Kristen LaFell, a full-time mother and wife, has always been interested in crafting. During the pandemic, many people picked up new hobbies, but LaFell turned her passion into a business. She created Krafts & Kocktails as an offshoot of her brand, K. LaFell Customs.
Crafts & Cocktails is a quarterly event that LaFell hosts, providing an opportunity for people to network with other locals while making DIY crafts and sipping cocktails. LaFell has previously hosted two events, one themed for Galentine's Day and another for Easter.
“I do want to create those spontaneous events where we have people networking and the networking actually lasts a while,” LaFell said.
At the February event, guests made their own candles from scratch with custom scents and enjoyed a strawberry sidecar cocktail. In April, participants made “bunny boxes,” which are adult Easter baskets, while sipping on blueberry lemonade sunrises and morning margaritas.
LaFell aims to keep these events priced at around $75 to $100, which covers the craft, cocktails, rental space, live DJ and food. Event registration opens four weeks before the event and stays open until two days prior. Those who are interested can find sign up pages on her Instagram page.
The next Krafts & Kocktails event will be happening on June 10 and will be an all women’s outdoor pool party where guests will either make their own fire pit bowls or handmade citronella candles. LaFell likes to keep the cocktail a surprise until guests arrive. The location will also be kept private until after registration for guest safety.
The next event will be September 9 and will be a couples event where they will decorate their own sneakers. The cost of this event will be $150.
“That's going to be my only couples event for the year. It will be like a sneaker ball, and we will actually be customizing a pair of sneakers,” LaFell said.
LaFell uses these events to get the word out about her business, K. LaFell Customs, which makes customizable items such as tumblers, t-shirts, school uniform sets, party decor and party favors. She has previous business experience owning a hair salon, where her goal was to make people feel good about themselves and have a good time.
K. LaFell Customs can do any kind of customization a customer asks for, ranging from simple monogramming to a memorial tumbler LaFell made based on an obituary.
“Some people truly just say create me something,” LaFell said. “From there, I truly dive into what do you like? What are your likes and dislikes? I mean, it gets custom like that.”
LaFell is constantly looking for new business and is ready to take on even more projects as time goes on. Though being an entrepreneur can be difficult, she has figured out the secret to it.
“Don't wait till you're at 100%, just jump off. I can tell you that five years ago, there's no way I thought I'd be selling out my events before I can even post them just because people know about them. Bet on yourself and just start building your way up to 100%,” LaFell said. “Don't wait till you have all the pieces together because they'll never come together.”
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