Owners of online business make jewelry out of breast milk

Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.

BIZ BUZZ

RIGBY

Remembering motherhood with jewelry made from breast milk

RIGBY – Providing a keepsake to remember the special bond that’s created between a mom and her baby during the first few months of life is the idea behind a business owned by two local women.

Sharlee Hill, 33, of Lyman (near Rexburg), and Sam Feltman, 31, of Rigby, are the owners of Sister’s Keepsakes, an online brand that makes jewelry out of breast milk.

“We take breast milk and preserve it into a powder. We then put it in a resin and set it in a stone for jewelry,” Hill tells EastIdahoNews.com.

The type of jewelry offered includes rings, necklaces or earrings. Hill and Feltman make it from breast milk a customer sends them. The customer picks up the jewelry in person when it’s ready.

Unlike other companies offering similar products, Feltman says their products are made to get wet or be worn almost anywhere.

“We put a top coat (of resin) on them … because we want them to last,” she says. “That’s definitely something that makes us unique.”

The duo also makes decorative items out of animal or human hair. Jewelry can also be made to store someone’s ashes.

Hill says breast milk rings are the business’s most popular product.

Making products out of breast milk has become a popular trend in recent years.

RELATED | Local mother uses women’s breast milk to create soap, lotion and diaper cream

Women have reluctantly sent their breast milk to companies in other states, according to Feltman. Since the launch of Sister’s Keepsakes this summer, Feltman says customers have been excited at the prospect of a local business offering this service.

“It’s kinda scary for people to send their milk off in the mail. You never meet the person and you’re just trusting them to make something,” she says. “People have been excited to find someone local, finally.”

Feltman was among those looking for this kind of product several years ago. She recalls sending her milk to a company she found online multiple times and the turnaround time was anywhere from six months to a year.

One of them turned out to be a scam, Hill says.

Hill is Feltman’s sister-in-law. Feltman says they’re both “pretty crafty” and enjoy making things together. Together, they came up with the idea of launching this business, and they’re grateful for the response.

For those who may be wondering why breast milk jewelry is appealing, Hill provides an explanation.

“It’s a gift to yourself to remember the journey,” Hill says. “(Nursing) can be painful and it can be exhausting. You have a lot of hormones that fluctuate during the whole journey. It’s quite the ordeal.”

Hill says her sister had twins that were in the NICU for several months. One of them died and there were other babies during that time who were struggling. She started pumping her breast milk for other babies who needed it.

“She wanted a breast milk ring to remember the baby that she saved, the baby she lost and all the babies she helped by pumping,” Hill says. “A lot of women like to add hair from their babies or their birth stones. They’ll put the birth stones in the ring or little pieces of hair from their first haircut.”

Though Hill and Feltman are happy with the business’s success, both of them say they are “moms first” and are doing this on a part-time basis until their kids are in school. As their kids get older, they’re open to doing this full-time.

To place an order or learn more, visit the business’s Facebook page. To find out where to send ashes or breast milk, send a message through that page.

WATCH OUR INTERVIEW WITH THE OWNERS IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.

BIZ BITS

Longtime stereo company celebrates 50 years of business with electronics museum

IDAHO FALLS – A locally owned and operated business, well known to the people of Idaho Falls and surrounding areas, is celebrating its 50th year in business this year.

In February 1973, Dave Bailey Sr., his wife Marilyn and their son Dave Jr. established Phase 4 Stereo and Electronics. Their initial location was at 208 Northgate Mile in Idaho Falls. Within a few years, Phase 4 outgrew that location and moved half a block to 238 Northgate Mile, across the street from the Post Register building. In 2006, it expanded into a new, larger building at 3135 East 17th Street in Ammon.

Phase 4 Stereo established itself by meeting customers’ needs and by bringing new and innovative technologies to eastern Idaho.

As the oldest and largest independently owned electronics store in the state, Phase 4 Stereo remains a family business. It’s evolved in the rapidly changing electronics and technology market. Yes, it still installs car stereos.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary in business, Phase 4 is opening a museum called Electronics Evolution. EastIdahoNews.com is planning a more in-depth story on this soon.

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