West Elm St. Louis

We got word a few months ago that a West Elm store was opening in St. Louis, and could hardly contain our excitement! So, imagine how we felt when we got an email from West Elm asking for our products for their store? Pretty great!

Cookies from Pint Sized Bakery

West Elm has partnered with Etsy to sell regional items in those stores. Visiting West Elm stores is a great way to shop for well designed susainable furniture, and is now also a great way to see items from local artists. What a great place! West Elm blogged about this venture here, with a great big feature showing Sucre Shop spoons! Hope you'll head over and support West Elm and local St. Louis makers.

Lindsay, Julie, Nicki, Brittany, Brooke, Lilly & Beth

WEST ELM ST.LOUIS FEATURED ARTISTS
• Gallery Zoo Art by Catherine Jeltes
• Sucre Shop by Brooke Pratt
• The Artistic Agrarian
• Grindstone Studio by Brooke Hamilton
• ReAuthored by Maha Libdeh
• Belles and Ghosts Apothecary by MissySue Hanson
• SproutedDesigns by Amanda Gray-Swain
• Two Wheel Design

Meet Nicki!

What do you do for Sucre Shop?
I manage both Etsy and our own website by taking customers orders, filling those orders and helping customers with custom listings and other inquiries. I am also responsible for some shipping duties as well as training new employees and assigning them with specific things to do. 

What is your training? 

I graduated from Webster University in 2012 with a BFA in Graphic Design. I love design but also enjoy silkscreening, printmaking, painting, ceramics, photography and crafting.

If you were a cartoon character who would you be? 
If I were a cartoon character I would be Ralph Wiggum. There is no one cooler than Ralph! 

What your most exciting place to visit? 

I'm not sure about the most exciting place I visit, but my favorite place to escape to is Lake Eufalla, Oklahoma. 

What's your favorite thing about working at Sucre Shop?

My favorite thing about working here is that I get to work with awesome people while doing something creative and fun! 

Giveaway: Win Sucre Shop For A Year!

Woo-Hoo! It's been such a great summer so far at Sucre Shop, so we've decided to say "THANKS!" with a fabulous Instagram competition for all of our amazing fans.

A lucky someone will win a year's supply of Sucre Shop products! This means every quarter we'll send you a hefty package of our favorite classic designs, as well as cute seasonal specials for holidays. Total retail value: $120!

Entering the competition is super-easy: Follow us on Instagram, and use our giveaway graphic, or just tag one of your Instagram pics with #winsucreshopforayear. You can enter once a day while the competition is running, and we'll randomly select the winner after the competition closes. It doesn't matter what the picture is of, as long as it's tagged. If your account is private, leave a comment on our instagram giveaway pic and we'll make sure you're entered.

The competition will run from July 24th through midnight on July 31st, and we'll announce the winner the next day. Good luck!  

Frozen Custard: sooooo good!

Rich, gooey, sweet and delicious - frozen custard is the taste of summer evenings here in the mid-west. Made with more eggs yolks than traditional ice cream so it's thicker, it's often swirled with flavorings and toppings for a truly indulgent treat.

St. Louis is blessed with quite a number of great local frozen custard shops. Ted Drewe's is one of the most famous; our favorite is Fritz's - we love to order the 'Turtle Concrete', ultra-thick custard that's swirled with caramel and chopped pecans. It's so dense you can turn the cup upside down and it won't shift!

Have you tried it? What's your favorite flavor combination?

Image courtesy of Food Network

Keep your cool with our fans - free printable

There's no such thing as A/C when you're outdoors, sadly. So if you're throwing a backyard barbecue, you need to think about how to beat the heat, because the only thing that should be sticky at your party are the ribs.

Luckily, Sucre Shop has you covered. Just make some fun fans with our free printable. Simply trim down the sides, fold it in half, and attach to a printed fan handle from Sucre Shop!

Barbecue, Sucre Shop Style

Chevron Fan Handles

Starry Ice Cream Spoons

Stripey Straws

Watermelon image courtesy of Chicago Foodie Girl

A little bit of what you fancy …

Sometimes you just need a little something - like a single scoop of yummy ice cream. But just because it’s just you doesn’t mean it can’t still be an occasion. Take care of the details and make your ‘me’ time seriously special.

Ingredients:

Striped ice cream spoon

Gourmet mint choc-chip ice cream

Sprinkles

Sunshine

Treat yourself to gorgeous!

Mollie Makes + Sucre Shop

The British magazine Mollie Makes is filled to the brim with perfectly on trend, beautifully styled and interesting stories. The are a great resource for pretty crafts and I pick it up every month at Barnes and Noble. I felt absolutely delighted (and that's a word I don't use often!) to see our ice cream spoons on their blog.

Spoons vs Forks!

Which is best: spoons or forks? We've been having a heated debate at Sucre Shop over which utensil is king. Forks are pretty fly, obviously - but does that beat the stylishness of spoons? Which would YOU choose to use for apple pie a la mode? Vote below in the comments and help us heal our office rift ...

St. Louis Party Supplies

Sucre Shop's studio is based in St. Louis, and we sure love this city we live in! I'm not a born and raised mid-westerner, but I really admire the way this big city acts like a small one. Still we have all the amenities of living somewhere much larger, including all of these fantastic local places which help our parties go with a bang:

This list of our favorite local party suppliers will be followed by a whole series of our St. Louis faves, so check back in.

SUPPLIES

The place I run to for most party supplies is American Carnival Mart. Their retail store is amazing! They are also direct importers to stadiums, parks, and events, and all those items are available for purchase in store too. You know the biggest Party City you've ever been to? This place is twice as big and 5 times as cool. Think popcorn and cotton candy supplies, tickets, pinata fillers and more. Psssst... their online store is amazing too.

SWEETS

In Kirkwood the Sugar Shack has nostalgic sweets galore! Jar after apothecary jar filled with rainbows of new and nostalgic goodness. Our favorite? The mini cotton candy swirls! Oh, so sweet.

SPACE

Hmmm, where should you have your party? Probably the Foundrie! The private space in the back of their store in Chesterfield Mall is massive and gorgeous. It used to be a Pottery Barn Kids store, so you can imagine the layout - lots of cool nooks and shelving, which the Foundrie has decorated so beautifully. It's the perfect blank space in which you can add sophistication if your party is for adults, and to decorate and still have space to run around if you're hosting a party for kiddos. It's also reasonably priced. One of the best deals in town. And while you're in the Foundrie, look around at all the local artists' work!

CUPCAKES

There are so many amazing cupcake places in town: The Sweet Divine and Jilly's Cupcake Bar have both taken home awards from Food Network's show Cupcake Wars. But I think the consensus among locals is that the best around is The Cup. St. Louis' first cupcake bakery is in the Central West End and it rules supreme in our book. We also like that one day a month they donate a percentage of their sales to a local charity.

PROPS

What's a party without props? Whether you're accessorizing a photo booth, decorating a sweets table, or setting up decor, you can bet Finch Vintage Rentals has something beautiful! Their website lists what they carry, so it's an easy go-to. If you're taking things a little riskier, the antique market on Fifi and Olive has something for your theme. This place is filled to the brim with hidden treasure - horseshoes, birthday candles, glassware and everything else you need to make your party perfect.

Go out and explore! Let us know your other St. Louis faves, and keep an eye out for our upcoming St. Louis posts.

Happy 4th, Sucre Shoppers!

In honor of Independence Day, we’re making an appropriately colourful - yet somewhat historically inappropriate - dessert: Eton Mess! Named after the super-posh British boys’ boarding school Eton College, it’s a divine combination of juicy fresh strawberries, fluffy whipped cream and sticky crushed meringue that’s the perfect summer dessert.

Eton Mess is traditionally served at Eton College’s annual cricket match against arch-rivals Harrow School, which is attended by the cream of the English upper-classes. Not quite the ideal choice for celebrating America’s independence from the Brits, but after 230 years, it might be time to start building some bridges. Just add our blue striped forks for extra patriotic pizzazz. 

INGREDIENTS
Fresh strawberries
Whipped cream 
Meringue (shop-bought is fine if you're pressed for time - we found some lemon meringue, which added a bit of zing)

PREPARATION
Slice the strawberries, and add sugar if they are very tart. Place them in individual trifle dishes. Cover the berries in whipped cream.Crush the meringue and sprinkle throughout. If you want a proper 'mess', stir it all up together. Add a whole strawberry on top to decorate. Serve immediately. Simple!

Our whales are huge!

Lilly Pulitzer 'Murfee' print scarf | Chevron Lobster Hook Pillow | Jonathan Adler Whale Bookends | Lilly Pulitzer Large Agenda | Sucre Shop Preppy Whale-Print Forks | Citrus Plates | Scrimshaw Whale Tray Set

Our gorgeous whale-print forks are new this season, and are already one of our best sellers. They're printed in a different way to our other forks, so we can make them multi-colored and super-bright, in this fun preppy colour combo.

Bonus whale fact: some whales can live up to 200 years!

Kiwi Magazine Feature

Kiwi magazine is dedicated to helping parents raise their children in the most natural way possible. They're a fantastic resource for recipes and activities, filled with beautiful pictures and a happy perspective on raising children.

This month Kiwi magazine editors rounded up some of their favorite natural items for parties, and included our stripes & dots forks! (They also got thrown into a pretty shot with some yummy looking quesedillas... mmmmmmmm!) Thanks Kiwi!