The Dragonfly Shops and Gardens in Downtown Orange

I grew up all over Southern California, but I attended the last two years of high school in Orange County. My friends and I would cruise the circle in downtown Orange in my 1966 Volkswagen beetle on a weekly basis. Back then (circa 1999), the circle was pretty uneventful and full of mostly antique shops. There wasn’t too much for high schooler like myself to do, to us the circle was for old ladies that liked to go antiquing. I was pretty disappointed and I had always thought that the circle had great potential. Well, no longer is downtown Orange a dead zone. It is lively, hip and quite honestly really cool. There are tons of places to eat and shop and I am super envious that it wasn’t anything like that when I was growing up.

Located on the outer rim of the circle is a really cool gem of a place called the Dragonfly Shops & Gardens. There, at the shop they offer a bounty of really interesting things to look at, buy and do.  Recently, I was invited to a Blogger afternoon at the Dragonfly Shops & Gardens located in downtown Orange, California. We were given a fast paced-crash course in a few of the interesting classes they offer. The store is located in a house from the 1920’s and it is stock full of unique and interesting things to purchase. Literally every square inch of the place is artfully used to display the merchandise which ranges from art, to jewelry, to baby items to fashionable women’s clothing and so much more.

The hallway

The Dragonfly Shops & Gardens offers really fun classes for kids and adults alike. Such as: beading, gardening, canning basics, butter making, etiquette classes and so much more. See their website for a full listing of the classes offered.
Our afternoon at the Dragonfly Shops & Gardens consisted of my son making a “fairy garden” (pictured below) in which he now checks every day to see if a fairy has arrived. He also made a cute potted decorative craft and a beaded bracelet. The Dragonfly Shops & Gardens even facilitated lunch for us provided by Bruxie Waffles, Rutabegorz Restaurant and The Filling Station Cafe (Nom, Nom and um…NOM!).

Sprinkling on the "fairy dust"

I really enjoyed visiting the Dragonfly Shops & Gardens for an afternoon and I know you would too. It is the perfect place to get lost in and take a gander at all the cool things for purchase and then take a class in chicken keeping- hey, why not?

I was not compensated in any way by the Dragonfly Shops & Gardens for this post. My son received complimentary “mini” classes and products to help facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.