Tumble Me Timber owner turned hobby into business
BY SHAWNA KONIECZNY
THE STAR NEWS
Over one ago, Sara Mitchell of Medford started making custom-designed tumblers for her family and the hobby eventually transformed into the new business, Tumble me Timber.
Mitchell said that the idea for the business came from seeing other custom tumblers on the social media app TikTok. She said that they looked fun to make, so she decided to order some of the supplies to make them herself. After making a few tumblers and posting them online, Tasha Neitzel, the owner of Vintage Naturals on Main Street, reached out to Mitchell and asked if she’d be willing to make some tumblers to sell in the store.
“I just started doing basic ones for the store, like summer ones. At that time because the state was just kind of opening up more, I did a lot of support our farmers, support small businesses,” said Mitchell.
Before leaving for a visit to Wyoming, where she has family, Mitchell gave about two dozen tumblers to Neitzel and ten days later, when Mitchell returned to Medford, all of the tumblers had sold out. Mitchell said that she was very surprised by the success in such short amount of time. After that, she continued to make tumblers to sell at Vintage Naturals and it’s really helped jumpstart Tumble Me Timber.
“I just started doing them just because I was like, oh these look fun to do, and then I made some for my kids, for myself, for my family in Wyoming. Just putzing around, and then Tasha had asked me to put them in the store,” said Mitchell. “Her having my tumblers has helped me tremendously.”
Aside from the tumblers Mitchell makes for Vintage Naturals, which are mostly seasonal-themed, she gets a lot of custom orders from people asking for a specific design. Mitchell said that people will send a picture of what design they want and she’ll do her best to replicate it as close as possible. Mitchell said that her customers have been very satisfied with her work.
When an order comes in, Mitchell tries to get them made and ready within 48 hours if she has the desired size in stock. Otherwise she’ll order the correct size and get the tumbler finished as soon as it gets in. “I do anywhere from baby sippy cups, to little kids, to big kids, to the biggest that I’ve done is a 32 ounce water bottle,” said Mitchell. The tumblers are all stainless steel and can be made into any and every color. “I sand them down, wash them, prep them, spray paint them whatever color they want. Then if there’s glitter to be applied to it, I have to let the spray paint dry, and then I apply glitter using Mod Podge,” said Mitchell.
After the paint or glitter dries, Mitchell applies two layers of epoxy using a cup turner that spins the cup
