LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
PARIS—A brand-new holiday attraction has landed in Paris, and it has brought sparkle, merry and magic. A cozy corner of the town has been transformed into an Instagram-worthy pop-up bar that promises to bring the holiday cheer in style. The Tipsy Elf Pop-Up Bar, located at 614 N. Main Street, is the place to be if you’re looking for somewhere to sip festive cocktails, take a selfie and bask in a blizzard of twinkling lights.
Gaining inspiration from the countless pop-up bars in large cities like Chicago, co-owners Tanner and Agnes Laughlin and Staci Garzolini-Skelton thought The Tipsy Elf would be a great addition to Paris.
“We always kind of watched them on social media as they post in bigger cities. We thought, ‘why not bring it here?’” Tanner Laughlin said.
When patrons of The Tipsy Elf enter the front doors, they are immediately greeted by sparkles upon sparkles and an overwhelming sense of holiday cheer. The bar is decked out with glittering garlands, shiny ornaments and enough twinkle lights to make Clark Griswold proud. The glorious decorations were made possible through a tremendous amount of local donations.
“Once we had the idea and really pulled the trigger, applying for licenses and that kind of stuff, we just threw it on Facebook and said, ‘Anybody that has old Christmas decorations that you are thinking about getting rid of let us know. We'll come pick it up,’” Tanner Laughlin said. “We had several people that took us up on that. Lots of it was just donated from people in the community too. Everybody has that box of decorations that they move around every year, right? This year, they came here.”
No matter where someone looks in the pop-up, there is a photo op waiting to happen. With sparkling photo booths, Christmas-themed nooks and enough twinkle lights to fill an Instagram feed with holiday cheer, it’s a photographer’s dream come true. The whole space was designed with one thing in mind: to make patrons feel like they’ve walked into a winter wonderland with all the right angles for their holiday posts.
"We wanted it to be trendy, Instagrammable and just fun for people to hang out and take pictures with their friends," Tanner Laughlin said. "The idea was to make it feel festive, but also a place where people can share those holiday moments."
The drink menu at The Tipsy Elf is as cute and festive as the indoor decor. The menu features seven holiday-themed cocktails, all of which have unique holiday names, including Red Rider and Comet’s Cookies.
“They (holiday drinks) will be offered every night. We've got a line of beer, some wine, seltzers and that kind of stuff,” Tanner Laughlin said.
Since no pop-up is complete without a dash of the DIY spirit, the trio of owners will shake and stir the special cocktails themselves to ensure there is never a dent in a patron’s drink-fuelled holiday merriment.
“We all got our bartending license and we have a couple of other friends that are willing to help us serve drinks,” Tanner Laughlin said.
Like the popular Christmas song, there are only 12 days of Christmas cheer at The Tipsy Elf, so patrons have a limited time to join in on the festivities. The pop-up bar is open on Fridays and Saturdays in December from 5 to 11 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
“We just wanted a fun place for people to hang out during the holidays that was new and different. The cool thing about the pop-up, for us, is that we’re all very busy with different things we normally do,” Tanner Laughlin said. “Being able to do something where we can have fun, but isn’t super long term is great.”
As the pop-up creates sparkling conversations, the trio is already thinking about future events. While The Tipsy Elf revolves around Christmas, they are open to the idea of additional themed pop-ups for other holidays.
“We like the idea of having them around holidays. The response has been great, and we’re certainly open to that. We have talked about potentially doing a New Year’s Eve party,” Tanner Laughlin said.
The clock is ticking, and the holidays are calling. Whether a local resident or just passing through, there’s no better place to drink in the Christmas spirit than in Paris, Ill. at The Tipsy Elf Pop-up Bar. Patrons are asked to round up their friends, put on their festive best and head over before the magical pop-up disappears into the holiday mist.