MaileKai Creations is back at the NorthWest Crossing Farmers Market for the third year in a row, selling their beautiful and creative upcycled glass bottles of all shapes and sizes. The company melts or slumps the bottles into useful shapes, such as spoon rests; dishes to hold chips or dip, crackers, olives, nuts, candy, or even toothpicks; catch-alls to hold business cards, loose change, jewelry, makeup, keys, or other small household items.
This local company is an extended family enterprise, with owners and their children involved in creating these works of art:
- Elise Clark—bottle Slumper and Sales
- Robert Clark—bottle Cutter, Photographer & Website Design
- Dart Eastwood—Director of Operations (aka: dumpster diver for bottles, and Sales)
- 4 kids—2 Clarks, 2 Eastwoods—bottle washers and cut bottle sanders
By heating and molding glass bottles into fun and useful shapes, MaileKai creates artistic and useful upcycled items. Accent colors are added to create products that will match your favorite colors. Most of the bottles are recycled items, scavenged from recycle bins and various drink and eatery establishments in and around our beautiful Bend, Oregon. In addition, the company has many contributions from faithful customers who save their unique bottles just for them.
In addition to the main slumped bottle line, MaileKai Creations does some ceramics with melted glass inside. This year, they are debuting cut bottles which are made into drinking glasses or vases. This is another terrific way to upcycle all those cool bottles in the world, and the company is having great fun with it. Come check them out!
Owner Elise Clark said, ” NorthWest Crossing’s market is fun because first and foremost, it is a Farmers market, and the community comes out to get their produce. I love this—and I get my produce there as well! After customers have their produce, they like to shop for unique items, artwork, and creative upcycled products, like our slumped & cut bottles. The people are fun, the music is great, and the whole atmosphere is really terrific.”
