Wooden wonders — New Main Street retail store Sawdust and Flames offers handmade items | News, Sports, Jobs - Times Republican

Aug 24, 2024

T-R 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 business primarily offers handmade products such as wooden noodle boards and wine stoppers.

The desire to make life simpler while continuing enjoyable work is what 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 spent three years traveling to five or six craft fairs each year, hauling their wooden wares to each one. The farthest they traveled was Omaha and the biggest fair was in the Des Moines area.

“We got tired of packing up, unloading, setting up, tearing down,” Lori said. “We’ve been doing this for three years. We just took off and went with it.”

For 32 years, prior to creating and selling woodwork, Scott was in the military before he retired, and Lori worked in Toy Box Daycare – something she is still involved in. When they heard of an available space in the Hellberg building on West Main Street, they jumped at the chance.

Now Sawdust and Flames display their, and other family members, handmade items.

“We’ve been open for about three, four weeks,” Lori said.

The opening day was Bee Ridiculous Days, during which there was a good flow of people to the new business.

Many of the wooden products found in Sawdust and Flames were made by McLain or members of her family, such as this wall of home decor wall hangings.

More than half of the store’s inventory is handmade. Lori, 61, and her husband make many of the wooden items on the shelves, such as noodle and charcuterie boards and home decor signs.

“We can basically carve on any wood,” she said. “We have a CNC [computer numerical control] machine, a laser engraver and a 3D printer.”

The tools allow the McLains to create plain or personalized items or ones featuring sayings and designs.

The noodle boards – flat boards with sides, and intended for kneading and rolling dough – have been some of the more popular items for customers, along with incredibly soft sympathy blankets and wine toppers made by Hero Custom Creations. Lori said customers can also set the noodle boards on their stovetops to create extra counter space.

With handles firmly attached to the sides of the noodle boards, she said people have also used them for their ottomans for movie nights, or as patio trays.

“We have a wide variety of stuff, and a few things from a wholesaler to fill in with,” she said. “It’s gifts you can find here I don’t think you will find at any other store. We also have handmade wreaths with some gorgeous ones coming for winter.”

Lori’s sister is the creator of Deb’s Wreaths, and her daughter makes the BL Candles. Lady Bub clothes hanging on the rack are made by family friend Alyssa Lennie.

With the store being a new venture, Lori said they are only open two days per week — Friday and Saturday. If things go well, she said they will add more days the store is open and hopes to expand the business. Ideally, the McLains want to find a location with enough space and good parking.

“We’d like to get our own building, and all of our machines will be there,” Lori said.

Eventually, they will host a ladies evening including raw wood projects and food. There is no date set for the ladies evening yet, but she said they will post it on the Sawdust and Flames Facebook page.

“I think it’s going to be very fun,” Lori said. “They will be able to 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

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays

Website: Facebook

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or [email protected].