Dinner Time Chimes is owned by a newly wed couple from North California. When they are not creating these whimsical wind chimes, you can find them scouring flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales to look for antique silverware to be recycled into these functional eco-friendly house wares.
Cats or dogs?
I love my mini-schnauzer, Daisy May! I work from home so she’s a lot of company.
Star Wars or Sleepless in Seattle?
I can’t concentrate long enough on a movie to enjoy Star Wars.
Fruit or chocolate?
The only chocolate that I like is chocolate milk. Give me a bowl of caramel and sliced fruit and I’m a happy girl.
Favorite color?
Fire engine red catches my eye every time.
Butter Knife Bookmarks
Favorite meal?
Anything that I don’t have to cook! That doesn’t happen often, so I’ll go with fried chicken strips and mashed potatoes and gravy.
City break or weekend in the country?
We live in the middle of nowhere, so I’m always looking for an excuse to drive an hour to the city. I really miss being able to visit all thrift stores each week!
Soaps or documentaries?
I rarely get to control the remote, but I’d be more likely to watch a documentary. I can’t just watch TV though, I have to be doing something else at the same time… polishing silverware, sewing, scrap booking, etc.
Fork Easel
Bath or shower?
I like to ready quick, so no baths for me.
Dress or jeans?
Jeans, I’m not a girlie-girl.
Your favorite material?
Not that this is a surprise… silverware.
What brought you to Etsy?
I was looking to buy some unique baby gifts and my web searches lead me to Etsy. I joined as a buyer and then eventually decided to get another account and try selling the wind chimes that I’d been making since the mid 90’s.
Tell us about your shop.
It’s filled with eco-friendly creations for your home and garden. Most of the items are created from vintage silver plated silver plate, while others are created from various items that some might consider trash.
How is your shop eco-friendly?
At least 95% of our supplies are recycled. I also try to reuse as many items as possible for shipping too.
Do you sell anywhere else?
I’ve got items in a couple local stores, but online I stick with Etsy and my own website dinnertimechimes where people can hear our chimes. It’s tough marketing a bunch of different sites, but I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket either… so to speak. I’m still working on finding a happy medium where I balance real job, crafts, and life in general.
Eco Friendly Bird House
What’s the favorite item you’ve made so far?
There’s been a couple wind chimes that I’ve made from a child’s tea set that I wish that I’d kept for myself.
What has been the most useful lesson you’ve learned (about Etsy) so far?
It would be that it is possible to list an item and then stop just before activating the item, save the listing and activate later. I find that I have small windows of time when I can sit down and type up the descriptions and get everything together for a listing. But, I don’t want to list all of the new stuff at one time (it’d end up together in the search results), so I like to do all the work and then actually activate them at randomly spaced times.
How do you see your store developing?
I’m hoping to come up with even more items to make from silverware, and I’m also starting a new line called ‘DinnerTime Baby’ which will be burp cloths and blankets made from vintage fabric “scraps”
What have you been doing today that I’ve interrupted?
I took a much needed break from making fork easels for a wedding for this interview.
SHOP: DinnerTimeChimes
Website: Dinner Time Chimes
