With a few simple supplies and the power of imagination, the women of Bamzie Handcrafted Designs craft holiday wonder.
Burlap, bows and fabric paint become rustic gift bags embossed with snowflakes. A fresh coat of textured paint and some nails turns throw-away pieces of wood into a decorative shelf.
An old window pane is transformed into a stylish wall hanging.
“It sparks your imagination to go around and see what these things can become,” said Paula Mitchell, one of the owners of Bamzie. “There’s a huge amount of joy in being able to look at something, and see behind the sad thing that it is now to what it could be.”
Bamzie Handcrafted Designs is a Franklin-based business that formed as a partnership between three local women: Mitchell, her sister Beth Mitchell and family friend Judy Rogers.
Paula and Beth Mitchell grew up in a crafting family, as their father made candles and started them out as his assistants as children. From that point, they both fell in love with creating handmade items for the home.
“When my father retired from the candle business, we decided we’d morph ourselves into our own little crafting business,” Paula Mitchell said.
Rogers has a background more in the fine arts. Her mother was a ceramics artist and her father made furniture and did other woodwork, so the trio draw on those skills to create their pieces.
Beth Mitchell is the prime painter of the craft items, and Paula Mitchell is a whiz with fabric.
“We’re into an eclectic mix of things, and change our products as the seasons go,” Paula Mitchell said. “We all bring something a little bit different, and combine all of those into our products.”
A big focus of their work is repurposing items such as old pallet wood or window frames. Chairs or stools become unique pieces of garden art.
The group won’t hesitate to stop next to a pile of wood or other trash on the curb if they see something that could be transformed in their hands.
“We’re not afraid to dumpster-dive,” Paula Mitchell said. “We’re always looking out for items that have outlived their usefulness in their original life and turned them into something else.”
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Franklin Holiday Lighting
When: 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. today
Where: Downtown Franklin
Schedule
- 8 a.m.: Jingle Jog 5K Run/Walk, Franklin Cultural Arts and Recreation Center
- 8:30 a.m. to noon: Breakfast with Santa, Compass Park, 690 State St.
- 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Gingerbread baking contest displayed, Compass Park
- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Dec-A-Tree at the Johnson County Museum of History, 135 N. Main St.
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Live Nativity at byTavi, 436 E. Jefferson St.
- 1 to 4:30 p.m.: Visits with Santa, Johnson County Museum
- 2 and 7:30 p.m.: “A Christmas Story,” Artcraft Theatre, 57 N. Main St.
- 2 to 8 p.m.: Winter Market, Elk’s Lodge, 56 E. Jefferson St.
- 3 to 4:30PM: Cookie contest entries accepted
- 4 p.m.: Organ concert, First Presbyterian Church, 100 E. Madison St.
- 4:30 p.m.: Melchior Marionettes, Tabernacle Christian Church, 198 N. Water St.
- 5 to 7 p.m.: Horse carriage rides
- 5:30 p.m.: Lighted Holiday Parade
- 6 to 8 p.m.: Live entertainment on the downtown stage
- 6 to 7 p.m.: Kids activities, Mutual Savings Bank, 80 E. Jefferson St.
- 6 p.m.: Lighting of ground displays, Compass Park
- 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Santa Shack opens
- 7 p.m.: Lighting of the courthouse holiday display
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