West Students Ty Berry, Maggie Sila, and Carley Lange have been creating crafts to sell in their free time.
At different stages in their individual businesses, the students explain their journey with entrepreneurship.
Senior Ty Berry has been making and selling beaded jewelry since his sophomore year.
“Initially, it was kind of like stress relief. I thought it was a cool craft. I found a bunch of beads at the store, and then I started making bracelets. Then I started making, a surplus. And so [I thought], why not sell them?” Berry explained.
“I make posters and flyers [to advertise], and I hang them up. I link my phone number and my business Instagram in case people want to contact me to order something,” Berry added.
Freshman Carley Lange is following a similar path to Berry by making and selling jewelry locally to friends and family.
“After COVID, I knew I needed to do something…I started making key chains just for fun because I found beads, and I [thought], ‘I’m gonna experiment with this.’ I showed it to my mom, and she said, ‘I feel like people would buy those,’ So then, I started making more, showing them in my family, [and] made some sales. They told their friends, and then it just kind of went from there.
“A lot of the times on days the weather is nice, I have a table that I go sit up at like the end of my driveway. And then people sometimes stop by…it has been pretty successful,” Lange added.
On another note, Sophomore Maggie Sila has seen success in selling crochet at local events.
“I want to say like four years, [I’ve been crocheting.] My mom had me go to church with her and I was bored…, so the old ladies just taught me how to crochet, and it was pretty fun…I stuck with it,” Sila stated.
Sila, Berry, and Lange are just a small group of West students who’ve turned a hobby into profit; however, each of these students encourage others to branch out and take their talents to local events.
On Saturday, November 22, the Normal West Bands will be hosting their annual Fall Craft Show, which poses the perfect opportunity for student (and other) entrepreneurs to showcase their talent and make a little profit while they’re at it.
“I’ve always gone to craft fairs every year with my mom. I really look forward to it, and I realized last year …that I could be one of the people selling the things. So, I made a bunch of stuff, and I enlisted my friend, who makes clay things, to help me, and we did [the fair] together, and it was really fun,” Sila described.
The Normal West Bands Craft Show has been an annual tradition for decades.
Including over 100 booths of mostly handmade crafts plus a handful of home business vendors, visitors are sure to find a variety of goods before the Holiday season.
In addition to the craft vendors, there is also live music performed by Normal West musicians, food for sale, and even a chance at a visit from Santa Claus, who is set up to hear Christmas lists.
“The Craft Show is a festive way to kick off the Holiday season, and we are proud of the manner in which the band students and families support the crafters–by helping them move their crafts into the building, delivering lunches, and hosting the event,” West band director, Ryan Budzinski said of the fair.
In addition to the event being a holiday tradition, it is also a big fundraiser for the program. Budzinski points out that the funds earned from the fair “support the purchase of music, instruments, and experiences like visiting guest artists and clinicians.”
“[We] appreciate the support of all involved–the volunteers that manage the event, the band members who perform, the families that volunteer, and the vendors that bring their items–it is wonderful to host all of this and bring these folks out to Normal West,” Budzinski added.
Support these entrepreneurs at this year’s Fall Craft Show in the Normal West auditorium from 9AM-2PM on Saturday Nov. 22.
