Ep. 454: Carson Kressley Mini-Series Pt. 2 - The Junk Gypsies

11:24Amie Sikes:I wouldn't have a cork board behind me She would not have dirt under her fingernail She would not get to go to the flea market all the time And she wouldn't meet people like you, Carson And I mean, truly, this has been one wild ride that we never could have planned for You know, so we couldn't ask for a better life

11:40Carson Kressley:I love it And tell the listeners Not everybody knows what the Junk Gypsy brand is about But that kind of entrepreneurial side When you had all this experience of flea marketing and thrifting and being creative and creating retail environments and restaurants and all that. What does Junk Gypsy do? What is Junk Gypsy all about? Tell our listeners because I've been and it's a magical wonderland.

12:05Jolie Sikes:Well, I think Junk Gypsy, I think that's part of our self-employment. We did not have a business plan. Our business plan was to see what opportunities arose basically along this path. And as we've said, we've been at this for 25, 28 years at this point, Amy, something like that. and in the beginning I guess I was still finishing school and Amy and mom were made they made homemade pillows and we took them to the flea market in Canton, Texas and I went with them every weekend and helped but I was still like doing school I was an advisor at A &M and doing school but anyway so they were made they thought these pillows were the shtick and there was this creative thing they did mom actually still loves the pillows she still has them but wait, Julie

12:46Amie Sikes:come on they weren't just regular pillows

12:49Jolie Sikes:they weren't they were like And I'm knick-knack, patty-whacked. Like they had all these embellishments and like this, they had, they attached beads and leather strips and they were really pretty. And like one side would be denim and then one side would be tapestry. And I mean, they were really pretty and they handmade them. And we did these photo shoots with them out in our pasture at home in East Texas. And anyway, so we took it to the flea market in Canton, Texas, which is a five-day flea market, and they didn't sell one pillow. So we sat there all day, every day for five days with people in and out of the booth and didn't sell, not even one.

13:24Jolie Sikes:But what, true, but what we learned at that flea market was that everybody was interested in their display pieces, which was Chippy Peely furniture. So again, remember, almost 30 years ago. So instead of packing up at that point, Amy and mom went home and I went back to school. And then we went back, was it the very next month with Chippy Peely furniture? And we took all this furniture. And what we did is we started displaying it back then, 30 years ago. I can't keep saying that. It was a little bit of a white space for women and young women at that. And we would display it like it would be in your home.

13:59Jolie Sikes:I mean, and, you know, it was like we would do a whole little vignette of a bed and a nightstand, which you didn't see much back then at the flea market. It was really just stuff thrown on tables or in car tables. Some people were doing it, but not much. And so that's where we started learning, okay, people are drawn to this. And then we started doing that. We would feed off of that. Well, then, and I'll let Amy tell the story of the first time she drove to Round Top, because I know y 'all want to hear that. But what we discovered at Round Top was we were like, let's just do a shirt. I mean, just to commemorate this experience, this kind of sisterhood that everybody has at the antique show at this flea market.

14:34Jolie Sikes:And so we did one box of shirts.

14:37Carson Kressley:Like a t-shirt or?

14:39Jolie Sikes:T-shirts. Yeah. And when we weren't. And so we, I mean, Amy had done like, it was literally like where you would cut and paste graphic design. And, you know, like there was no Photoshop really back then. So it was a cut and paste thing. And we printed this one box of shirts with these old cowgirls, vintage cowgirls, because we thought it was so powerful and this strong women and this whole like symbolic of sisterhood and strength and all that. And I get teary and put this old frame around it. And that was where the quote, well, behave women rarely make history came from. Or we put it on that shirt because that had always been in Amy's cubicle when she worked in Austin.

15:15Jolie Sikes:And anyway, so women went crazy and they're like throwing their shirt out. We didn't even get to set the shirts up. It was just for fun. We did a shirt. It wasn't supposed to be the thing. And women were like throwing the shirts out of the boxes. Amy sold the one off of her. It was all sweaty and disgusting. And they wanted that shirt. So and that's where the shirt started in the design and the powerful statements because that was a white space as well 30 years ago. So everything's just kind of evolved with no business plan. But that's led us to, and then along that path, everything else has slowly happened, like the TV show or Miranda Lambert's wedding or Darks Bentley's Airstream.

15:52Jolie Sikes:Or, I mean, everything we've done is just kind of, I've always say it pops up like Hitchhikers on the Road and we kind of pick it up and then we just see what happens.

16:00Carson Kressley:Don't do that in real life. Don't try this at home. Yeah. Yeah. So and now you have a global brand. You have an amazing store in Round Top, Texas. And tell people what you all do. I mean, you have apparel, you have antiques, you have bedding, you have it's you've created a lifestyle brand kind of around the cowgirl aesthetic, but also like a vintage cowgirl, I guess.

16:27Amie Sikes:So, I mean, like Jolie said, it really started with the vintage. And then because of the vintage, and we were going, doing all of these shows, all of these big flea markets in Texas, and then other shows as well. But the whole way, we were kind of like building our brands more like you would if you were a musician. So we were going to people in their cities. We were setting up these magnificent displays. We were having these parties, like our Junkarama prom that we do. We were having these parties where we invited all the women to come and dress up. And, you know, and really it was like that well-behaved women rarely make history was like our rebel cry, you know.

17:06Amie Sikes:And so I felt like we gave, you know, it was like design and some clothing, but it was really more about like, you know, female empowerment and male empowerment too, because you would not believe the amount of letters. This is once again, kind of pre-email. we would get letters from men who would say like literally looking at what y 'all have done, reading your stories, because we were getting magazine articles and stuff like that, has like inspired me to quit my job and like go pursue what I've always wanted to do with my life. And so, but because of that, because of all the vintage came up, we did the, we've done the clothing and the jewelry and the home goods.

17:49And then, you know, like people like Pottery Barn

17:51Amie Sikes:called and HGPV called. And so we started doing all that. So the brand is really multifaceted. And then, you know, because we do all the lifestyle stuff, the clothing, the decor. And then, of course, a hotel came up for sale right behind our building. So, of course, we bought that. And then, of course, it had a herd of longhorns. So, well, now we have a herd of longhorns. I mean, you know, so we just like Jolie said, the business has been dragging us behind it for a long time, and we're just doing our best to keep up.

18:18Carson Kressley:You know what? I think I'm just trying to like process this for people listening, but I think you followed your joy and your heart. And I think all of us in the creative fields are doing that. And it's not easy. Like, you know, samples get lost and you have tough business quarters and whatever. But at the end of the day, you're doing what you love. And it just, it's your passion. And it's just, it has to work because you love it so much.

18:43Jolie Sikes:And for us, the big thing for us was always, we never tried, We never looked at another model and said, oh, they're successful. Let's do that. It was just kind of stick true to what we believe or what or what we're drawn to. So we would put quotes on shirts or do something in design. It wasn't necessarily in a rule book. It was just we liked it. And our mom, to your point, Carson, she's always loved the simple things like the things that I mean, it could be a five dollar trinket and mom just loves things like that. It could be free. Free is even better. you know but um so for us like simple design i mean not that it's simple but it doesn't have to be fancy or high dollar and so we would mix like a flea market treasure um with maybe a really beautiful crystal chandelier or whatever but we it's never been about what the value of something if it if it spoke to us right or we thought it had a story to tell then we liked it and we created

19:36Carson Kressley:our story our look with that and when did you guys make it to round top and we'll get into like how fabulous Round Top is and what Round Top is and how you should do Round Top. But your headquarters are there now. How long have you been there?

19:53Amie Sikes:I think that we really, I mean, we started doing the Round Top show probably like two years into the business. And we started the business in 98. So we probably first time was here, like was the year 2000. But then we actually decided to put down roots and move here about 15, 16 years ago. I think it was 2010. Okay. Okay. So anyway, but yes, and that was a great decision. And that was kind of a spur of the minute decision because the right place came for sale at the right time and we just kind of had to fearlessly jump onto it. But yeah, Round Top's been a wonderful, was a wonderful thing for us to do.

20:34Amie Sikes:And once again, like a lot of things in this business, we follow our gut. We don't necessarily always know if we're making the right decision, but we just follow what our gut's telling us feels right, you know. So this was the right decision for our family. It was the right decision for Junk Gypsy and the right decision for our family. And those two things always go hand in hand because we always pick what's right for the family first. And then we figure we're going to figure out a way to make it right for Junk Gypsy, you know.

20:59Jolie Sikes:Well, and Round Top definitely wasn't then what it is now, the town. But we were like, we've always been drawn to this area. I mean, it's beautiful. It is the country. I mean, not during the antique show, it's just pastures of cows, you know, and Amy and I grew up in a small town. And at that point, I had a five-year-old, you had like a two-year-old, and we wanted to have our kids, ourselves, of course, but our parents back in a small town. And so we were like, this is kind of, are we crazy? We're going to move a business to a town that's population 87. And I mean, that doesn't make much sense in the business scheme of things.

21:33Jolie Sikes:But we were like, well, well, we already have online and we're doing this and that. We won't be any worse off. I don't know if that's really great business logic, but that was how we looked at it. And then I just love the fact that, and this is a true story. So it took us a few years to get the store open, but literally the first, I don't know if it was the first day or the first weekend, the store was open. The first day. The first day the store was open, Pottery Barn had no idea who we were. They had been up at Dallas Market and they drove down because they'd heard about the Round Top Antique Show.

22:02Jolie Sikes:And so we didn't have a sign or anything. but there were tons of cars pouring into our store because it's taken us a few years to get open. And I think we had a TV show at that point. And so Pottery Barn was like, this must be a really great place to eat or a really great concert. Let's turn in here. So they did. And that's how our whole Pottery Barn collaboration happened. So had we not made the choice to move to a town population 87, we might have never had our Pottery Barn collaboration, which lasted for about three years and we loved it.

22:29Carson Kressley:Again, follow your heart, follow your joy. It always works. So let's tell the listeners because Round Top, I'm smiling, as you can see, because it's one of my favorite places. And I was thinking about this like a couple of days ago, like it is my passion. Like I will walk through a flea market no matter where I am. If I'm like in the South of France, if I'm in Texas, if I'm in New Jersey, like I'm always looking for the flea market. And I grew up similarly with entrepreneur parents. My dad was a car dealer. And every time we went out to dinner on a Friday or Saturday night in Allentown, Pennsylvania, we would troll through car lots to see what their inventory was because that was his passion.

23:10Carson Kressley:I was in the back like, can we just get to Arby's? And now I'm that person, but with flea markets, I'll be like, hold on we have to pull over uh we have to go see this like you know terrible flea market great flea market but um i digress but round top is my happy place and it's like feels like christmas morning every time i go there um and i didn't maybe about 10 years ago i didn't even know about and i feel like a lot of even design people like i was just in um keswick virginia fabulous house for a fabulous family's Christmas party. And their designer was there and they had some beautiful antiques.

23:52Carson Kressley:I said, where did you source these? He's like, Charlottesville. I said, have you been to Round Top? He was like, what is Round Top? I had to put my two martinis down and say, I'm going to take you, my child. This is very important. I'm going to take you. But Round Top, for those who don't know, is a teeny tiny town, population 87, in, I guess I would say, east-central Texas, halfway between Houston and Austin. And it's just, you know, gently rolling kind of flat meadows with lots of longhorn cattle. When you go for the spring show in March, the blue bonnets are coming up. And it's literally a series of probably thousands of acres of farms that I think, how old is the show?

24:38Carson Kressley:Like maybe 30 years, like 30 years ago, someone took their empty barn and said, let's have an antique show in here. And then the neighbors did that. And then the neighbors did that. And now there are literally thousands of vendors. There's a show in March. There's a show in October. It's several weeks long. Different venues open up at staggered dates. So there's always something new happening. And you can find a container railroad car full of chandeliers from Belgium. You can find rusty chickens and cactuses. You can find things from Europe, things from Asia, beautiful rugs. It absolutely has everything.

25:18Carson Kressley:In the last, I would say, five or six years, vintage apparel has become so popular. Western apparel is so popular. So you can get beautiful handcrafted cowboy boots, cowboy hats. There was a Balenciaga pop-up, which I have six feelings about. I'm just like, wait a minute. That's crazy, kids. But there is something for everyone. It is a mecca for designers. I went with a group of designers. I went with Martin Lawrence Ballard. I went with a whole group of people that were wonderful. And they bring celebrities there. And they shop for really personality pieces. I feel like I'm running on and on about how great it is.

26:01Carson Kressley:But that's kind of what Round Top is. And since you guys are experts and lived there for so long, just tell us how we should do Round Top. Tell people what they can find there and maybe just go on about the magic of these discoveries that you make there and how they can fit into a beautiful design scheme for just about everybody.

26:21Amie Sikes:We all have that dream trip we've been wishing we could go on.

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26:49Amie Sikes:Go to your happy price. Priceline. Well, first, I need to tell you how we found Round Top. So, of course, we're from Texas, but we had never been. and we started this business and we started doing Canton, which is another large flea market. But somebody walked into our booth and said, you have to do Round Top. The way y 'all do your displays, the way you set up, like you have to do it. So I got in our old farm truck and we rented a Penske and we had a Penske and we had the old farm truck hooked up to a flatbed trailer. and Round Top has always been from the very beginning. It was actually started by a lady who wanted to do a high-end antique show and it was a playground of the Houston elite really is what it was in the beginning and eccentrics.

27:45Amie Sikes:And so like in the early days this cowboy in town imported a red Rolls Royce to haul all the women. This is in the late 60s to haul the women around town to different cow pastures in a red Rolls Royce. So this town has always been a mixed bag of what you think it is, you know, because it's cowboys, it's denim and diamonds, it's minks and manure, it's junk, and it's Balenciaga. And, you know, it's like high-level French antiques, and then literally like an old rusty, like you said, like a chicken coop or whatever. But the first time we came, I will never forget because we were, and this would have been in the year 2000, rolling into town in this old Dodge truck with a flatbed with a bunch of rusty old crap back there, seriously, like nothing, no fine antiques.

28:38Amie Sikes:and we pulled in at sunset. And I swear to you, it was one of those moments where I knew that I would never do anything other than this with my life. Because we pulled in, the blue bonnets were blooming, the sun was setting, the rolling hills, vintage as far as you could see, huge circus tents. And I just remember just starting to like just shake, you know, because I was just the excitement of it. And then we started unloading and you start meeting the vendors and you meet the people and you realize that all these people chose this life. They chose to be junk dealers or antique dealers. And I mean, it was literally, I was like, I felt guilty because my life was so good.

29:23Amie Sikes:And I have all these friends who were like lawyers and doctors, you know, and but Round Top is magic. It really is. And it's not just because of the stuff that gets sold here, but it's because of the types of people that meet up here. It is a mishmash of cultures, of ages, of different styles. But I feel like it just puts, it's like this wonderful designer vintage stew, you know? It's a cornucopia.

29:54Jolie Sikes:It's a cornucopia, yeah. It's a cornucopia. But what we love is that what we learned to really love in the beginning was not just the junk, which we've always loved the junk, was like Amy said, though, all the vendors were so, everybody's so different and diverse and everybody's backgrounds. I mean, some were former, like one of our good friends was a dentist, you know, in Houston. And then ones, you know, there could be, I mean, their past are... And Jolie, the other one's an ex-con. I mean, you know... Yeah, I was going to say that, yes. And I mean, their past are so colorful and so rich, and some could be professors or whatever it is, but then they've chosen to come do this because they love it.

30:30Jolie Sikes:And everybody specialized. And it's interesting because everybody would specialize in different things and you would know each one's look and you'd be like, oh, you know, Joe Pete, this is so your look. You need to go look at so-and-so booth, you know, and things would just kind of evolve. And then and then we started learning during the show itself, all the shoppers are so happy as well. So the shoppers are here. They're happy. The vendors are happy. And it was just such a happy place to us and so inspirational because the creativity and the knowledge, you know, A lot of places when you work somewhere, maybe everybody's an accountant or everybody's a lawyer or whatever.

31:02Jolie Sikes:But here, everybody's something different and everybody has different interesting stories to share.

31:08Carson Kressley:I love that. Totally sums it up. It's magic. It's a it's a theme park of antique and vintage wonders and the best people you will ever run into. Now, it can be overwhelming. And I went as a newbie, I think, on my own. And like I stayed at the wrong place and it was like 500 degrees. and I had the wrong shoes and I'd have a wagon and I was like, I was in this water and like I was doing everything wrong. And now that I've been here for about 10 years, I feel like I'm a pro, but how would you, if people want to come to Round Top, they're going to come see your store, Junk Gypsy. Where do they fly in?

31:47Carson Kressley:What's kind of your game plan to survive this really wonderful, but I will be honest, It's a very overwhelming antique and flea market palooza that is round top.

31:59Jolie Sikes:It is very overwhelming. Our favorite, just to your airport, we'll start at the part at the beginning. Our favorite airport is Austin Airport. We love it. There's often live music. All of the restaurants in there are all Austin-based restaurants. You're going to get a real flavor, literally and figuratively, for all of Texas and Austin and Central Texas in particular when you fly into Austin. And it's only 70 miles from here. and you never get into Austin. You land and then you just kind of hit the country roads and then you're here in 70 miles. So that's where we fly in and out of Austin. And you have to rent a car.

32:33Jolie Sikes:Wherever we go.

32:33Carson Kressley:Yeah.

32:34Jolie Sikes:Yeah, you'll have to rent a car. You have to rent a car.

32:36Carson Kressley:You rent a car. And that drive, 70 miles sounds daunting, but I usually do it when I'm filming a barbecue brawl. So I'm living in Austin at that time. And I will go out multiple days because things are always changing. Different farms are opening up their fields. And the 70-mile drive is delightful. There is a Buc-ee's about halfway. Oh, God, I don't know what. Bastrop or something. Bastrop. Bastrop, Texas. And you must go to Buc-ee's. It is a delight and an experience. I recently went to one in Florida, and I was so delighted by the shopping experience that when I came out, after I filled my car with gas, I left with the gas nozzle in my car.

33:19Carson Kressley:You drove off? I did. gas thing still in the car. And as I pulled out, I heard a clunk, clunk, clunk. And I was like, oh, I was having my armadillo nuggets. And I thought, what was that? They have a wonderful safety system there. And it disconnected. There was no trauma, no problem. It did not turn into a scene from Zoolander. And I can't recommend bunkeys enough. They're absolute delights. I pulled over. I was like, do I need to stop? Did I just commit a felony? And someone came and like reattached it. And I was like, thank you. goodbye. So again, I digress. I'm so ADD, but you're going to drive that 70 mile drive.

33:58Carson Kressley:It's delightful. It's scenic. It's picturesque. There's a water parker when you get to the exit and then you make it into Round Top. What's next?

34:06Amie Sikes:So of course, you know, we would say make Junk Gypsy your first stop. But really, it depends on what you want to hit. If you want to get like in the fields and get like good deals and get old junk and, you know, farmhouse funds and you know, all that, then there's the fields. If you want to get the high end, you want designer, you want, you know, French wardrobes that are, you know,$50 ,000. I mean, you want that kind of, there's a different place for that. So it's good to kind of have done some research up front and figure out what you want to hit the most. But then again, remember, you might always find that $50 ,000 French wardrobe in the fields for, you know,$5 ,000 before it goes to there, you know.

34:53Amie Sikes:So really the thing is to have a few days if you can. And of course, some of our favorite fields are excess. I'm sure you've shopped that, Carson. Excess is wonderful.

35:06Carson Kressley:Excess is kind of an outdoor, like a big giant pole barn. And people bring things from like India and Belgium, it's very eclectic of treasures from all over the world. A little quirkier. Yeah.

35:19Amie Sikes:Yes. And like, so we buy a lot of like weird stuff. Like, like we've bought, like one of the things we've, I mean, things we bought over the years here, we bought like a 12 foot tall fiberglass elephant with, it had a fountain coming out of his, you know, out of his trunk. We buy circus items. We buy, I mean, we buy - Fortune teller machines. Fortune teller machines. So most of that kind of stuff we do find out in the fields or like at Excess. But then, you know, there's the higher end places like Blue Hills, Marburger, Market Hill, all of those. And they're all fantastic, really.

35:55Carson Kressley:Marburger is kind of, you know, that's the creme de la creme. I think the most curated, most beautiful vendors go to Marburger. It's very organized. But you pay the price for that. They've done the curated, beautiful and lovely, but it's more expensive. Then the fields, to your point, I saw a wrought iron bed there. It was white. It was crumbly. It had two saddlebred horses welded onto the top of it. I was like, I must have this bed. it was$25 or$50. No way. So there's the whole gamut. And yes, you can go online, you can research the different vendors. I love a place called The Arbors. They have clothing, they have furniture, they have a lady that makes jackets out of old Hermes blankets.

36:40Carson Kressley:They have a cowboy hat bar. They have a band, they have a bar. They were having a majung tournament when I was there. Like this one, it couldn't get any cooler. What is the name of that vintage place that's mostly clothing? And it's called like the horseshoe, I think. Oh, yes. So the horseshoe is a new field.

37:00Amie Sikes:That's a new field. And it is absolutely fantastic. But you know what, Carson? There's something you've never done when you've come to Round Top. And you know what that is?

37:09Carson Kressley:Nude skydiving.

37:14Amie Sikes:That too, hopefully. But I haven't done that. But what else? You've never been to our prom. He's actually done that.

37:21Carson Kressley:I have not been to the prom. Guys, they do a prom every year. Is it only at the fall show or do you do it spring and fall?

37:27Jolie Sikes:It's at both.

37:28Carson Kressley:Okay. It's at both. And talk about prom. So our Junkarama prom just kind of accidentally started, oh my gosh, 22 years ago, 21 years ago.

37:38Jolie Sikes:And it's when we used to sit up out in the fields before we lived here. We had a tent. And we just kind of kept seeing all these old prom dresses and people's booths for like five bucks and people still didn't want them. and it was just there was something kind of we kind of humanized the dresses and we were like we feel so sorry for them so someone said let's dress up in them and give them one last hurrah so that's what we did and about 20 customers came we served sangria we danced under the stars here at the flea on the dirt you know and it just was actually really special so then we did it again the next show so then it just became tradition and now it's grown to be I mean so now it's here at our store because we've built a real store here and it is just magical.

38:21Jolie Sikes:We have music and food and drinks and people just dance and there's it's all ages. There's like little girls and tutus spinning and it's so magical. And then we all dance or line dance or whatever it is all night long. And it is just an amazing time. There's a theme. Yeah, there's a theme every prom now. That's kind of a new thing over the past few years. And the outfits blow us away every show because they're so creative. People just go all out with their hats or their dresses, whatever it is. We've seen so much creativity at the prom and it's so fun. People of all ages just love it.

38:58Carson Kressley:So now we know how to navigate Round Top a little bit. And this podcast is called How to Decorate. So the question is, how do you find those special pieces? Do you have a list of like, oh, I'm doing this room and I need something that is going to give it some gravitas and some soul. So I want a crackly old Danish sideboard. Or how do you go about working antiques and vintage things into more contemporary environments? And how do you kind of source those pieces?

39:32Amie Sikes:So like we just did a project, a big project for Miranda Lambert. She started her own record label, Big Loud, Texas. And so we did her headquarters in Austin in this historic mansion. It's one of the first mansions in Austin. Next time you're in Austin, we have to take you.

39:49Carson Kressley:I want to go.

39:50Amie Sikes:But we, you know, we had a plan for that. We, you know, sourced almost everything from there. Now, we did order some stuff from Ballard Designs. We actually did. We ordered some light fixtures and things from Ballard, had those delivered straight to Austin. But we knew what we were searching for here at the show. We knew the top color palettes we were looking for, but it's kind of for that. Like we knew we were looking for some things that like this piece behind me, this tufted black vinyl. We knew we wanted some stuff like that that felt kind of like a record label. So we kind of hit up all the usual suspects on that, like XS, the horseshoe, found some things at Market Hill.

40:31Amie Sikes:But for us, it's just about coming up with some sort of a concept. up. But then, of course, Jolie and I always say we have commitment issues and one of us more than the other. But we don't ever get so tied in to a certain look that that's never going to hold us back because we might find something that we go, oh, this one thing became the whole room for us. And we just ditch all of our plans. Like, and we kind of did that, Jolie, with the bar, you know, that was a completely different direction. And then we decided to do that rose wallpaper and all that, you know. We definitely did.

41:04Jolie Sikes:We did art for the spring show that said, I never promised you a rose garden. And then that accidentally inspired the entire bar. So we called the bar the Rose Garden and did giant rose wallpaper and black walls. And it's just super vibey.

41:20Amie Sikes:And this was at Miranda's. And we had like a neon artist do a giant pink rose to go on the wall. But then we sourced like a vintage back bar from here during the antique show at Old World Antiques. And anyway, you know, so for us, it's a mishmash of the new and the old. We always combine both of those. We don't ever just get, you know, so tied into one certain look that that's what we have to do.

41:44Carson Kressley:And I think the overall, when I tell people, and some people are really intimidated by antiques or by vintage. And I just say, you know, listen, they're like the salt and pepper to your look. They're going to bring that that flair. I personally like new upholstery. If I'm getting sofas and occasional chairs, I like fresh and new for that. But then those accent pieces, the artwork, of course, or a beautiful buffet, I like those pieces because that gives the room a little bit of gravity and soul. And I don't want an antique environment to look like I'm in a museum, whether it's a free house. Some people do that and everything is from that era.

42:24Carson Kressley:I don't want that I just, I love a layered and a look that looks like somebody lived there for a long time and went collecting and has two new sofas, but they have their grandmother's, you know, China in a beautiful Welsh China cupboard in the background. So I think it's about that mix that makes it so successful. And my number one tip for anybody going to flea markets and antique places, that piece is going to call to you. It's going to say, I must go home with you. And I think when you find that piece that calls to you, it's going to work no matter where, no matter where you live or what your aesthetic is, because if you love it, it's going to work.

43:05Amie Sikes:Right. You know, I always, I'm talking about that, about things that have a soul and they have a story and all of that. Like, you know, I hear people all the time say, oh, this estate sale and it was so sad because they were selling all of her whole, this lady's whole collection of whatever it is. And I'm like, you know, I don't, after, after 28 years in the antique business, I don't really look at it that way because I feel like there's so many things that I've gotten from estate sales or flea markets that are some of my most cherished possessions. Whereas maybe that family, maybe her descendants would have thrown it in the trash.

43:38Amie Sikes:But then to me, it's like gold, you know? So I just think that sometimes these pieces are just, they're supposed to be with certain people at certain times and maybe we're just kind of ushering them through this world. I don't think that I think they do have a soul and a story. And and and we definitely feel that. I mean, there's things that I'm just like, oh, I could never like I found this vintage seashell collection that this lady had kept. And it's even like typed on the like type little labels on the bottles. And then inside the seashells, she'd handwritten like the genus and the species.

44:10Amie Sikes:And like, you know, it's like it's beautiful, you know, so I've just got it in one of my cupboards at my house.

44:15Carson Kressley:How lovely.

44:16Jolie Sikes:And that's the thing with antiques is and flea market stuff. I don't always everything we find isn't always I don't think an antique is just good old stuff. But it's just stuff that maybe people aren't going to. It's an art. It's a lost art, really. I mean, not many women are quilting anymore, you know, or doing the seashell collection. And we just don't. I mean, I don't quilt. So, I mean, and our mom doesn't quilt. It's just something that they're going to, they're dinosaurs, really. So when you find cool old pieces like that, I think it's something really special. And like Amy's seashell thing, I have a locket I just found, maybe the last show.

44:50Jolie Sikes:It's just a little, you know, gold locket. I was digging through all this guy's lockets. He had a million. And it had the Navy emblem on the front, whatever. And when you open it, the pictures were still in there. And I was like, this is so amazing. So I wear it because I just think it's so special. You know, like Amy said, I appreciate it.

45:09Carson Kressley:I love it. One thing that I always, anything like equestrian, if I hit a flea market or an antique show, it's going to stop me in my tracks. And a couple of weeks ago, I just found a box of like old pictures and ribbons from somebody like Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the Lancaster horse show from 1937 and pictures of the horses and notes on the back. Like Tommy showed my mare and she was so bad. But from like the 20s and 30s. I'm like, who's going to be the same land? seeing where they lived and where their beautiful home was. And I totally went down the rabbit hole, but that's, that's like a, if you really love it, that's like an extra benefit of the soul and the joy and the story behind an item.

45:49Carson Kressley:It looks great in your home. It's just there, there, there, you get a double whammy of joy, which I love. So if you had tips for novice people that are just going out to source antiques, how would you demystify it for them?

46:08Jolie Sikes:I have one quick tip that this might be talking about. I think you may just be speaking about antiques, but I want to circle back to the Round Top show real quick. I know you kind of mentioned it, but the dates are so confusing to everyone. And there is a website that is, Amy, it's the Big Red Barns website, which they're only open four or five days. But the URL is kind of confusing. It's called the Round Top Antique Show, I think. so everybody googles round top antique show and they think that's the only date to the show because there's no governing body of this show but the show is actually two if not three weeks long like you inferred Carson but I think that really confuses everybody because I have people text me every show and say I see the show is and they'll list those it's a four or five days Amy yeah it's like four days they'll list those four days I'm like no it's it's for actually this time.

47:01Amie Sikes:Jolie, the Junk Gypsy, we are the freelance Chamber of Commerce for the town. For the antique show. We feel more phone calls at Junk Gypsy than the Chamber of Commerce does, I promised you. Call us. We will help you. I mean, it is confusing. We can help you navigate the wild, weird world of Round Top Antiques. But basically, it goes over three weekends. and any time during that time is good. Like we were talking about Marburger, if you want to hit those specific shows, you have to come when they're specifically open. But the fields and most of the shows are open basically for three weeks.

47:39Carson Kressley:So just call us. It's in March and October. And you're right, the Round Top Texas Antiques.com would seem like the official site for the whole fair. It is not. It's kind of one of the people that started the fair at the Big Red Barn. those are like four days but there's a month worth of other vendors so yes some show can run for a couple days so you have to you know see what shows you want to go to and then back into those dates or just come and enjoy whatever's open on your show up anytime that's what i just come and hang

48:16Amie Sikes:out if you go if you come not during show times how is it is it well like what else is there to

48:24Jolie Sikes:see you definitely are open still you don't want to come on a monday tuesday or wednesday um because most the town is it is mayberry and it is closed but um we're open we're open yeah we're open seven days a week and we would love to have you any day but um if you're coming on weekend i mean the town is still pretty i mean there's kind of really great energy in the town which you know is literally one square um almost every weekend there's always something going on whether like we have the Antique Show coming up, which is nothing like the spring and fall, but it's a medium-level antique show. It's definitely growing.

48:57Jolie Sikes:And there's, you know, Chili Fest, and there's Wine Fest, and I mean, there's always Film Fest. They have a Film Fest at the fall, yeah. Right. There's always something going on, it seems, in the town. So it's always good. I always help people come to Round Top during the antique show and not during the antique show because it's a whole different feel when the 100 ,000 people aren't here. I mean, you feel like you are in Mayberry or you're like on a movie set in our little square. It's so cute, like in a little episode of Hope Floats. So we like people to try to visit both experiences because it's really cool.

49:30Yeah.

49:31Carson Kressley:And the little town also has, you know, they have cute restaurants. They have Armando's is a famous Houston Mexican outpost. They have their version in Round Top and they've opened a couple of different places. Oh, lodging. That's always people are just like, oh, do I have to go back and forth? It is tricky to stay in and around actual Round Top proper. How do people navigate that?

49:57Amie Sikes:So conveniently, we have a hotel here on the property. We have the Wonder Inn. But all the lodging in Round Top, for the most part, is really good. because you have to think all everyone who has lodging here lives in a town where the biggest antique show in the world is twice a year so the lodging is really spectacular um yesterday we were actually over at the frenchy scouting for a photo shoot we're doing the frenchy is amazing and beautiful um the round top inn uh the flop house which is vintage containers um the farmstead there's just there's several that are on that on that note i was gonna say we really do encourage people to stay in the Round Top,

50:41Jolie Sikes:Round Top Fayetteville, wherever. Stay close to the antique show because if you're driving, you know, 30, 40 miles, whatever, back to Austin, you're missing one of the most fun parts of the antique show, which is the evenings. The evenings are so magical here. It's really what we fell in love with was how amazing the flea market, we used to call them flea market nights, are. So I really, if you can stay as close as you can so you can experience the evenings and you have to stay two or three nights to actually experience the antique show.

51:10Carson Kressley:And when you're saying the evenings, and I know, but tell people, like they have like brisket barbecues and line dancing and dance halls and your prom.

51:19Amie Sikes:How do you find the best? Yeah, how do we know where to go? Your social calendar while in Round Top is very, very full. You have to pick what you want to do because there's like feasts and fields. Like there'll be like cow pastures that have these pop-up dinners. And then like you could come here to Junk Gypsy and we do these dances. Like we've done a thing with Kendra Scott where we have like, we'll have a band, a girl band come in. It's all girls and they do like, you know, like old country music. Like they'll have like, they'll play the Dixie Chicks and Trisha Yearwood. And then we, you know, have a hat bar and we have roping lessons and all that.

51:54Amie Sikes:So you pick what you, you can pick your own adventure in Round Top really. And it can be bougie. It can be really bougie. Or you can do more of like the authentic kind of like Hope Floats kind of vibe, which is normally what we do more of here. Um, but there's so many different options and you just can't hit it all. And the food's amazing. There's so many great like pop-up places during the show that are doing spectacular meals. I mean, it's just...

52:21Jolie Sikes:Chef meals. We're not talking, I mean, no offense to the turkey legs out there, but we're not talking turkey legs on a stick. I mean, it is like, it's chef type meals and they're really amazing meals here everywhere. I mean, there's so many options of good food and drinks and cocktails or whatever, and then live music everywhere.

52:41Amie Sikes:Carson, have you ever had, we have one of the most famous food trucks in Round Top sets up in our front yard. And have you had the giant ding-dongs? Oh, no, you didn't.

52:54Carson Kressley:I have not.

52:57Amie Sikes:So people literally, she sells out every day. she does these homemade giant ding-dongs that'll feed like four people. And y 'all, people exit off the highway just to come get them. Amy, look at Terrence's face. She sails out every day.

53:14Carson Kressley:Well, you have it here, everybody.

53:20Amie Sikes:If for nothing else, we have a reason to visit right there. We'll never be invited back to Ballard's podcast, Ballard Designs podcast.

53:27Carson Kressley:No, no. Just make love us more. I love you more.

53:32Amie Sikes:It's a family program, people. It's a family program. It's a teaser video episode, giant ding-dong. I think it's perfect. You have to do that when you come back. You have to. How fun. All right. So the food, we talked about where to stay. Let me say, as far as where to stay, a really good resource is if you go to the Chamber of Commerce's website. they have a thing on there where you can they have a lodging request form and if you just fill out that form tell them what you're looking for how many people you have they send it out and if anybody who has availability on those days will contact you back how far out do we need to be

54:08Carson Kressley:booking lodging now like early like six months yeah very early we're probably already booked

54:17Jolie Sikes:for the spring show if i had to i mean there'll be there'll be some some days open for us during the spring show. It depended on the day. Like early, like super early or super late, which is always fine too, you know. Yeah. But I mean, you could still definitely get lodging in Round Top, but I would be working on it, you know, January right now for March. Okay. So three months would be good. I was thinking maybe it's like six, nine months or a year. Well, some places it is, you know, we're already booked. We're booked for prom probably already for next fall. But we would definitely have availability other times of the show.

54:46Carson Kressley:And here's a fun newsflash. It's not set in stone yet, but I'm working with a company to do a curated trip to Round Top that I'm going to host. Oh, fun. People help people handle their lodging, handle their flights, have a bus that will drive around and take them to the different venues. So that's coming in October for the October show. And it's our big round-tump experience extravaganza. So you can follow my social media and my Instagram, get more details as we get closer. But March is right around the corner. That's a great one to check out in October also. So I kind of like the spring dates better because it's a tad bit cooler.

55:31Amie Sikes:Yes, that's the good thing about the spring.

55:33Carson Kressley:And the blue bonnets are coming up. You're just like, you're coming out of that winter funk. You're at this beautiful place. Flowers are blooming and cattle are grazing and you're finding, you know, your vintage dreams are coming true. But October is also lovely. In October, one thing they do, they have some Christmas stuff. Like Market Hill is a big, giant location. this year for the first time, I believe, they had a giant tent just for Christmas. Probably a football field, like everything very big.

56:04Amie Sikes:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we're the biggest small town you'll ever come to. You know, I mean, it's everything here, all the barns, all the fields. You cannot even imagine how much stuff is here during the antique show. I mean, you do have to just come to believe it, really.

56:22Carson Kressley:Yeah. Yeah. It must be. It must be seen. When you want your spring break to feel like.

56:30Jolie Sikes:And your kids pool day to feel like.

56:34Amie Sikes:And your hotel bed to feel like. Oh, and room service to feel like. Because at Hilton, hospitality feels like.

56:45Carson Kressley:Your cabana's ready. Would you like fresh towels?

56:47Jolie Sikes:It matters where you stay. Book now at Hilton.com. Hilton for this day. And the round top fashion is a thing all of its own. Oh, Lord. I thought we were missing that aspect. What should we wear? Well, so, I mean, you're in Texas. So cowgirl boots are a must and a cowgirl hat for the sun. We usually wear bandanas like Amy has one on her neck. We don't always shop in boots all day. I mean, we have work boots that we might wear all day, but you do need to be comfortable because let's be real, you are shopping. And this is like, this is not always perfect. You're not at the mall. You're like on gravel and caliche rock and, you know, dirt and things like that.

57:37Jolie Sikes:So I bring, we would suggest boots and good tennis shoes. And then, like he said, if it's in the fall, it's pretty warm. So you might want to dress appropriately for that, whether it's shorts or if you do skirts. But then we always wear a hat. I mean, we don't leave, we don't go anywhere without a hat on. And that's for multiple reasons. Maybe we don't want to fix our hair. I don't know. But also, sun. And it's just fun. Round top fashion is, it's really fun. I mean, it's kind of a genre all its own. It sounds like we could buy a hat, though, if we forget it. Oh, absolutely.

58:11Carson Kressley:There are hats everywhere. I just, I got the most beautiful, you know, Shantung Panama Stetson something or other when I was there last time. I went and fall and I wore suede, like, floppy Stetson work boots. I wore white shorts and a white cotton cowboy shirt. And I had some turquoise jewelry. And I had a bandana wrapped around my arm in case I needed to dab the sweat. and I have a cowboy hat. How filthy?

58:40Amie Sikes:Didn't you get filthy by the end of the day in those white shorts?

58:43Carson Kressley:No? It looks great. White on white. It looks great. It's good to know. And it's so fun buying clothes there and finding vintage fashion. The biggest trend I would say is that, and you guys have probably seen it and certainly we've seen it at Round Top, is anything quilted, like jackets made out of old quilts and dusters to the floor made out of old quilts. and you will, if you love fashion, doesn't matter what kind of fashion, you will see a fashion show in Round Top because it's part of the gig. It's like wearing your, you know, your look. Yeah.

59:21Amie Sikes:Round Top fashion. I think there's people here that are, that you're here to shop and they have on tennis shoes and comfortable clothes or whatever, but then there's people and we love these girls and we're so happy they're all here, but there are girls who are here they are fashionistas and they are here to kind of see and be seen. They're getting the gram. And they are. And y 'all, the outfits are off the charts and they are spectacular and we love them. And so you will see, and it is like, you know, what's the thing where everybody dresses up? Is that what it's called? Cosplay. Oh, cosplay.

59:59Amie Sikes:Yeah. Like it's like cosplay, but like for cow girls, you know? And so it's like over the top, like all your jewelry, your hat with 25 different pins. I mean, some of the hats are like, what, that tall?

1:00:11Jolie Sikes:I mean, they're giant. So it's really,

1:00:15Amie Sikes:really cool to see, though. It's definitely there's it's a great place to people watch. Yes. Do they still have the lady in the square who sells kimonos? Like she was in that main

1:00:26Carson Kressley:little square there for a while i don't know that's not ring your belt she she might have

1:00:32Amie Sikes:been a pop-up but she literally was selling kimonos from japan and that was her thing and i was like i don't know i don't know and why i don't know yeah but she your point taryn that is that that's

1:00:42Carson Kressley:the magic of round top because there's people bring beautiful things of all genres like don't think just like western wearing cowboy hats like like i said it's containers from belgium and paris and Palm Beach and whatever you're into, they will have. You just have to find your people.

1:00:59Amie Sikes:And let me tell you, I have three kimonos in my closet that I wear with my Cal girl boots. So perfect. See, all the fashion. I love it.

1:01:08Carson Kressley:How about my Ballard gals? Do you have questions for Amy and Jolie that we didn't get to?

1:01:13Amie Sikes:I wanted to ask you all about your creativity because you kept, Jolie, you kept talking about your display. it to me is more like an installation. It's like an anthropology window display on steroids. They're so imaginative and creative. And I guess I'm curious, like, did that grow over time? Like, did you get more and more ambitious as y 'all did installations? And also, how do you maintain that creativity to just sort of think outside the box? Because it's such a part of y 'all's brand. Like it's reimagining the junk into something special that requires so much, you know, creative spirit. And it seems, you know, it's easy to get into a funk.

1:01:59Jolie Sikes:So I'm curious how you keep that up. It definitely got more and more ambitious. I mean, it started out small, you know, just we would just hang things or make a chandelier out of something bizarre, like a pirate ship, you know, from the flea market. And then it just got bigger and bigger. And I think Amy and I, we've always, because we don't want to grow up maybe, but we've always loved whimsy. And we've always, I mean, truly, we've always kind of refused to be adults as far as in the way we dress, the way we decorate. Because, and that's from our mom, you know, because we just think your home should be fun and your style should be fun.

1:02:33Jolie Sikes:It should reflect who you are. And we all want to be fun. So we've never taken any of that too seriously. And so if we see a 12-foot fiberglass elephant or how tall was the cowboy riding the armadillo, Amy? Like 20 foot? Yeah, yeah. 20-foot neon. Then if it makes us smile and makes us happy, then we would want it. And so we've bought the craziest, wildest things. And thankfully, most of it's worked out. Right now we have a, what, 30-foot tall hot air balloon in our store. so it's just and part of the challenge I think has always been how do we make this work how do we turn this into display but thankfully our dad has got a little bit of MacGyver in him or a whole lot of MacGyver in him he actually puts MacGyver to shame probably and so we've always figured everything out one way or another well I think that's what makes your brand so

1:03:26Carson Kressley:compelling too and being a person who worked at Ralph Lauren for almost a decade we would call that merchantainment. You want to create an environment that when you come in the store, it creates magic. And magic loosens up the purse strings too. You're just like, you get in the mood. They're not playing fun music when I'm out jean shopping at Bloomingdale's. I'm like, I can't do it. I have to have the mood. So I think that retail storytelling that you do so well. It just supports the brand and the merchandise. It just gets you into the vibe and makes you want to live that life and ultimately buy that product.

1:04:07Amie Sikes:We've had people, you know, say, are y 'all going to run out of ideas? And, you know, we, and we're like, ideas are actually our problem because there's too many. And the more you do it, the more you want to do it. It is like a drug, you know? So, and especially being in the, doing what we do and being in the vintage world and finding like these crazy circus carnival ride pieces or some insane like rock and roll concert that you've never, you know, concert poster you've never seen before. Or like, you know, like I bought a turquoise alligator guitar case recently, like a really old one. Still had the receipt in it from the 60s where the man bought it.

1:04:49Amie Sikes:But those things you'll find you're like, oh, I want to do a whole entire area around this. And I want it to be, you know, whatever, a cowgirl that ran away with a, you know, a 1960s rock and roll star, you know, to join the circus or whatever. And so next thing you know, like that painting behind Jolie's desk is going into a display in the store. And, you know, and so we love, like Jolie said, we don't take ourselves too seriously. We will never be a serious designer that you're going to see. And we all know the very serious designers that will never be us. We will never be that person. because we always want things to be fun.

1:05:25Amie Sikes:And we want kids, and kids walk into our store and are just like, ah, ah, you know. And that's, to us, that makes us so happy that you've got like a little 10-year-old girl or a 10-year-old boy that wants to spend their birthday at Jung Gypsy. And then likewise, you might have an 80-year-old that wanted to spend their birthday there too, but it's because it speaks to something innate. We're not following the normal style. and it's fun, you know.

1:05:53Carson Kressley:It's a Willy Wonka moment, you know. When you walk in your store, it's, you know, that anything is possible and it's magic and it's joy and it's smiles and it's laughter. And we need that.

1:06:04Jolie Sikes:I love that. Well, I think partly our superpower of this fantastical display is probably also our kryptonite in a way because Amy and I are like all over the place and we don't just have one style or one look. I mean, we'll have one area that's all overflowing with pink and flowers and bows and, you know, swans or whatever. And then we'll have another area that's so badass, rock star, you know, Jimi Hendrix vibes. And we just, it's commitment issues, I guess. But we just, we like something and then we're tired of it and then we change it. And then we're just kind of, we kind of like all the looks and we meld them all together.

1:06:46Carson Kressley:I do too. And it's just like, I'm going to have to open a store or like buy another house. Like I just, I love, you know, antiques and found items and new things and just any design element I love so much. Like I was watching, I just watched this movie. It was called The Housemaid with Amanda Seyfried last night.

1:07:02Jolie Sikes:Oh gosh, I'm scared to watch it. I read it. So I'm terrified to watch it. It's,

1:07:06Carson Kressley:it's scary-ish. You'll be fine. Okay. The movie's going on. It's like an eye-match. I move you on that. 100%. Look at that snake ball paper in their outer wall. Like in the theater, like what is that? Can I, shoot the screen and people with me are like, you just have a really big problem. But inspiration is everywhere. And, you know, we love so much. Sometimes you have to like edit it down to like your faves of all time, or like lucky like you and you're designing projects for Miranda Lambert and fabulous fun people that love that vibe. So I need to start doing that so I can keep buying because my house is overflowing.

1:07:48Yeah.

1:07:49Amie Sikes:Or Carson, why don't you just come put in a store in our front yard in Round Top?

1:07:52Carson Kressley:Okay. We'll do a Ballard pop-up. We'll do a pop-up. Let's do it. In October. That would be so amazing. Yeah. We'll do a collab.

1:08:00Amie Sikes:Let's do it. Okay. Y 'all put it here first.

1:08:03Carson Kressley:Yeah. I don't know if Ballard's down with it, but we just said it's happening.

1:08:06Jolie Sikes:It's happening. It's official. It's happening.

1:08:10Amie Sikes:Only if that food truck is there. Free ding-dongs all day long.

1:08:16Carson Kressley:We'll be there. Sign us up. We're there.

1:08:22Amie Sikes:I'm just blown away by the creativity and the imagination. Like I said, it's like everyone loves like an anthropology window. This is like that, but an entire store. Three-dimensional, yeah. Yeah, like it's just so – I think sometimes when I go to a flea market, I like get a little bit pigeonhole, right? Like I sometimes I'm like, how am I going to I don't necessarily see the potential. So I just am in awe of how you take a old drum and turn it into a coffee table or, you know, like it's crazy. I'm just so excited to be along for the ride for this conversation. This is just so great for Carson, for you to invite Amy and Jolie here and to facilitate this conversation.

1:09:10Amie Sikes:I mean, this has just been so fun.

1:09:11Carson Kressley:They are the experts. I love that they're, we just did an event together at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. And that's like another thing. Like if you love the Western vibe, it is such a fun thing to do. I mean, Vegas is always fun in small doses. The rodeo is really entertaining. They have this thing called Cowboy Christmas and it's at the convention center and it's thousands and thousands and thousands of square feet of Western wear, buckles, silver, horse equipment, side-by-sides, skaters, campers, duallys. I was in heaven, you know, and I'm not even that much of a cowboy as I broadcast from New York City, but that's a really fun thing to do as well.

1:09:59Carson Kressley:So go to route shop first and then go to the rodeo in Vegas and shop Cowboy Christmas.

1:10:06Amie Sikes:So we had a very good time with Carson in Vegas. He graciously agreed to host our, we did a fashion show with Radio Quincy.

1:10:16Carson Kressley:I begged them to host it. Like I saw it hosting and I was like, I think I should be hosting this. And thank you for making it happen.

1:10:24Amie Sikes:And it was so much fun. But, you know, it's funny because people will say, okay, so is Carson really as great in real life as he seems like he is? And we're like, he's better. No, truly, you're sorry. It's true. And, you know, good things happen to good people. We firmly believe that. And so anyway, we're just so happy that we've stayed in touch all these years and are back in touch even more now because we just saw you this last week in Dallas.

1:10:54Carson Kressley:I know. I know. You can't get rid of me. I'll be moving into the inn very soon.

1:10:58Jolie Sikes:Please. Can't wait. We'll put you to work. You'll be feeding the longhorns.

1:11:04Carson Kressley:I know my way around some cattle. Don't you worry.

1:11:07Amie Sikes:That's true. Hey, and a lot of y 'all don't know this, but Carson is a cowboy. I mean, you're an equestrian. You were raised on a farm. I have. Like, how many horses do you have right now?

1:11:20Carson Kressley:I don't really know officially. I think we have 27 on the farm, but they're not definitely not all mine. But then babies come and I'm like, oh, do I own that one? Okay. Yeah, I love, you know, a country lifestyle is definitely in my wheelhouse. I have a farm and I do love that world. And I think, you know, antiques and vintage things fit perfectly into that. So it's all just very authentic for me.

1:11:52Amie Sikes:Amy and Julie, could y 'all tell everyone where they can find you, follow you and see your work?

1:11:56Jolie Sikes:Okay, so our Instagram is Junk Gypsy. Pinterest is JG Co. I think it's JG Co. Right. Website is shopjg.com.

1:12:07Amie Sikes:And also you can find, we do have a collection with Buc-ee's. So when Carson goes to Buc-ee's and pulls the gas can over, the gas tank over, you can go in and get your beaver nuggets.

1:12:19Carson Kressley:Right. Yeah, that's what they're called. Beaver nuggets, not armadillo nugget.

1:12:23Amie Sikes:And beaver armadillo, who's counting. And you can shop your Junk Gypsy collection there. And they should come to your store

1:12:30Carson Kressley:in Round Top. And come to our store. It doesn't happen during the show. Like if you're anywhere near Austin or Houston, it's a beautiful drive out there. Your store is open all the time. Yes. And there's...

1:12:43Amie Sikes:We also have a store in Wimberley as well.

1:12:45Carson Kressley:Oh, and that's closer to Austin.

1:12:47Amie Sikes:It's closer, but that's much smaller than the store here. But we do have like a little outpost in Wimberley. So that's much smaller.

1:12:54Carson Kressley:That's wine country, Texas wine country. Yeah. Kind of the rolling hills south of... Austin, there's a great outlet mall out there too in San Marco.

1:13:05Amie Sikes:It's true, there is.

1:13:06Carson Kressley:If you need a little Versace or Gucci in your life, you can pop it there.

1:13:11Jolie Sikes:You should just be the Texas tourism councilman. For real. I mean...

1:13:15Carson Kressley:I do help Texas. I do. I know.

1:13:18Amie Sikes:When are you going to buy a house here? We need you to have a... Round Top Ambassador. We need to make it official. I'm sure it pays a lot. Listen, Jolie and I at our houses, we have almost 80 acres. and you could just put a house beside Jolie and I.

1:13:32Carson Kressley:I'll put an Airstream. That's really fun. I love it.

1:13:35Amie Sikes:Well, and I have one here that we're not using, so we'll just put it beside my house.

1:13:38Carson Kressley:And we'll do one of those galvanized aluminum paddle watering trough bathtubs, like in the opening of the fall guy.

1:13:46Amie Sikes:And it has one of those in it. That's with the bathtub.

1:13:51Carson Kressley:I'm moving.

1:13:52Jolie Sikes:What else do you need, Carson? I think we're good. Just send it in your rider. We'll handle it.

1:13:58Amie Sikes:And I've got two broken down horses right there in the pasture as well. Oh, Lord, Amy. You might have to bring some better horses, but...

1:14:06Carson Kressley:We'll make it work. Okay. We'll make it work. Thought Sweetgreen was just salads? Think again. There's a new way to do Sweetgreen. Wrapped and ready. These handheld wraps pack bold flavor and 40 plus grams of protein into something hearty, satisfying, and built for life on the go. From craveable sauces to satisfying textures. They're designed to keep you going without slowing you down. So put that fork down. Try the new wraps today in app or at order.sweetgreen.com. Available at participating locations only. Well, that's the show, everybody. I want to say a huge thank you to the Junk Gypsies, Amy and Jolie, for joining us today.

1:14:47Carson Kressley:And I'll be joining you very, very soon in Round Top. Please check it out, everybody. If you were inspired by anything we talked about today, literally anything at all, You have to check out my exclusive new collection only with Ballard Designs. We've put links to all my favorite pieces right in the show notes. So go ahead and click away. I'll be back with the mini series on the How to Decorate podcast next week with a very special guest and special friend of mine, Mr. Bobby Flay. It's going to be delish.

1:15:19Amie Sikes:And that's our show. You can find all of the show notes on our blog, howtodecorate.com slash podcast. To send in a decorating dilemma, email your questions to podcast at BallardDesigns.net so we can help you with your space. And of course, be sure to follow us on social media at Ballard Designs. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. And please leave us a review. We'd love to hear your feedback. Until next time, happy decorating!