A Magical Season at the Holiday Shoppe: 2024 Recap
January 29, 2025
What an incredible season we’ve had at the SG Christmas Tree and Holiday Shoppe! Even with Thanksgiving landing a bit later this year (making our season shorter than usual), you all showed up in full force – and boy, did we have some fun!
Santa’s Special Visit
Would you believe Santa found time in his busy schedule to visit us again? Between all the excited kids running around, and Lilly and Colby following right behind them, the shop was filled with pure holiday magic. Watching your faces light up when you spotted Santa made all of us smile – though I think Lilly and Colby might have been just as excited as the kids to see him! Santa tells me our shop is one of his favorite stops.
Decking the Halls: Trees, Wreaths & More
Talk about a record-breaking year – we sold out of nearly 500 Christmas trees! The quality of the trees was exceptional this year, and the shorter season worked out perfectly for keeping them fresh through Christmas and even into January. Between the trees, wreaths, garland, and décor, the shop was bursting with yuletide charm.
Workshop Wonderland
The workshop tent was absolutely hopping this year! We tripled the number of workshops between pre-scheduled and private events. The creativity and generosity of this community knows no bounds. Here are a few workshop highlights that made our hearts grow three sizes:
- The creative “Wrap and Yap” group who turned present-wrapping into a party complete with cocktail and appetizers
- We were extremely honored to host an arrangement party for The Foster Box, a local charity which helps support foster families. Attendees donated PJs to help kids be warm and cozy the night before Christmas and then had fun making beautiful arrangements.
- Our pre-Thanksgiving arrangement workshop was a big hit again this year – no surprise there! Creating different arrangements is like painting with nature’s palette, and each season gives us such wonderful colors to play with. For Thanksgiving, we swim around in those cozy autumn shades – rich oranges, deep reds, and warm yellows. Then we have fun tucking in organic touches, like dried orange rounds, lotus pods and fragrant cinnamon sticks for that extra special touch.
- Then, we switch gears completely for Christmas – bring on the bright red berries and all that sparkly silver and gold!
And yes, you can absolutely bring food and drinks to our workshops – makes it feel more like a party, doesn’t it?
Making Memories
Someone called us a “Hallmark movie scene” this year – now that’s something to smile about! Looking around at all the seasonal wonder happening here, we couldn’t help but agree.
- Families kept coming back throughout the season, each visit bringing new discoveries and traditions. We’d see them one weekend picking out their perfect tree, then spot them again a week later, cozied up by the fire making s’mores and sipping hot chocolate.
- One of the moments that made us all chuckle, was a mom who came in to pay for her tree, telling us how her son wanted to make sure they visited the Holiday Shoppe this year. Then this big football player, home from college, walks up with the biggest smile on his face and s’mores stick in hand. He wasn’t the little boy we expected, but it’s clear he loves the holidays just as much as when he was little.
- That’s what makes this place so special – watching grandparents sharing stories with their grandkids while picking out wreaths, seeing moms and daughters creating new traditions at our workshops, and meeting families who tell us that finding their tree at Samantha’s Gardens is now their favorite part of the holiday season.
- Some of you have been coming here for years, while others just discovered us – but you all help create that wonderful holiday spirit that makes the Shoppe feel like a second home.
Dear Santa…
The Letters to Santa this year were a hoot! While most kids stuck to toys and pets, we got quite a kick out of some of the grown-up requests – including someone asking for a Maserati! And to whoever wrote asking to work at Samantha’s Gardens – well, anything’s possible, right?
Looking Ahead
The Holiday Shoppe is a lot of work for our team, but sharing in your enthusiasm and joy makes all the hard work worthwhile. Whether you were picking out the perfect tree, crafting at a workshop, or just warming up by the fire with some s’mores, you made this season truly magical.
Keep those suggestions coming – we love hearing your ideas for making the Shoppe even better. And please, bring your friends and family next year. There’s always room for more around our fire pit!
All our love,
The SG Crew
