Fall of 2021 brought the return of our Unglued Fall Retreat: A cozy, crafty, lumberjacky retreat your crunchy leaf loving heart desires.
Hosted at the gorgeous and fall-time-perfection of Crooked Lane Farm in Colfax, ND.
And OH MY GOURD in typical Unglued event fashion, the morning weather could be defined as freeze-your-buns-off level cold and so once again, our event attendees proved to be just the most baller people in all the land dressing in a crazy amount of layers and ready for one helluva spicy, pumpkin-infused beaut of a day regardless of seeing their breath fog up the world in front of them.
Attendees arrived just after autumn's sunrise to check in with our Unglued crew to show vaccination cards, PCR test, or rapid test with our certified temporary Covid testing lab. You know, the typical things a part of hosting an event in 2021. So fun. But it is what allows this crafty fun to continue rollin' and so we are here for it!
Attendees arrived bundled up and kicked things off with pumpkin spice lattes from Thunder Coffee, caramel rolls from Sandy's Donuts, and got spicy with some mini mimosas and speed mingle hangs - with bonus questions from Sara.
Then Fall Retreat emcees in all their cozy wonder introduced the day complete with lumberjack moves to get people warmed up with wood working and twerking action.
And Fall Retreat crafting-that-turtleneck off began with Workshop Session 1! Workshops were held all around Crooked Lane Farm from the gorgeous upstairs of the 1943 barn to the Farmhouse, Pole Barn, and bonus areas like the cozy loft.
Taught by insanely talented local makers, the variety was on point for diving into the pile of 36 different workshops in 3 sessions. Picture rolling beeswax candles to wood burning to Indigenous fry bread tacos to chunky fall vibes abstract painting and jumping on the hayride to the nearby vineyard for a wine tasting.
Then your comfort foods lunch time included soups by Chef Carrie Feigum, BUNS, and apple pie bars by Kristina.
AND OUR WHIP CREAM & PUMPKIN SPICE BOSS LINDSEY.
And your fall fancy lunch hour included bingo with Max and Erica, checking out spooky art being created by local artist Punchgut, and Justin serving you Drekker Beer (of which Punchgut designed the can labels for! so much full circle this fine fall time).
Workshop Session 2 kicked off with a new variety of workshops including pizza cookie decorating! Yes, that's a thing and yes, it was adorable:
Session 2 also included things like quilled pumpkin earrings, fall wreaths, fire roasted salsa, macrame mirrors, blacksmithing, build-your-own milk crate with WAAM Industries, blanket ladder building with Dakota Timber Co, and monster mash: a graveyard smash cocktail & sweet bites workshop! (and a whole bunch more!)
Then the afternoon Happy Hour kicked off of which we enjoyed the handcrafted delicious cocktails (and mocktails!) by bar boss Langston & Kevin with the pumpkin punch container assist.
And we sure as hell do love us a theme for these retreat happy hours - this year's being Treat Yo Self Happy Hour full of Parks and Rec vibes like MINI HORSES!! With CAPES that Kristina Lau crafted up just for this cutie to hang out in.
Also included was the tunes of Heather and the Thistle Pipes...which then 100% needed:
McKaila serving samples of some fine ass Lagavulin 11 Year Old Offerman Scotch finished in Guinness Barrels in a waffle costume as a nod to all things Parks and Rec. IYKYK.
"Langston’s peary plaid punch was heavenly! Also, the hayrides, endless snacks, and thoughtful touches to the day made it amazing." - 2021 Retreater
PLUS! There were ACTUAL WAFFLES (on a stick) from Windsor Waffles being served up as either Sweet & Cinnamon or Pumpkin Spice. OF COURSE. And, yes, they did go through about 130 so we took it there, Leslie Knope.
And CRAFTS. Because there shouldn't be a moment where you can't be MAKING SOMETHING at our events. Like bubblin' bath salts with pumpkin spice scent options, votive soy candles with your fave hygge scent, and mulling spices.
And our area of Make Shit Any Time to the likes of velvet pumpkins, wire bending the word grateful, coloring sheets, gold leafing a print illustrated by See Lang Design, or sitting with our grateful sheet to reflect esp since November was right around the corner and you're #gratefulthankfulblessed.
"The classes - so many awesome options and I adore all the cool things I created! The connections - met so many great people and enjoyed seeing everyone creating, laughing and relaxing!" - 2021 Retreater
(yes, you must also feast your eyes on the opposite side of Kristina's next level horse cape!!)
Workshop Session 3 followed Happy Hour full of hygge feels.
There was barn quilt making, more blacksmithing heating things up, tiny quilled 3D topiaries, weaving, ice box pies taught by our baker friend from Louisiana(!), geometric wood wall art, dark and stormy mixology with haunted histories, Indigenous dream catchers, polymer clay earrings, and Chef Scott from Unglued Summer Camp taught homemade pasta (which is a life skill that leveled up Justin's dinner making!).
"I love how relaxed the Fall Retreat is. It's a fantastic day to craft, drink, eat, and just make what you want of the day surrounded by amazing people. It's the perfect event because there's lots to do, but if you just want to sit under a blanket on a porch all day you can!" - 2021 Retreater
The cozy fall evening continued in a very chill (in all the ways) fashion: with Drekker beer, cocktails, dinner from 701 restaurant, friends, and the return of our original Fall Retreat CARAMEL APPLE NACHO BAR. Please do this at all your future fall events because, damn, it's delicious.
AND THEN TRIVIA! Following the rage of trivia at our summer camp, Courtney Quist brought it back for Retreat evening with lumberjacky questions, Parks n Rec vibes, and more fall fantastic fun.
To totally round out the Happy Hour theme, Langston led remaining retreaters in a rendition of Bye Bye Li'l Sebastian..."you're 5,000 candles in the wind."
And as the evening came to its moonlit end the moon really was a sparkly perfect one over the corn rows and Morgan captured the peaceful ending to a spicy day.
Be sure to support our amazing beer sponsor Drekker Brewing Company!
And our espresso drink sponsor Thunder Coffee!
And watch for Crooked Lane Farm's folk school workshop schedule! These people are a dream to work with and we can't wait to see what 2022 holds at the Farm. Whatever it is we know it'll be spicy, handcrafted, and Maxine will probably sport another plaid dog collar wreath.