The Magnolia Lie

I'm a Fixer Upper fan—who wouldn't be? Chip and Joanna Gaines are perfectly adorable, and the homes and designs one sees every episode are almost all winners. Last year I was browsing Instagram and saw Fixer Upper's Joanna Gaines's account. Filled with perfect photo of everything—perfect globs of dough, perfectly arranged furniture, pottery, scenic views on their farm. I coveted what she showed us—who wouldn't? The Gaines's sell a brand—a brand of casual comfort, shiplap and relaxed beauty. (I want that. I need that, right?) Anyway, she advertised a massive after Christmas sale at their Magnolia Market, and drooling, I followed the link and headed right over to the store. Minutes later, I put in the order for 2 fir trees. I thought they would look great in the house. Somewhere.

They weren't cheap. The original prices were:

Tall--$58

short—$48

Here's the photo of what I thought I was getting. Small photo, no real detail.

I ordered both sizes, and after the discount, I paid $35 total. This is still way more than I normally spend on superfluous decorating items, as I'm a DIY girl. But I justified it because I was getting something from Magnolia Market. I was that much closer to having the same beautiful home those lucky people on the show were given. Right?

Many weeks later (seriously, at least three), my order finally shipped. It arrived so late in the winter season that I couldn't even put the trees up. I just glanced in the box to see that they were in there, then put the whole thing in the basement for next year.

So imagine my surprise when I pull it all out again today and actually examine my Magnolia Market fir trees for the first time. With a heavy heart, I realized I had been had.

There is a nasty brown tinsel around the trunks of both trees. I thought I was getting wood. It was advertised as wood. It's not. There's an MDF or worse base and the tree trunk and branches appear like its a cardboard tube with wire and the nasty brown tinsel to cover everything. I would have even been more accepting of the brown floral tape. But this?

Here's what I got. :(

Magnolia Market didn't bother to re-brand the trees—they still has the wholesaler tag with Made in China glaring at me! I was hoping—really hoping—that there would be some US shop somewhere that that the Magnolia team was buying these items from, or had contracts with—I was so wrong.

Wholeseller website. Notice that everything looks like it could be on Fixer Upper?

With a heavy heart, I realized that Magnolia Market offers products no different than those found in a Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Everything is from China, and while it might look great in the staged photos, it doesn't support US jobs and because it's Magnolia Market, I was paying quite a markup along with shipping for no good reason. These trees weren't unique to Magnolia Market. And that's what I convinced myself that was buying. A Magnolia Market-Joanna Gaines-surely-breathed-on-this item.

The obvious thing I had a hard time remembering is that underneath the glitz and farmhouse wonderland of the Fixer Upper shows, the Gaines' are a wealthy family. A very wealthy family. They built up a brand, a relaxed way to live at home, and they are selling it at a high cost to people like me who just want that extra Joanna touch in our homes. I'm not supporting a cute mom and pop shop here, despite however much Joanna name drops her original little Bosque store—Chip and Joanna are business-savy millionaires who buy low and sell high, and I'm the sucker who kept the profits rolling in for them, all while landing myself a sub-par quality item. Did I bring that piece of Joanna inspired calm and beauty into my home? Not really. It's rather embarrassingly cheap to look at unless I'm standing twenty feet away and can't notice the low quality. No one would even know that it is from Magnolia Market—there is not a single piece of Magnolia branding on the trees.

Sure, this lesson might be obvious to many people. I guess it my disappointment came down to my desire to believe in a feeling from a look and buy (literally) into the lie. I give due credit to Chip and Joanna Gaines as business owners—they are brilliant at what they do—but after this experience, they've certainly lost a lot of polish.