We started today a little later than usual. Wednesdays are a late start day for our school district, which means our daughter does not have to be there until later in the morning. So we take full advantage of that. We sleep in, we slow down, and we ease into the day. After years of being teachers and getting up before the sun for meetings, early buses, and everything else that comes with that life — we have zero guilt about it.

By the time we got into the shop it was already a full operation. Jeremy was pressing shirts and running production. I was getting set up for lasering. And that is just kind of how our days go.

Laser Day: Custom Lake Ornaments and Keepsakes

Today's main project was lasering a batch of custom lake ornaments for a wholesale store in Idaho. They order from us regularly through Faire, and these are one of our staple products — a stained glass style pontoon boat design with an American flag, laser engraved onto thin plywood with the lake name, city, and state.

I use the same materials every time for these, which makes it a lot faster. When you are doing volume, you do not want to go back and reinvent the wheel every single time. I save my settings, I reuse them, and I move. I also use magnets to lift the wood slightly off the laser bed so there is less burn on the back — a small thing that makes a big difference in the finished product.

The first pass came out a little lighter than I wanted, so I ran them again to get a deeper engrave. I would rather redo a pass and lose a couple pieces than ship something that does not look right. These are going into a store. That matters.

After the engraving is done I clean them up with a little alcohol on a cloth or wipe — it takes off any soot or residue and makes everything look really clean and finished. Then I add the image element, which is my own process and a little bit of a trade secret, and they are ready to package and ship.

We made ten of them for this order. They can be done as ornaments with a hole for hanging, as magnets, or as larger wall pieces. I think they are really beautiful and I want to keep this shape and add more designs to it. If you are a wholesale buyer and these are something you would want to carry in your store, you can find us on Faire.

A Shop That Is Running on All Cylinders

While I was lasering, Jeremy was pressing shirts and keeping up with embroidery. At one point all three things were running at the same time — laser, press, embroidery machine — and that is just a Wednesday for us right now.

We are in a season of the business where we are genuinely busy, and that is a good thing. There was a time not that long ago when it was not like this. Now the work is there and we are in the thick of it. We are also starting to think about bringing on some help, which is its own conversation. Going from a two person operation to managing other people is a whole mindset shift — you have to get organized in a way that makes sense to someone other than just you. We know that. We are working on it.

On What Running a Small Business Actually Looks Like

People see small business owners and think — oh you make your own schedule, how nice. And yes, technically true. But that schedule is now 24 hours a day. When we leave the shop the work does not stop. We are thinking about orders, planning content, answering messages, and working on the next thing. Jeremy has been coming in on weekends because we have too much to do. That is just the reality of it right now.

We are not complaining. We chose this. But we think it is important to show what it actually looks like — not the highlight reel version, just the real one. The late lunches, the reruns on the laser, the trying to figure out how to grow without dropping everything you already have going.

Lunch and the Great Cheddar Debate

Late lunch today from the place across the street. Jeremy got a pizza stromboli — light on the sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, sausage. I got a ham and cheese sandwich with just mozzarella, no cheddar. We both skipped the pickle. We do have pickle merch by the way, so make of that what you will.

We also had a full conversation about why they changed the chip bags. That is just where we are on a Wednesday.

Come Hang With Us

The full day is up on our YouTube channel if you want to see the laser in action and watch us figure out lunch. New videos go up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We would love to have you along for it.

Shop 222 Parkside at 222parkside.com and find us on Faire if you are a wholesale buyer.