Holiday Style?

Colors: Playful and vibrant colors like candy cane red, peppermint pink, icy blue, and snowy white.

Theme: Whimsical and magical designs featuring elements like snowflakes, snowmen, Santa Claus, reindeer, and whimsical creatures like elves or fairies.

Vintage Nostalgia

Whimsical Wonderland

Colors: Bold and glamorous metallic shades like gold, silver, rose gold, and copper combined with rich jewel tones or deep, dark colors like navy or black.

Theme: Opulent and glamorous designs featuring metallic accents, shimmering fabrics, sequins, glitter, and luxurious textures.

Colors: Soft pastel hues like blush pink, mint green, baby blue, and vintage-inspired shades like faded red or antique gold.

Theme: Retro and nostalgic designs incorporating vintage ornaments, lace, ribbons, nostalgic prints, and delicate embellishments.

MATERIALS: ACRYLIC... continued

Several acrylic manufacturers and suppliers offer the same colors or style families. However, each manufacturer has a unique process with different molds, sheet sizes, pastes, and materials. These process variances can result in widely different qualities. For example, several styles lose pattern integrity when cast in larger molds. Suppliers who work with smaller mold batches for those styles offer more consistent patterning batch to batch. Pro-tip: We recommend working directly with CO2 laser suppliers when shopping for acrylic. If the supplier doesn’t regularly work with a CO2 laser, they may not hold the same quality standards necessary for your projects. A reputable supplier has already gone through the troubleshooting of identifying the best manufacturers for each unique style.

Now that you know the truth behind these common acrylic misperceptions, don’t be afraid to try it out yourself.

Chelsea Sauder is a partner at Houston Acrylic along with Courtney and Patrick Boren. Through Houston Acrylic, Chelsea has combined her background in entrepreneurship with her passion for the maker community. HoustonAcrylic.com

BUSINESS 101... continued

It is just the start of summer, and people are decorating with red, white, and blue. Still, as a laserfocused business owner who only makes and sells Christmas ornaments, I can attest to how quickly the next several months will blur together and get lost in ribbon, glue, and the scent of laser-cut wood filling the air. There is a lot to think about as we prepare for the season ahead!

When you plan now, even if you don’t start holidaymaking now, you can reach the success you desire this year and still be able to manage a household and sit down with your family at dinner each night.

Good luck, elves! Now harness up the reindeer and climb in your sleigh for a long crazy holiday ride into Christmas 2023!

Nicole Jackson lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with her husband and daughter and is the founder of The Laser Elves Ornament group on Facebook. You can find her on Etsy as well.