B+D Custom Crafts
Chaska, Minnesota
Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do:
Debbie (Left) + Brittany (Right): B+D Custom Crafts
Photo Courtesy: Kate Becker Photography
As lifelong crafters, Minnesota mother-daughter duo Brittany and Debbie of B+D Custom Crafts have always had a passion for creativity and creating personalized pieces for their own friends and family.
Fast forward to 2017, they launched B+D to help their clients rediscover the beauty of personalized gifting and locally crafted décor, while also empowering them to celebrate their own inner creativity with a variety of crafting kits and classes designed for all skill levels.
Let us know more about your business name - how did you come up with it?
B+D is reflection of our partnership as a mother-daughter team! We often say our name behind the scenes is B+D+J as our work is truly a family affair with my father also leading management of production.
What is your signature style / item? How did it become so?
We intentionally lean into a clean and classic aesthetic intended to complement coastal and lakeside living.
Midwesterners, and Minnesotans especially, have an appreciation for quality, handcrafted decor with a story, which we share - so we borrow elements from our local roots while adding our own modern spin.
What makes your business unique to the industry?
We proudly handcraft each of our Framed Stacks and pieces of word art here in Minnesota from start to finish and as a result, we’re able to offer our clients and retailers 100% flexibility in the designs we create for them.
Having the option to custom design a family keepsake from scratch or custom tailor our work to a retailer's shopper gives us an edge many other home decor companies aren't able to offer.
I would say 95% of the work we create is customized to fit the needs of our client. To date, we've enjoyed designing pieces for homes from coast to coast and into Canada featuring family names, cities, states, local landmarks and national events.
What's been your biggest roadblock when it comes to business and how have you been able to overcome?
We pride ourselves on producing each of our pieces locally which isn't an easy feat.
Although maintaining our 'made in Minnesota' approach is the more difficult route as we expand, we value being able to continue to support several teams of fellow small business owners.
How has your business had to adapt amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic? What are you doing to navigate the situation?
A notable portion of our business is reliant on being able to attend live events while also hosting crafting classes of our own.
We've been able to adapt rather quickly to hosting virtual crafting classes and stocking our retailers with crafting kits to complete at home- while continuing to design custom pieces for our consumer & retail clientele digitally.
COVID has required us to optimize and become more comfortable with experimenting, but it has also granted us an opportunity to re-connect with our creative roots and why we founded B+D in the first place.
What is your favorite part of what you do?
I absolutely appreciate the relationships I'm able to build with our clients designing custom pieces and leading crafting classes.
Our custom decor clients trust us to create one-of-a-kind keepsakes for their families to enjoy for years to come and we're thankful to be a part of that experience.
With crafting classes, we're thankful to provide an escape for our clients to simply have some creative fun and enjoy one another's company. It's always a joy hearing where groups have traveled from, how they met, why they're getting together that day - we get to hear lots of fun stories.
What is your *must do* local activity?
Typically, watching outdoor movies in the park throughout the Twin Cities are on my summer and fall to-do list - there's something classic and special about rolling out a blanket in the grass with your favorite snacks and watching a great movie with friends.
Where to find B+D Custom Crafts:
Website: https://bdcustomcrafts.com/
Instagram: @BD_CustomCrafts
Facebook: @BDCustomCrafts