Interview: Manzanita Kids!
Manzanita Kids, created by David and Adrienne is based out of Seattle, Washington. Read on to learn more about the fabulous makers behind these beautiful one of a kind products. Be sure to stop by and say hi and give one of their toys a go!
Tell us bit about yourself, your company.
MK: We are David and Adrienne, the designers and builders of Manzanita Kids toys. Adrienne is a teacher at Adams Elementary in Ballard and David is a stay-at-home dad. A week after our first son Thomas was born, David was laid off from his job. During Thomas' nap times, David started working in the shop making simple wooden toys for Thomas. At a certain point we had a crazy idea - maybe other kids would love these toys as much as our son! We started our Etsy shop and our business started to take off! All of our offerings are informed by our experience and expertise as teacher, artist and landscape architect. Our toys are designed to target specific developmental milestones using only natural materials.
When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
MK: David, from the age of six always wanted to be an artist. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and met Adrienne in Los Angeles while they were pursuing their Masters and Bachelors degrees in fine art, respectively. Growing up, Adrienne wanted to be a writer, truck driver, basketball player, nurse, teacher, astronaut and scientist, but she always knew that making things would be part of her life.
Is there a certain person, place or object you draw inspiration from?
MK: There are many people we draw inspiration from but Friedrich Froebel is perhaps the most relevant to our design approach. Froebel invented kindergarten in the 19th century. It didn't exist before he started to teach it. His 'gifts' for kindergarteners, of blocks, pattern making, lacing, etc, have inspired generations of children and artists, including us.
If you had no boundaries: money, time, space, support, etc. what dream project would you pursue?
MK: We would love to build a home for our family, not too big, just big enough for our windows to frame great views of some water and some mountains. Our dream house would have a big detached studio for us to design and build toys and pursue other creative projects!
What’s your favorite thing to do to kill time? Any secret Internet time wasters, guilty pleasures?
MK: Our favorite time killers are cooking and taking walks together as a family. David is an adventurous chef and Adrienne and Thomas are adventurous eaters. We take long walks together to burn off all the calories!
Where do you like to go when you just want to get away? A beach, a mall, a market? What’s your favorite type of spot to go unwind.
MK: We love to camp. Since our daughter is due in August, this summer will be the first for both of us, since we were very young, that we didn't go camping! We even took Thomas camping once last summer when he was about six months old. We love finding places in the woods that we can set up the tent and use as a home base to take day trips on foot or the bikes.
If you only had one more meal to eat on this world what would it be? (It can be several courses)
MK: One more meal, how sad! If we had one more meal to eat, we'd definitely include cheese in several forms. We'd probably do an appetizer meal, tapas style. Asparagus wrapped in procuttio, fresh mussels with lemon and garlic, homemade bread, enormous cheese platter, decadent chocolate cheesecake with raspberries and some of David's delicious homebrew to wash it all down.
What do you love about most UCU’s Summer Show?
MK: It's our first show as vendors, we are very excited and a bit nervous! We are excited that UCU attracts so many buyers to converge on one location to support small craft businesses. We are thrilled to meet customers face to face, a welcome respite from being an online shop. We love that it's summer and people can drop in and shop and enjoy the fountain and Seattle Center all in one fun day.
Tell readers what they should expect to see when they stop by and see you at UCU.
MK: In addition to having many of our toys on display, we'll also have a play table where kids and adults can 'test-drive' the toys. Expect David's friendly face to tell you more about the toys, Adrienne will be 9 months pregnant so she'll stop in to say hi.
