Check Out Kristin Malaer’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Malaer.

Hi Kristin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It was 2009 and I was a stay at home mom to a 3 and 4 year old. I had heard about a new-ish website called Etsy and I opened a shop with no direction. I was a social worker prior to having kids but I have always loved Art so I felt drawn to the idea of having a creative business. The early days of Etsy felt like we were all just making things and throwing them up for sale. It felt like a big online handmade craft fair. That was me, trying to earn some income, I was making all kinds of things and it was months before my first sale.

In 2010, I gained my footing with what I was feeling called to make. My husband had bought me flowers for our 10 year anniversary and after they died, I was left with a plain vase that I wanted to decorate and keep as a keepsake. So, my creativity got going, and I went to the hardware store and bought stucco, concrete, plaster, and I just went to work making my own version of vases. I loved it. I made lots and lots of vases and I filled my Etsy shop with them. My vases were featured in some magazines and I had expanded into selling with other online retailers. It was fun, for not having an artistic background, I felt proud of myself. And then life got super busy with my kids and school and activities, that I pulled away from making so many vases to just focus on making wedding date vases, which is still what I make today.

Fast forward to 2022 when my daughters were in High School and I was looking around at a nest that will be empty before too long. I still had my Etsy shop, but making vases did not feel enough for me and I missed being as creative as I once was. So I started a Tik Tok account with the idea that I would be a fun creative hobby and I would document my progress of making things. It would be an online video diary of my art projects. I was not a user of Tik Tok prior to starting my account and I had never made a video before, but I just went for it.
Much like Etsy started for me, I had no real direction other than wanting to make things. I set aside time every day to work on this new hobby. My account started growing in followers. It felt like such a supportive community of artists and creatives that encourage each other, and in my real life, I do not run in any artistic or creative circles so it felt special to me.

My account has grown to over 115k followers on Tik Tok, and I am on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
What started out as a fun hobby in 2022 still remains that way today.
Every project I make, I have never made before. I get an idea to make something and I follow where it leads and I never look up “how to make” something as that is the quickest way I would kill a project. I love to just get in my studio and give that little kid in me free reign to make whatever I want, however I want, and it is so much fun!

Being creative significantly benefits mental health by reducing stress and anxiety, improving mood, enhancing problem-solving, fostering self expression, boosting confidence, stimulating brain function. It improves the immune system. Thank you, Google, for that, but I can attest that all of that is true plus more.
We live in a society where online lives are curated to look a certain way, and we are in such a heavy “just buy it” culture, I don’t want to contribute to that.

I want to inspire creativity and I am so grateful I have found mine again.

(My shop is called HomeBeamCo on Etsy)

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Opening my Etsy shop was a lesson in what not to do. I made so many mistakes in the beginning. Creating the listings, product photos, sourcing supplies, shipping, taxes – none of that came easy for me in the beginning, but I learned.

And the road of posting on social media has been interesting, to say the least. The first 6 months on Tik Tok, I was growing in my learning of making videos and in making art. I had a few videos that were highly viewed and I was receiving some good feedback, for the most part, people were nice.
Then one day in March of 2023, I woke up and proclaimed to my husband that I was going to make a fake stone wall using cardboard, tape, glue, stucco, and paint. We lived in Austin prior to moving back to the Raleigh area, and we had a stone wall in our rental house that I loved, so I wanted to make my own version of one. I uploaded the project as I went and the last video was the start-to-finish version, with all parts together. I set it to the song Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. That video went to 5 million views in a very short time and the comments came in fast and furious.

I was naive to the drawbacks of going viral. The algorithm will show the video to people that are similar to you first and then it makes its way to everyone else who have no interest in your content and will tell you so. People were mean – the hate people had for this wall!! I can laugh about it now, but man, it did not feel good then.
But it made me grow in ways I didn’t even know I needed to. I remember how I used to open up my comments with one eye open, bracing myself for what I was about to read….but I no longer fear them. There is nothing anyone can say about what I make that will hurt my feelings, I don’t like everything I make either. But my point is not about the finished product. I don’t make things to have the thing, I make things to make the thing. In my opinion, It is the act of being creative where the benefit is, not what you produce. (Although making something I like is always the goal, but I fall short many times) I would love to encourage more people to have fun, get to know their creativity and watch it improve their life as it has mine.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I do my best to stay out of craft stores, except for some basics.  I shop my house first. I use packaging, cardboard, there is so much to be creative with all around you. I shop thrift stores.
I also use a lot of sticks and rocks in my art and I make a lot of nature inspired pieces. I recently made a life size egret sculpture out of sticks, tissue paper, and plaster. I had never made a sculpture before, I am not sure I will again.
I am so curious about so many things and each project leads me to somewhere new.
I am grateful to live in a world with so much creative freedom.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I usually listen to music while I work as it energizes and helps me focus. I haven’t met much music that I don’t like, but 80’s and 90’s are my fave.

Pricing:

• My wedding date vases on Etsy sell for 50 dollars, shipping included.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HomeBeamCo
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/homebeam
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Home-Beam-DIY-61557395618760/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@homebeam7736
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@homebeam