Out of the Mouth of Babes

Shelby Miller is (pretty much) a stay-at-home mama to her two and a half-year-old son. She’s an instructor at Funkytown Fitness (also participating at Made in STA!) so that takes up a couple of hours each day. The rest of the time she gets to be with her son, which is what she always wanted when she became a mom. But yet, she knew she needed more.

She wanted something she could do from home and on “her” time. Last April, a friend texted her and said, “Hey, I know you’re creative… what’s a handmade baby shower gift I can make?” Shelby was on it.

She loves this kind of stuff – second to her love of searching Pinterest. Teething rings and toys popped up when she searched “handmade” but she didn’t like any of the styles she found. Plus, as an experienced mom she had safety concerns in the back of her mind. (When her son was six months old he broke a teething bracelet that had been gifted to Shelby.)

But then she thought, “I bet I can make this safer… and cuter!” Shelby watched a couple of tutorial videos (from the company who now actually supplies her with her teething beads) and began making them with her own spin on the designs.

Shelby seals all the wood teething pieces with organic coconut oil and makes the rings super tight, so they never lose their form and stay baby safe. She knew St. Augustine mamas are all about organic and natural, so she made her products all of that - plus safe.

She made a couple teethers, and once she got the hang of it gave them to friends with babies to test them out. And then she kind of put the hobby on the back burner.

In the meantime, Shelby’s husband has his own local based T-shirt company and asked Shelby to see whether she could get him into the Farmer’s Market. Turns out the Saturday market was already saturated with clothing vendors and so it was a no go – but they were accepting vendors for unique handcrafted items.

Shelby had never considered having teethers at the market before, but as a weekly market goer herself, she realized there was no vendor that catered to babies. Yet, there are always plenty of babies at the market. So, Shelby submitted photos of her unnamed teethers and the Farmer’s Market accepted her.

Now it was time to make her business official. Her husband came up with the name Boca Bebe (“boca” means mouth in Spanish) and Shelby claimed her spot and has been selling at the Saturday Farmer’s Market since June. Boca Bebe’s products can also be found in two St. Augustine boutiques and one in Jacksonville or can be ordered through social media.

Shelby loves doing something she loves, helping babies soothe in style – all in the beautiful town she was born and raised in!

Meet Shelby and shop her handcrafted teethers when you visit Boca Bebe at Made in St. Augustine.