Under cover
Add some Southern hospitality to your party or dinner table with clever and colorful coasters from Georgia’s Reyn Paper Co.
The company: Reyn Paper Co. opened in 2014. The family-owned company, located in historical downtown Douglasville, creates high-quality artisan paper goods and gifts.
The company name: The name of the Reyn (pronounced ren) Paper Co. is derived from the family's last name of Reynolds. Using part of the family's surname in the brand was a way to keep the family name alive since Kristen's dad only had daughters.
The founders: Kristen Reynolds, her mother, Pam Reynolds, and Kristen's husband, Garreth Lipe. As owner and creative director, Kristen illustrates and designs the products. She earned a fine arts degree from the University of West Georgia. Her mother and her husband handle the business side of the company.
What's popular: Besides various greeting cards ($5 per card), the coaster line of 26 different patterns, colors and themes — ranging from preppy to pugs. Each box includes 12 reusable coasters ($14) made of heavyweight stock.
Other favorites: Greeting cards with a natural history theme and tongue-in-cheek humor.
What's new: A wanderlust travel theme on cards, notebooks, tote bags and art prints. Cities in the collection include Charleston, S.C., Miami, NYC, London and Atlanta.
Where to buy: www.reynpaperco.com. Also in Atlanta at Star Provisions, 1198 Howell Mill Road, and Hello Gorgeous Boutique & Café, 3400 Malone Drive in Chamblee.
Feast on this
Atlanta-based Woodkith not only saves trees from landfills. It repurposes fallen trees into sculptural furniture and food boards that are both earthy and elegant.
The founders: Wayne Bedenbender (57), Shane Schoenith (34) and Hugh Hackney (71). The three men share a deep appreciation for trees and carpentry, and bring their unique skill set, including timber experience, accounting and small business management, to the company.
The company: Woodkith is a multifamily, multigenerational business that repurposes windfall or yard trees into furniture and home accessories. Much of the finishing work is done in Atlanta. Wood is dried and stored at Schoenith's family farm in Monticello.
What's in a name: Kith from "kith and kin" represents the partners' connection to family and friends.
The goods: A variety of wood pieces, including live-edge, modern tables and food-safe serving boards.
Materials: Locally sourced wood from fallen trees or trees that must be taken down. Wood types include maple, cherry, black walnut, pecan, sycamore and magnolia.
What's popular: Feast boards ($100 and up). Functional for entertaining as a cheese or charcuterie board.
Other favorites: Plantation Boards ($500 and up). These larger (5- to 6-foot) food-safe boards are sought after for catering and weddings. Also the handmade Wood Preserve ($14 for a 6-ounce jar). Custom live-edge slab tables include occasional tables ($850-$1,500) and dining ($3,000-$10,000).
Where to buy: www.woodkith.com
Two in one
Five years ago, Kasey Jackson created a spalike soy lotion candle for your home. And your body. That’s right. A lotion candle.
The company: Element Tree Essentials launched in Powder Springs in 2011. It now is based in the historic Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville, N.C. The company creates classy, multi-use soy lotion candles with cosmetic-grade soy.
The founder and background: Jackson, who graduated from McEachern High School, worked as an apprentice to a candle maker before experimenting with her own candle line. Within three months of making her first lotion candle, Jackson quit her job as a psychiatric technician to hit the festival circuit, where she enjoys travel and being outside and around other artists.
What's popular: For summer, Lemon Verbena and Grapefruit Sorbet are tops. Citrus Sage is a year-round best-seller. An 11-ounce jar is $25. The 8-ounce tin is $18.
How it works: Once the candle has been lit, allow the oils to form a pool around the flame. Once the pool has formed, extinguish the flame and dip your fingers into the warm body moisturizer and apply.
Claim to fame: Candles sold in the gift shops at the Biltmore house in Asheville and at Dollywood in Tennessee.
Where to buy: www.ElementTreeEssentials.com. Also find the lotion candles in Atlanta at the Indie Craft Experience on June 25-26 at the Georgia Freight Depot, 65 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (ice-atlanta.com).
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