Creative kid crafts business

TANI Goldsmith has become quite the entrepreneur.

Since January, she’s been crafting handmade scrunchies and, after selling them to friends and family, has expanded her operation to include an online store.

Called Darn Cool – Handmade Scrunchies, Tani said her business venture grew out of an initial desire to learn a new craft.

“I’d wanted to make them for a while, and when I finally got a sewing machine, I bought some materials and then just decided I wanted to sell them,” she said.

“It doesn’t take very long, and it’s really fun because you can be really creative with it and make them your way using different sizes and patterns.

“I really wanted to learn how to make them because I always like having one in my hair and I know my friends and lots of younger kids love them as well.”

Tani works out of a studio corner in her bedroom, crafting her scrunchies using a Singer sewing machine given to her by her grandmother.

The process takes her about five minutes, and with an initial output of 10 scrunchies a week, she currently holds a stock of about 30.

Darn Cool – Handmade Scrunchies has expanded into the local market scene, debuting at Buninyong Childcare Centre’s open day market in April followed by Smythesdale Country Market the next month.

Tani’s mother, Kelly Pails, handles promotion and the store’s Facebook page, and said her daughter’s always had a creative streak in her.

“When she was younger, she’d raise money at Ballarat Base’s paediatrics hospital by making crafty names for people’s rooms and selling them to buy more materials at their craft trolley,” she said.

“She always loves drawing and being creative, and there’s been influences on both sides of the family between her grandmas and great-grandma with them all being very into crafting.”