A kid entrepreneur inspired by TikTok. Longtime friends who bond at craft shows. An educator who learned a new skill during the pandemic.
The Main Street Market has brought together a wide range of talent to CPA Park this summer.
The third market Thursday featured about 60 area vendors with local handmade goods, farmers, soaps, specialty candies and more.
Here’s a look at some of the vendors participating.
Frost Bites Freeze Dried Treats
Kohl Willnauer is a 9-year-old entrepreneur from Tonganoxie. He was inspired to start a candy freeze drying business after his mom, Brittani, showed him videos of a friend doing it on TikTok. Frost Bites Freeze Freeze Dried Treats was then born. The process has been entirely his, with his mom responsible for just driving him around, he said.
“We were trying to come up for something for him to do business-wise over the summer,” Brittani said. “He wanted to do something of his own, and I showed him my friend’s video and he’s like, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Kohl has a freeze drying machine that vacuums the moisture out of the candies, creating almost a new candy.
The experience has taught Kohl about finances, running a business and how to plan for the markets they attend, Brittani said.
Kohl’s goal is to make enough money to take his whole family to Hawaii, he said.
Delyetful Soaps
John Hester and his wife Glenda, from Lenexa, started making soaps about 9 years ago, John said. They realized how much better homemade products could be instead of buying soaps from the store, he said. Once they realized how much better they made soaps themselves, they just kept expanding to new products.
Delyetful sells soap bars, foaming tub teas, skin balms, shower steams and bombs, shampoo bars, body butters and more.
Soap bars come in scents ranging from lemongrass, oatmeal, milk and honey, mint grapefruit and lavender peppermint. They are handmade with oils, soothing butters and goat milk, according to the Hesters’ website.
The Orange Ampersand & Meyer Made
Ashley Johnson, owner of The Orange Ampersand, and Allie Meyer, owner of Meyer Made, shared a booth at Thursday’s market.
Johnson is a graphic designer who creates keychains, stickers and pins. Her keychains and stickers say things like plant lady, booktrovert or dog mom.
Meyer makes custom T-shirts, hats and cups.
“We have always been crafty, so we kind of just turned our crafts into a business,” Meyer said.
Johnson said the business is a way to make things that make people happy.
“I think it’s kind of the vibe of all of our stuff,” Johnson said.
Cheryl’s Handiwork & Vicki’s Handiwork Shop
Eudora local Cheryl Travis and Lawrence resident Vicki Pannell also shared a booth at the market. The longtime friends both make handmade goods and frequently share booths at various craft shows around the area.
“The thing that we like best about our booth is that people appreciate our things because they’re reasonably priced, but they’re usable,” Travis said. “People love them.”
Travis started making fabric clothesline wrapped baskets when her husband was ill and needed a bowl to hang onto due to blindness. She’s now been making baskets for 16 years.
Pannell makes microwave bowl koozies, potato bags, hot pads and more. She started crafting after Travis inspired her, and the friendship has made it more fun, Pannell said.
“It’s just better to have teamwork, and we’ve been doing this together for six or seven years,” Pannell said.
Bent & Knotty
Staci Simpson, of Baldwin City, started making earrings when she had more free time during the pandemic as a paraprofessional.
“I needed a hobby,” she said.
Her love for earrings drew her to make more, and eventually she started selling them under the name Bent & Knotty. Going to markets gives her the opportunity to socialize while selling her jewelry. She also makes custom hats and T-shirts.
Simpson has earrings for many themes, including sports, holidays, barbecues and margarita glasses. She also does custom requests through her Facebook.
Country Road Farms
Jamie Knabe, owner of Country Road Farms, brought fresh eggs, beef sticks, pretzels and honey to the market.
“It’s been a great night,” Knabe said.
She and her husband, Keith, have owned a farm five miles south of Eudora for about 30 years, but her husband is a fifth-generation farmer. Their farm was passed down to Keith from his dad.
The farm’s store at 991 E. 2400th Road also sells beef and pork as well as produce, salsas, jams and jellies, barbecue sauce, pickles and handcrafted cutting boards.
The store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
The next market is moving from Thursdays due to a Kansas City Chiefs game. It will instead be from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
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