Research Update and Lowell Folk Festival...

Homesteading Box:

I’ve been hard at work researching the Homesteading Box, and I’m thrilled to share some updates with you!

Waitlist Update:

Submissions

• I'm faced with the task of gathering names for the waitlist. I've gotten a couple from social media. Thank you to those who signed up. I'll be making a group for you soon.

• Lowell Folk Fest was going to be a great opportunity but that was a failure. I shared the booth with lots of other makers. Makers that were pitching for their own products and (I included) was pitching for Lowell Makes. Not much room for the Homesteading Box pitch.

The Solution

• The plan going forward: Start sourcing products and putting them on my shelves. This will get some much needed income, and serve another purpose...

• Out of those items, make a 'mock box'. Show the value in getting the box instead of purchasing the products separately. I even made an ad for this concept.

Research:

Products

• I've got a bunch of sources lined up. I have standards I need to look for. Made in America, which I can mostly do. Some things are only made outside of America, like a butter churn. Price/quality is also a factor. I need to find the right balance.

• Some companies don't ship to residential. So I asked Lowell Makes if I could ship to them. The answer was yes with a big BUT. I need to get those shipments immediately and also, don't ship a bunch. I mean I need to take it all away in my car after all.

Website

• Part of being a subscriber to the box is online perks. I wanted them to work a certain way. When you earn a badge, I want you to see that badge as huge and beautiful. I had to work with AI to make some code that displays an image of the badge you earned, if you've earned it. This took a week.

• I made groups that subscribers earn their way into. One group that you earn immediately and others I manually add.

Again, a BIG THANK YOU to the two submissions I’ve received so far! It’s really exciting to see this list grow, and I appreciate your enthusiasm.

Join The Waitlist!

Lowell Folk Fest

I had a fantastic time at the Lowell Folk Fest! It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with other vendors who were equally excited about the Homesteading Box.

I sold a good amount of small items, although my K-Cup holders didn’t quite take off. It seems that fewer people are using Keurig's these days, so I’m considering redesigning them to hold eggs instead.

The turned bowls above are not mine. The space was limited so I shared space with a fellow creator.

Overall, I’m extremely thankful to Lowell Makes for providing the space and opportunity to showcase my creations to the huge turnout at the Lowell Folk Fest. It was a great experience, and I look forward to more events like this in the future!

Current Projects

Fun Face Toy

• This was a blast to make! They are so cute and I want to make monsters in the future.

• The good - The chain moves smoothly and I found the perfect length. The etch came out wonderful.

• The bad - The petri dishes weren't the best quality and wanted to crack easily. The glue I used dried white, creating some spots I didn't like. Overall I priced it at $5 because of those needed improvements.

Name Placeholder

• I tried twice to etch and fill with resin. They never gave that wow factor I'm going for. I plan to try CNC next.

Bees Wax Fire Starters

• This is an established product but sold better at Lowell Folk Festival than any other time. I think I found the reason. In all other instances, I put some unpackaged fire starters on display for customers to see up close. This created a problem.

• When customers came up, they thought the fire starters were brownies. Customers came up with a certain mindset, then I changed it, and customers walked away feeling tricked.

• This time I only put out the finished package. When customers looked at them I said they were Bees Wax and smelled wonderful. This took curiosity up a notch. Instead of feeling tricked, they were interested.

Theater Sign

• My daughters theater teacher reached out to me to make a tavern sign for their next play. I'm so excited since I haven't done it before and I really wanted to make something everyone else will see.

• Thank you to the gods of scrap because I found the perfect pieces for the sign. They are thin and long and big enough that the sign will be seen all over the theater.

• I'll design the sign, then do some testing to make sure it looks good. Contrast is a must! Unfortunately the name illudes to the words and logo being black, which means the wood needs to be bright. I want to burn the wood for a cool effect so I have to do some contrast testing before actually adding the text and logo.

Upcoming Events:

None Planned. Contact me if you want me at your next event!

Thank you so much for reading!