Pockets of Sage: To Catch What Life Throws at Us

/ Made in St Augustine/
Pockets of Sage: To Catch What Life Throws at Us

After graduating from Flagler College, Sarah Ponce’s life took a track familiar to many of us. She got married, worked from home and started a family.

Caught up in the day-to-day, Sarah realized she didn’t have a hobby. Her life consisted of caregiving in her home childcare business and some occasional gardening and house painting.

In a quest for a hobby, Sarah began taking sewing lessons at night and making clothes for her newborn baby. However, as that baby grew into a little person, her daughter soon preferred a wardrobe filled with the latest styles from Target.

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Feather + Bloom Blossoms in St. Augustine

/ Made in St Augustine/
Feather + Bloom Blossoms in St. Augustine

Growing up on a farm, Brandi Williams’ was immersed in nature at a young age. Picking strawberries, raspberries, corn, sugar snap peas and harvesting seasonal crops was a part of life.

Now Brandi won’t claim she loved the chores associated with farming and homesteading but she was always awed and inspired by the beauty and detail of nature’s gifts that each season brings.

Fast forward to Brandi’s adult life where she has a career far removed from the rural setting of her childhood. She comes home from her 9 to 5 management position and releases the stress of her day by pulling weeds and planting her garden. 

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The Spice and Tea Exchange Provides Guests a More Flavorful Life

/ Made in St Augustine/
The Spice and Tea Exchange Provides Guests a More Flavorful Life

Founded in 2008, The Spice & Tea Exchange® was formed by a group of talented individuals with a passion for life and food.

The Spice & Tea Exchange's® mission statement "Creating & sharing the experience of a more flavorful life," is the cornerstone of the company which strives to provide guests with quality products and flavorful memories.

Made here in St. Augustine, Florida, The Spice & Tea Exchange® offers food lovers, chefs, and tea enthusiasts a unique shopping experience filled with culinary delights. 

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RJ Higgins Discovers a New Life through Art

/ Made in St Augustine/
RJ Higgins Discovers a New Life through Art

Some artists might say their work is a hobby, an interest, a passion. But for RJ Higgins, art has been a new lease on life.

After a serious accident seven years ago, RJ was paralyzed from the neck down deeming him an incomplete quadriplegic. Through physical therapy and a LOT of soul searching, he has been fighting his way back to do things most of us take for granted.

Early on, RJ’s therapists tried to point him to art to improve his use of his arms and hands. But as he was still coming to grips with his situation, trying to draw or paint was the last thing on his mind.

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St. Augustine Furniture: Built to Last

/ Made in St Augustine/
St. Augustine Furniture: Built to Last

Finding outdoor furniture that withstands Florida’s humidity, rain and salt air can be challenging. Living by the beach – coupled with a dislike of rusty tables and chairs – inspired St. Augustine’s Michael Wiles to build his own patio and yard furniture.

What started as personal project to create nautical outdoor furniture for his home by the St. Augustine pier quickly turned into a business. Friends and family would come over wanting to buy the pieces Michael had made.

So, he started making “fish chairs”, Adirondack chairs in the shape of fish. Then, people started bringing Michael photos of things they wanted, so he began building all types of pieces. Initially, he worked out of his back yard (no rent is the best!) but his business grew so quickly that to keep up with all of the orders he hired woodworkers and opened his store at 96 South Dixie Highway.

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Nessting at Made in St. Augustine

/ Made in St Augustine/
Nessting at Made in St. Augustine

Yes, you too can “nesst” at Made in St. Augustine - and you don’t even have to be pregnant.

Patricia Ness hand-makes essentials for babies, toddlers and children including blankets, bibs, burp cloths, diaper changing mats, hair accessories, toys, pacifier clips, nursery art and more.

The idea for her shop, The Nesst, came to Patricia while she was seeking gifts for several of her pregnant friends. What quickly became clear to her was that she just couldn’t find the style of gift to fit her friends’ hip and modern style. So, Patricia decided to make the gifts herself.

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Local Maker Turns Pallets into Home Décor

/ Made in St Augustine/
Local Maker Turns Pallets into Home Décor

Sometimes a hobby just falls into your lap. That’s what happened to Tim Pollock when he bought a house in 2012 along with an oversized garage filled with tools and a workbench.

Seeing an opportunity in what some might have discarded as leftover “stuff,” Tim started tinkering with woodworking and even decided to refinish his hardwood floors. Tim spent the next two years experimenting with shelving and signs. His interest was piqued and he took a part-time job installing wood floors. This improved his skills (and comfort level) working with different saws.

These days, he has taken his newfound woodworking talents to the next level. Tim works out of his garage in St. Augustine with his two children, a 7-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, who assist their dad in Pollock Pallet Designs’ mini assembly line. The kids help rip up pallets and Tim sands and stains.

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Addie Gibson Art Sheds Light on Mental Health

/ Made in St. Augustine/
Addie Gibson Art Sheds Light on Mental Health

Since she was a little girl, Addie Gibson has loved drawing and painting. Having grown up in the surfing culture, she decided to marry her passions. And that’s how St. Augustine’s Addie Gibson Art came to be.

But Addie Gibson Art isn’t just about pretty paintings (although they are that too!). Addie’s goal is to bring joy to people’s lives through her bright colors, literally and metaphorically.

Her underlying mission is to raise awareness for mental health. Addie wants people to know it’s alright to talk about these issues and to help end the negative stigma attached to mental health. Her art is the perfect outlet for this platform.

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For The Love of Wood!

/ Made in St. Augustine/
For The Love of Wood!

Brought up on a farm in the world of simplicity and entrepreneurship, Michele Dzioba learned it’s most important to do what you love and live life with passion. As the name of her business, For the Love of Wood, implies, Michele pursues her dreams through woodworking right here in St. Augustine.

In an effort to be frugal, the first time Michele picked up a power tool (an old skillsaw) was to transform a dresser into a media stand. It was then that she realized her desire to explore the world of wood and its possibilities – but not in the aspect of refinishing the work of others – but to create! 

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Grown in St. Augustine

/ Made in St. Augustine/
Grown in St. Augustine

A few seedlings and a lot of patience have flourished into an organic nursery, composting initiative and market garden.

Dog Day Gardens, a local business committed to growing organic food, is thriving and nourishing St. Augustine and surrounding areas.

Owner Shelby Stec says food production is the root of many of our current social and environmental issues. To address these issues, the question is always, “How do we push a broken system to produce more?” when the real question should be “How can we fix this so it serves all people and the environment?”

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Cami&Cat Provides Solution to your Gift-Giving Woes

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Cami&Cat Provides Solution to your Gift-Giving Woes

We can all relate to the challenge of coming up with the perfect gift – especially for the recipient who already has it all.

This was the dilemma Camila Stone faced a few Christmases ago when she was brainstorming meaningful gifts for her family and friends. So, she decided to buy a wood burner and try engraving some store-bought wood boxes. She quickly determined she could probably do a better job building the boxes herself and took her DIY gift project to the next level. Stone bought a small saw and handmade engraved wood boxes for her entire family for Christmas.

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Made in St. Augustine® is FLA-REAL

/ Made In St. Augustine/
Made in St. Augustine® is FLA-REAL

It all started when a traveling man asked Jeannie Smith-Rosenberg where she was from and she answered “Florida.” He replied, “For real?” and she jokingly responded “Fla real.” 

And a brand was born.

That conversation instigated Smith-Rosenberg to create a brand that represents all that she and others love about the state of Florida. It’s a “real” love for everything Florida.

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Mike Usina Casts Minorcan Magic at Made in St. Augustine®

/ Made in St. Augustine/
Mike Usina Casts Minorcan Magic at Made in St. Augustine®

A spool of twine, a needle, a mesh board, nimble fingers and time. These are the tools Mike Usina needs to create Minorcan Magic. 

Usina isn’t a magician in the traditional sense. But once you watch him tie knot after knot to transform bonded nylon into a 7-foot cast net - you will agree he is a magician in his own right.

Usina began hand making cast shrimp and mullet nets more than 65 years ago. While the English cast net made from bonded nylon is his favorite, he has made all types of fishing nets using an array of materials including linen, cotton, Nycott, braided spectra fiber and braided Dacron. 
 

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Changing the World, One Pop at a Time

/ Made in St. Augustine Festival/
Changing the World, One Pop at a Time

In the early months of 2010 Stephen DiMare was working in Montana for a winter at the Lodge at Big Sky and flew home to St. Augustine for a friend's wedding. On the flight he pitched his idea for a coffee shop to the (random) nice woman sitting next to him. She told him that what he needed in his coffee shop were ice pops, gourmet ice pops in the Mexican style. Stephen listened as she explained that paletas (Spanish for ice pops) could contain anything from cucumbers to fresh pineapple to jalapeños.

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