I bought this at a local fair and chose this one because of its unusual shape. Was that a rookie mistake? Where do I go from here as far as shaping goes? It doesn’t look like any others I can find online.

betkol wrote: It doesn’t look like any others I can find online.

It's a little juniper, horizontalis or prostata or procumbes, very young, and should be outside at all times.
Don't try to make a cascade or a windswept out of it.