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Recycled Stylemaker: Lost & Found Crafts
Lost & Found Crafts has created the best of both worlds: a place to shop for any craft supply imaginable and a place where materials are given a "second chance" instead of being thrown away.
"I've been doing crafts since I was a little kid," says owner Michelle Isaacson. "My sister taught me how to cross-stitch when I was 8 years old." When her life got busier, crafts were set on the back burner until she got a little older. By then, however, she had moved on from cross-stitch, to crafts like making Christmas ornaments out of Mason jars.
Isaacson's new interests in crafts led her to brand-name stores like Michaels and Jo-Ann, where the supplies were much more expensive. She said to herself, "This is ridiculous. There's gotta be a cheaper way to do this." A friend in Indiana had a secondhand craft store, which led Isaacson to look for something similar nearby. The closest ones were in Seattle and Portland. There was nothing in Olympia. "Well, there we go," she said, "I always wanted to own my own small business. Why not just do it now?"
Lost & Found Crafts offers any type of supply customers might need for their projects. Most of the supplies donated are gently used or brand-new. When Isaacson first opened her doors, she was unsure whether enough donations would come her way. Now she's overwhelmed with the amount of supplies she has building up in the store.
"It's been amazing," she says. "At the beginning I was going to garage sales. But now the store is full, my garage is full, and I have a balcony outside full of things. Every day, people come in and drop off items to donate."
More than anything, Isaacson wants shoppers at Lost & Found Crafts to feel relaxed and comfortable in asking questions.
"I also want people to feel more like part of a community," she says. One of the most rewarding parts of the store so far, she adds, has been the conversations she's had with her customers, even if they're not about crafting. "I also want to give back, and I want my customers to help. Let's come together and do things for both the environment and for our community," says Isaacson.
JORDAN MARIE MCCAW
Lost and Found Crafts
2316 4th Ave East, Olympia
lostandfoundcrafts.com
Filed Under: Design & Style, Fall 2019, Uncategorized Tagged With: Art and Culture, Lost and Found Olympia, Michelle Isaacson, Showcase Magazine
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