The man behind a string of successful Houston coffee shops and a veteran art teacher are teaming up on a new business that’s designed to get people away from their screens and working with their hands. Called Little Dreamer Creative, the new business will celebrate its grand opening this weekend on Saturday, September 5 from 6-9 pm, and Sunday, September 6 from 10 am-2 pm (1004 Taft St.).

The two-day celebration reflects the wide range of experiences Little Dreamer Creative intends to provide. Saturday night will feature live music, food, and a vendor market, while Sunday’s events include art activities and a market of local artists. Participating vendors include Zozo Fresh, Earth.Oils, Alchemist, Little Dreamer Coffee, Chilesquiles, Tucker Family Fungi, Award Winning Farm, and Amaize Artisanal Flatbreads.

Art teacher Kelley Eggert and coffee veteran Matt Toomey founded Little Dreamer to serve a range of needs. Having recently left her role as a ceramics professor at Lone Star College, Eggert will teach art classes for both kids and adults. Toomey, who’s shed his managerial responsibilities at Little Dreamer Coffee to focus on this new venture, will use the space to launch a number of new brands, including Third Eye Yoga and Nothing But Flowers, a new beverage concept related to teas and other drinks made with flowering plants.

“I love teaching. That is my calling is to be a teacher. It's literally in my astrology,” Eggert says. “But I don't want to teach for academia. I want to teach for the beauty of using art to heal, to meditate, to break away from phones and computers and all of that.”

Unlike a maker space that has tools and other heavy equipment, Little Dreamer Creative’s classes will be more project based. People could come in for three hours on a Sunday, for example, or for six hours spread over three weeks.

“[Little Dreamer] is more about art and human expression, you know, how that is a fulfillment of the desire of humanity — to express yourself with something creative and beautiful, and if it's not beautiful, who cares? You're not really attached to the outcome of it. You're just doing it for the sake of it,” Toomey explains.

In addition, Little Dreamer Creative will sell coffee, tea, and other drinks. While it doesn’t have a kitchen, it will offer items prepared nearby at Little Dreamer Coffee, the shop Toomey founded in 2025. In addition, Toomey is working pastry chef Alyssa Dole (Coltivare, Pinkerton’s Barbecue, LuLoo’s Day & Night) to develop sweet and savory baked goods and other pastries.

At night on the weekends, Little Dreamer Creative intends to host live events such as concerts, comedy shows, and movie screenings. While it doesn’t have a liquor license, Toomey is developing mixers that will allow visitors to bring-their-own spirits to make cocktails.