TR PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM — Co-owner Lori McLain has opened Sawdust and Flames in the Helberg Building on Marshalltown’s Main Street. The new retail store offers primarily handmade products such as wooden pasta boards and wine bottle stoppers.
The desire to make life easier while making work more enjoyable led to the opening of Sawdust and Flames, the newest retail store on Marshalltown’s Main Street.
Co-owners and husband and wife Scott and Lori McLain traveled to five or six craft shows each year for three years, bringing their wood products to them. The farthest they traveled was to Omaha, and the largest show was in the Des Moines area.
“We got tired of packing everything up, unloading it, setting it up and taking it down again,” Lori said. “We’ve been doing this for three years now. We just went out and kept doing it.”
Before he began making and selling woodwork, Scott was in the military for 32 years until he retired, and Lori worked at Toy Box Daycare – where she still works. When they heard about an opening in the Hellberg building on West Main Street, they jumped at the chance.
Now Sawdust and Flames exhibit their and other family members’ handmade items.
“We’ve been open for about three or four weeks,” Lori said.
The opening day was the “Bee Ridiculous Days”, during which there was a lively rush of visitors to the new store.
Many of the wood products featured in Sawdust and Flames were made by McLain or members of her family, such as this wall of wall hangings for home decor.
More than half of the store’s inventory is handmade. Lori, 61, and her husband make many of the wooden items on the shelves themselves, such as pasta and charcuterie boards and decorative signs for the home.
“We can basically carve any wood,” she said. “We have a CNC (computerized numerical control) machine, a laser engraver and a 3D printer.”
Using the tools, the McLains can create plain or personalized items or those with sayings and designs.
The pastry boards – flat boards with sides designed for kneading and rolling out dough – are among the most popular items with customers, along with incredibly soft mourning blankets and wine lids from Hero Custom Creations. Lori said customers can also place the pastry boards on their stovetops to create additional counter space.
She said the pasta boards, with their handles firmly attached to the sides, were also used by people as ottomans for movie nights or as trays on the patio.
“We have a wide selection of stuff and a few things from a wholesaler to replenish,” she said. “There are gifts here that I don’t think you’ll find in any other store. We also have handmade wreaths and we have some beautiful ones coming in for the winter.”
Lori’s sister is the creator of Deb’s Wreaths and her daughter makes the BL candles. Lady Bub’s clothing hanging on the clothing rack is made by family friend Alyssa Lennie.
Because the store is a new venture, Lori says it is only open two days a week – Friday and Saturday. If all goes well, they will add more days and hope to grow the business. Ideally, the McLains want to find a location with plenty of space and good parking.
“We want to have our own building and all our machines will be there,” Lori said.
At some point they will be hosting a ladies night that will include rough lumber projects and food. There is no date for the ladies night yet, but she said they will post it on the Sawdust and Flames Facebook page.
“I think this will be really fun,” said Lori. “They can decorate the wood, paint it, whatever they want.”
BUSINESS INFORMATION:
Name: Sawdust and Flames
Address: 13 W. Main St. Ste. 103
Phone number: 641-750-2249
Opening hours: Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Website: Facebook
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or [email protected].
