MEET! Dallas from Miss Priss Tutus

Miss Priss Tutus located on Aisle 3 at Woodstock Market has appeared in several magazines including Vogue and CR Fashion Book before and in the newest issue coming out in February. They were seen in the movie “The Change Up" and on Good Morning America. Most recently, Miss Priss Tutus was asked to provide tulle robes for the Miss Nevada contestants to wear on stage for the pageant. Owner Dallas Roe also created costumes for Mitchell Kelly, a contestant from So You Think You Can Dance, for his scholarship program he’s created for dancers.

WM: You're one of the newest spaces in Woodstock Market, but you've been in business for a while. Tell us when and how you began.

Dallas: I'm a mommy to two girls, Hailey who's 9 and Kristen who's 6. I call my oldest "Miss Priss" and that's where Miss Priss Tutus was born. Since I have two girls creating all things girly comes easy to me! 

I was an ESOL teacher for elementary schools before I had my oldest daughter. After I decided that I wanted to stay at home with her. I knew that I still wanted to contribute to our financial income somehow. I started making tutus as a prop for taking pictures of Hailey. I started selling them after being encouraged by friends. I started at first with the grassroots system of selling. Referrals and images of tutus sent via email to friends and friends of friends. Then I decided to start up a website. The site launched in 2007 when my youngest was just 3 weeks old!

WM: We love the headline on your website that reads, "Caution: Tutus may cause uncontrollable spins and giggles!" They certainly brighten any day, but what occasions has a Miss Priss tutu made over the top?

Dallas: When you put on a tutu, you just can’t help but spin and giggle at any age! Even adults put on a tutu and spin and smile! We’ve made tutus for Prom, school dances, weddings (for flower girls and a bride!) Our theory is, you don’t need a special occasion to wear a tutu! Any day is a tutu day! I think the most outrageous tutu I’ve made is for a horse, yes a real horse. A child was getting a horse for her birthday, and the parent wanted me to make a tutu for the horse. 

WM: Giving back to local causes is really important to us here at Woodstock Market. We know it is to you as well. Tell us about the causes Miss Priss Tutus supports.

Dallas: Miss Priss Tutus is also a company that believes in giving back to the community. We currently have two non profit organizations that we help raise money for. One group is "Team Calgon" which is Atlanta based. They raise money for Autism Speaks and The Marcus School, a school for autistic children in Atlanta). Also, we support Bert's Big Adventure which raises money for children with special needs and their families to go to Disney at no cost to them. Bringing awareness to illnesses and helping to find a cure one day is in our grasp! In the mean time, if we can bring a smile to the children from Bert’s Big Adventure or help a child with autism laugh for a minute, we’ve done our jobs!

WM: Miss Priss tutus are made with loads of top of the line tulle so you've attracted a rather high-profile fanbase. Tell us about the celebrities who wear Miss Priss and the recognition you've received.

Dallas: All of our supplies are made in the USA, our tulle is the best quality tulle and won’t itch! We buy the best materials and keep our prices mainstream so all can afford!

We have quite a list of celebs that endorse us and have our tutus, here are a few:

• Shanna Moakler (such a sweet friend!)
• Beyonce
• Kim Kardashian
• Rosie O’Donnell
• Ivanka Trump
• Allison Sweeney
• Jack Osbourne (Ozzy’s son)
• Cast members from the Real Housewives Franchises
• Tori Spelling

WM: What's in store for Miss Priss Tutus in 2014? Anything new?

Dallas: Lots of things! I’m auditioning, again, for Shark Tank! Last audition, I made it to the last round of auditions! Hoping to go all the way this time. I introduce new lines every season and I'm always creating new designs. I really love and adore creating dance costumes for studios and dancers. Working with choreographers and designing the perfect costume that they envision for their dance is so fun. Even better when you see your designs on the stage on a dancer!  One of my sweet studios I’ve designed for won Best Costume last season at competitions with costumes I designed and made and sent me the trophy! It was such a sweet gesture and made me remember how much I love my job!

You can follow Miss Priss Tutus on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Be sure to check out the many different types and occasions of tutus on Dallas' website.

MEET! Laura from Rethunk Junk

If you've spent much time on Pinterest lately you know painted furniture is more than a trend in home decorating. 

We count Woodstock Market blessed beyond measure to be the headquarters of one of the very best up and coming furniture paint lines and its furniture showroom.

Rethunk Junk by Laura's paint is no-prime, no-sand, affordable, durable and beautiful. Owners Laura and Tom Whitlow developed the formula themselves and have proved its performance on the thousands of pieces of furniture sold through their Woodstock Market showroom.

WM: You have an extensive line of paints and frequently introduce new colors. What are the latest and how did they come about?

Laura: Latest colors are Lily Pad and Cherry Blossom. Politically correct answer? I listen carefully to customers’ needs and closely follow decorating trends and came up with colors to compliment every decor. Real answer? Got bored using black and cream and wanted some color! Haha!

WM: We see you hunting and rethinking all of your pieces, photographing and sharing them with fun stories on your blog and your Facebook page, developing your paints and teaching paint classes.

What’s your favorite part of what you do?

Laura: First of all….the correct term is “rethunking” pieces. Heehee. Favorite part of what I do…..hmmmm….I have been told by my husband whose name I shall not use (ha) that I have some control issues. There could be a wee bit of truth to that because I LOVE seeing the transformation rethunking can make, I find a great deal of joy in making something ordinary an awesome thing, I can’t control a lot of what goes on around me but I CAN control how that dresser looks. Also, I am always amazed that people read my blog….but love to share our dysfunctional family stories. Makes me feel more normal. And lastly, although I hate hate hate being up in front of people, I love the social interaction of teaching paint class and seeing someone finding that same joy I feel as they rethunk something.

WM: It’s so great to see your whole family supporting you in your workroom and storefront at Woodstock Market. What do you hope your kids are learning from watching their mom’s hard work and success?

Laura: Hope they are learning to go to college, graduate, and do something easier to make money. Ha! Not sure they are watching my success…although I appreciate the compliment….but I DO think they are learning to work hard. A lost art in the world of video games and TV and texting. And I also think they are learning the value of a dollar. We went to a restaurant recently and all five of them chose water to drink because as they said,” Mom works too hard for us to waste money on sodas.” Rarely have I felt more proud!

WM: Your pieces get people thinking creatively about their spaces. We’ve had plenty of opportunities to chat with your customers and they are excited about your product. To turn the tables, we’d like you to channel your inner Oprah and tell us five of Laura’s Favorite Things…

Laura: Five favorites……hmmmmm…..what comes to mind first is chocolate, mashed potatoes, white cake with buttercream frosting, Diet Coke and barbecue…..but that probably wasn’t what you had in mind, Hahaha. Sooooo…..

Not in any order….

1. Family time!

2. Playing the piano.

3. Going to the movies.

4. Painting furniture. (I truly do love it)

5. And Diet Coke.

Oh wait….Tom says I got the last question wrong. I have no time for Oprah….he obviously does….so this is what he said you wanted….

1. Dollar tree paint brushes so I don’t have to wash out expensive ones.

2. A high powered fan to make pieces dry faster.

3. Old fashioned carbon paper for tracing designs to paint on pieces and The Graphics Fairy website to find aforementioned designs.

4. My Festool sander and the duster sucker upper contraption that goes with it.

5. And a fountain Diet Coke to keep it all running happy and smooth.

Thanks, Tom. The second favorite things list with Tom’s input makes us wanna shout, “You get a car!” “You get a car!” “You get a car!” But we have no Pontiacs so we’re giving away fabulous slideshow of Rethunk inspiration instead…

Laura tells us two brand new products are coming soon. Stain Top is a product you just roll on and it looks like you sanded and stained the top of a table without all of the work. The Paint Personalized Kit contains all of the special ingredients needed to turn any color latex paint into a no-sanding, no-priming fabulous furniture paint.

You'll want to follow Laura on Facebook and sign up for her mailing list on the Rethunk Junk website so you will receive her blog stories and news on upcoming classes.

MEET! Dennis and Stefanie from Junk Drunk Jones

Woodstock Market is home to over 100 small businesses each offering you distinctive finds to style your space and your look your own unique way. The personalities behind the varied spaces under our roof are a huge part of the store's appeal. Junk Drunk Jones is a popular storefront near the back corner of Woodstock Market. There is a tremendous selection of new old-stock advertising, vintage clothing, and collectable antiques under the shop's retro flashing sign.

You may be surprised to know the dealers behind Junk Drunk are a father-daughter duo, Dennis McGuire and Stefanie Jones. The family has curated what we believe to be one of the most amazing gems in North Georgia, an entire antique and vintage town housed in multiple outbuildings on their Canton property. It would be a solid gold episode for the History Channel's American Pickers!  

WM: We think it’s terrific that y’all are a father-daughter picking team! Dennis, what pickin’ traits has Stefanie inherited from you?

Stefanie: I would like to chime in first if I may, as an avid history nerd…I mean history buff, they found it rather easy to introduce their love for antiques with me early on. It was just one of those things he found I enjoyed and we could bond over. I was raised on the History Channel (when it actually broadcasted historical content, and not gator hunting and pawn store shows) oh, and Antiques Roadshow of course. I learned early on the value in a good story, and that every antique has a story. I started snagging stuff for my own little collections around age 8. He and my mom took me to every antique shop possible, country-wide. We actually took off for 6 weeks one summer, just to pick. We didn’t call it that back then, but that is certainly what we were doing.

Dennis: What she said definitely covered all the bases on that one!

Stefanie: Can I also mention that we have recently coined the phrase “The family that picks together sticks together?” It is cheesy, but true!

WM: So fitting and so true! Stefanie, is there an item that you've picked that your dad just didn’t get?

Stefanie: Many of the things that we gather, and when the mood strikes, we sell - are things we have collections of ourselves. There are two of my personal collections dad didn’t quite understand but supported anyways and that is old hotel keys, and old circus act posters/sideshow banners. He definitely was scratching his head on those two, but has seen the values of these collections already starting to grow. He is usually not disappointed when I trust my gut.

WM: All of us at Woodstock Market can identify with the phrase “Junk Drunk” but tell the readers what it means to be junk drunk, Stefanie.

Stefanie: Envision walking into an antique mall, a flea market, a great yard sale, or anywhere that has an endless supply of great items. You look around and see an absolute sea of treasures, so many cool knick knacks and odds and ends that you can barely wrap your head around it all. You instantly think, “OH look! I could use this, and I need that thing, man I want that too”. As you walk through this treasure trove you can almost feel the endorphins moving through you. You, my friend, are getting junk drunk. Did that make sense? I tend to get carried away, and distracted easily…squirrel!

 WM: Okay so that is pretty much what happened to us the first time we saw your collection in “The Town”! I thought it might be some sort of cardiac episode, but those were just junk endorphins. That’s a relief! Dennis, share with us what “The Town” is and how it came about.

Dennis: Well, I spent about 15 years collecting old classic cars, and when I got out of that I was left with some empty buildings.

Stefanie: Nobody likes an empty building!

Dennis: Exactly, so I revisited our old love for antiques. We had a lot of items in storage from our stints at other local antique malls we were vendors at prior to the car hobby. Between that, a few eBay snags, and a whole lot of road trips pickin’ we have created what my kids have nicknamed, “Dennisville”.

Stefanie: Dennisville…Population 8. All joking aside, Dad has built an entire town, I will start the “verbal tour” with the general store. ~A.L. Jones Mercantile~ (named after my daughter, Adeline Lily) looks like a fully functional general store and market, cans and packages galore,not one detail was overlooked. Move on a little to a postal type area, which then leads to a full service station, ~D.J.’s Pure Station~ (Dad’s initials). Naturally it features the gas pumps and all the proper trimmings. Then we move on to the watering hole, ~Chelsia’s Tavern~ (named after the first grandchild). Cross the street and you are at ~Olive’s Cafe~ (no link to any of us, we just like the neon sign that points to it). Olive’s Cafe is a glorified soda fountain, once again, with all the proper trimmings.

WM: With all of those “stores” in your town, Dennis, what’s one treasure from your lifetime of pickin’ that you'll never sell?

Dennis: My wife? Haha, well there really are too many things that we just love to really mention one in particular. I am hard pressed to sell some of the items that I have set up in the town, but that is another story for another day.

Stefanie: We do have some pretty neat items that are family heirlooms that are off-limits when it comes to a price tag. “Safe to sell” items make it to the showroom and online for everyone to take home and enjoy, like we do. We like to create an atmosphere where people can visit, take a few trips down memory lane, and get “Junk Drunk” with us!

You can follow Junk Drunk Jones on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. They have a new yet nostalgic website offering an expanded selection of the signs, clothing and collectables available in their Woodstock Market showroom. In addition you can keep up with their pickin' exploits on their popular blog.