How Our Etsy Shop Began: A Homeschooling Lesson Turned Real-Life Business

Our Etsy journey began not in a boardroom or business seminar, but around our homeschool table in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains. As a homeschooling mom, I was guiding my daughter through a lesson on global money and markets. To make it hands-on, we decided to create our own “market” in our community. We set up a little stand, priced out some of the herbal balms and lotions we had made for fun using ingredients from our own pesticide-free homestead, and invited friends and neighbors to come “shop.”

What started as a learning activity quickly turned into something more.

We both felt a spark—my daughter, seeing the value of her work and creativity, and me, realizing how much joy it brought to share these natural, handcrafted products with others. That simple homeschool lesson planted the seed for what became our Etsy shop.

Now, we craft each product with care, using as many ingredients as possible straight from our own land: organically grown herbs, beeswax from our hives, and botanicals that thrive in the clean mountain air. Every balm, lotion, or cream we sell is rooted in that same spirit of curiosity, connection, and care that started it all.

We're still learning and growing together, but now our classroom includes customers from all over the world—and we couldn’t be more grateful.