  We hardly ever find things that we don't paint but these were just so cool.  I've never seen fabric like this before and they were in great shape.

This bed was awesome because it was painted with bluish, white paint and then trimmed in gold.  I think it was a king too which is so hard to find unless you get something really new looking from IKEA or something.  We rarely find anything vintage that isn't twin or full sized.

Below is one of a whole group of old slides I found at an estate sale.  Usually you can't really see the image on a slide but these were big and made of glass.  So cool!!!  We hung them from clips in the window and the light went throught them.  I wish I had gotten more.  I think they were only a couple of bucks each.

This Victorian hand mirror was in my mom's house for many years.  She kept it on her nightstand.  We see tons and tons of hand mirrors at flea markets and estate sales but I NEVER see ones that are as pretty as this one.

I miss this china cabinet because it was so ornate.  Once we painted it, the details popped and of course, we wanted to keep it!  It sold right away though.

This chair was kind of a product of an "oops" moment. We had gotten so excited about these curtain panels at market that we paid waaaaay too much for them and as a result, couldn't make any money off of them.  We found this chair and got the idea to cut up the curtains and cover it with it.  It actually ended up in our friend Susan's workshop so we get to visit it sometimes.

This champagne bucket captured my heart from the moment I saw it.  It was so tall and it had a handle and a wreath shape on the front.  It would be awesome with a flower arrangement in it too.  Sigh...

I think I'm a sucker for anything with gold brushed over the details.  We used this buffet as our checkout for a while and we actually tried to tell people it wasn't for sale but eventually broke down and let it go.  It was a sad day!

 

We had this chair in our back room and the old fabric was stained and gross, so we decided to reupholster it.  We found these two coordinating fabrics at Anatol's (in Brentwood Industrial Ct) and pretty much fell in love with the way it turned out.  We painted the wood black and I think it sold the first day.  I still miss it.  I wonder of they still have those fabrics...

Look at this freaking daybed!!!!  It looks like something out of a french magazine.  I will never forget it.  Once we covered it in pillows, it was pretty much to-die-for.  Oh daybed, how I miss you!

We have a love/hate relationship with these darn metal letters.  We ordered them twice and they sold like hotcakes.  People started freaking out over them and asking for more letters so we called the company to get more, like a lot more.  I think we ordered about $2,000 worth of letters that were promised to us about 6 months ago.  We still don't have them.  Every time I call, they tell me they're on the way from India.  It's so frustrating!  Our guess is that a large company like Pottery Barn decided to carry them and smaller stores got cut out.  That happens to us a lot.  It's sad.

I desperately measured every room of my south city house to try to fit this mirrored wardrobe somewhere.  Nope.  Waaaaaay too big.  It's part of what made it so cool.  It was huge.  It was like adding a whole closet to a room. 

 

I wish I had a better picture of this sofa but it's basically a tufted linen and burlap sofa with a script pattern cushion.  Yeah, I know, awesome.

Did you buy any of these pieces??  It would be fun to hear from you if you did.  Maybe you could say hi to it for us?  There are a lot of other things we remember but we didn't take pictures of them.  If you have a favorite piece from us, you could post it on our Facebook page.  It would be so fun to see!  We love seeing where our finds end up! 

An exciting new project downtown-The Collective

Have you been downtown lately?  Washington Avenue has been growing in so many ways.  A brand new Pi Pizzeria just opened in the Mercantile Exchange building across from the soon-to-be-open Blues Museum.  Down the street is the ever popular Bailey's Range, Left Bank Books and Bridge wine bar.  The area is increasingly busy with tourists and native St. Louisans alike, which is why Nicole Benoist, former editor of St. Louis magazine, decided that the area is perfect for a retail co-op space.

The co-op, called The Collective, will open August 20th, 2012.  We have been asked if we would like to rent a space and we have decided to take the leap!  We are so excited!! 

Last Thursday, the 31st, we went to a cocktail party to see the space which hasn't even been built yet.  It was pretty rough, but we were able to envision the way our space could look.  They had a sample display set up that was really artsy and inventive.  It showed us that we could get very creative in our area which is pretty much our dream.

Here's the two of us with our wine that was provided by Robust.  They will have a space across the street soon too!

It's kind of hard to see, but the windows across the street in this picture are the front of the Blues Museum.  Someone has hand painted the entire glass front of the building and we are getting really excited to see inside.  On the opposite corner is the convention center which will bring thousands of tourists who will hopefully shop in The Collective!

During the cocktail party Thursday, they had a sample section set up, pictured below, which gave us an idea of what we could do.  It's kind of like an antique mall but much more chic and refined.  Nicole chose her participating boutique owners very carefully so she could create a quality shopping experience.

The sample display was pretty cool.  It made us want to come up with a concept and decorate around that idea, rather than just throw a bunch of stuff into the space.

The Collective is already getting a lot of press, even though it won't open until August of this year, 2012.  Here are links to articles about the co-op.  Once we can get into the building and start creating, we will post more pictures!  I hope you're as excited to see it as we are!
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/co-op-hopes-to-address-retail-challenges-downtown/article_9fc137c2-ac10-11e1-b22f-0019bb30f31a.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2012/05/chic-retail-co-op-to-open-at.html?page=all

http://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/consumer-central/a-new-retail-co-op-coming-to-downtown-st-louis/article_b9707378-aa7a-11e1-a135-0019bb30f31a.html#.T8ZvgigFjiI.facebook

Stores with displays from The White Rabbit

When we started our business, we had no idea that we would have so many other business owners coming to us for their display furniture.  We have gotten to meet so many amazing people who have started boutiques in the area!  I wanted to share some of them so you guys can check them out. 

Cha

Cha is a really cool clothing boutique in Ladue.  Sarah is seriously the sweetest person we've met in a long time!  She wanted unique pieces to display her clothing and accessories on.  She said the fixtures in the catalogs for businesses were just too plain and boring!  She got a bunch of large and small tables from us as well as the cool wire rack shown below.  This is my mom and I visiting her at Cha shortly after she opened.  We're leaning on a white table that came from The White Rabbit.  You've gotta go see her!  She's right near Giddyup Jane on Clayton.

Here's her site!  Tell her Angie and Lindsay sent you!
http://shop-cha.com/

Codi

Courtney Hopson, owner and designer at Codi has been a customer for a very long time.  She has a really fun, bright look to her store and she wanted some black and white furniture to go with her bright colors.  She bought a ton of stuff for display for both of her locations.  Her jewelry looks great on painted furniture.  See the black, crystal chandelier?  It actually survived our flood and ended up in her store!

The picture above is her little girl's corner.  Of course The White Rabbit goes great here too!  Stop in and see a ton of fabulous jewelry at either the Ladue or Town and Country location!

http://www.codijewelry.com/index.php

 

Cat's Meow

Catherine from The Cat's Meow came in and needed several large pieces for display.  You can't see most of them in the store because they are covered with all different options for monogrammed gifts!  Very cute!

 

http://www.catsmeowpersonalized.com/

Tigerlily

We are so lucky to have met the mother-daughter team that started Tigerlily!  They are absolutely hilarious and awesome.  We can't say enough good things about them.  They have wonderful gifts that can be monogrammed for any occasion.  If you need a gift, you've gotta go!  You'll end up getting a little something for yourself too!  They're right in the heart of Maplewood on Manchester.  It's such a cute area to stroll around and maybe have a little lunch.

If you click the link to their website, you can see some of what they carry. 

http://www.tigerlilystore.com/

Fleur De Lis Bridal

Connie and Kristin opened a bridal boutique in Clayton that offers brides-to-be very personal attention and some great gowns that you won't find anywhere else in St. Louis.  They wanted a sophisticated, feminine look in their boutique.  Almost all of their furniture came from The White Rabbit!  They got chandeliers, a loveseat,a chair, 2 large mirrors, and 2 tables! I think there were other things but we can't even remember because they got so much! 

We are doing a fun Girl's Night Out event with them soon because they're going to carry little special occasion dresses as well as wedding gowns.  We will have models showing the dresses in the store on June 20, 2012. 

If you have an event to attend and need a cute little dress, Fleur De Lis will be the place to go!

The pictures below are from their Open House.  Everything looked so amazing!  The dresses are to die for!!!!!

Check out their website if you're getting married soon or need a special occasion dress.  They'll be happy to make an appointment for you.  They are also, extremely sweet, reliable, and not pushy.  We really can't say enough good things about them.

http://www.fleurdelisbridal.com/

Pottery Barn Teen

Yep, I know what you're thinking.  Why on earth is Pottery Barn shopping in The White Rabbit.  We wondered a little too, but hey, it ended up looking great!  The people who do their displays needed a bunch of vintage items to use as props.  They bought several windows with quotes for their walls.  People come in all the time and say that Pottery Barn sent them here because they loved the windows.  They also bought the big arched mirror below and a ton of old suitcases.  I have a lot more pictures of our things in Pottery Barn but I'd rather show more from boutiques!

 

Sugar Magnolia

When you think about it, a lot of our pieces are kind of romantic, so it makes sense that a lingerie boutique would look great decorated with our furniture.  Owner of Sugar Magnolia, Lisa, bought her checkout counter (the amazing tufted piece pictured below) from us as well as those huge doors that are hinged together.  She cleverly used those to make a fitting room.

Lisa also bought a gorgeous marble top island to go in the center of her Webster Groves store.  She also bought chandeliers, chairs, benches and tables for display.  Don't the pictures look fun??  We haven't been in yet because she just recently opened but we can't wait!!

 http://www.sugar-magnolia.com/index.html

 

LuLu Mccabe Florist

I'm so sad that I don't have pictures for the next ones.  Michelle from LuLu McCabe Florist in Chesterfield decorated her store with lots of White Rabbit goodies.  She got a big cabinet that she says everyone oohs and aahs over when they stop in.  She can ship and deliver if you go to her site and see a beautiful bouquet.  We bought a bundle of hydrangeas from her and they were so big and full!  Here;s her site:

http://www.lulumccabe.com/

Ylang Ylang

Have you been to Ylang Ylang in Plaza Frontenac?  They are also a mother-daughter team.  Lois and Julie have had the fine jewelry business in the family for about 30 years.  It's so wonderful to meet family business owners that have been successful enough to carry on with their kids.  We created a wall of a bunch of different vintage mirrors behind their checkout.  They also bought a cabinet that has a chalkboard top so they can write messages to customers.  They re-painted their walls and the store is looking really fresh.  We're so glad we could be a part of it!

http://www.ylangylang.com/

Coming soon!  East and West clothing

Currently, we are helping a young entrepreneur named Brian open a clothing boutique in downtown Kirkwood.  He is going to specialize in menswear that you wouldn't find in St. Louis.  He's been buying the more rustic, industrial style pieces that we carry.  He bought an old printer's drawer to display his accessories inside of.  What a cool idea!!!  I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as he opens and we get to peek around.

Can you believe how many stores have a little piece of our store inside of them?  We think it's really cool that we can be a small part of their success, even if just in their displays.  I'm sure we will meet many other business owners soon.  We will keep you updated on new shops that are opening.  And remember, please support us small businesses in St. Louis.  We work really hard!