Not Just Horsen Around-Horse Hair Jewelry + Keepsakes By Sandy Harmsen

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My story!

Hello! ...Here's my story...

My hubby, Jack, was diagnosed with (Early On Set) Parkinson's Disease in 1996 at the age of 46 years old. Due to the Parkinson's Disease my hubby was forced into early retirement, because he could no longer perform his job duties as an A/C technician. In 2013 the Parkinson's had progressed so much that it was no longer safe for Jack to be at home alone all day while I was at work, so I quit my job (after working there for 20 years) to stay at home and care for my hubby. Our daughter lives about 50 miles away with her husband and our beautiful granddaughters, so she wasn't able to be very helpful in this situation. Unfortunately, me not working created some hardships for us. I had to figure out how to supplement our income, and I had to figure it out fast. I began making beaded jewelry and attempted to sell it at local outdoor market's. I wanted to try something that would help me sell more jewelry, so I took a paracord braiding class at the local Rec. center. A couple of weeks after that my daughter came over to celebrate a Birthday, and I showed her what I had learned at that class. As she was leaving I gave her (and our granddaughters) bracelet's that I made using the braiding that I learned. When my daughter returned home, she showed her hubby the braided bracelet's I made. He really liked the braiding I had done and suggested that I try to braid their horses' tail hair in the same way. So, I did! After showing my daughter and a couple other friends that own horses, I decided to see if I could make a profit selling Horse Hair Keepsake's. I made a business page on Facebook and began to advertise as much as I could. Weeks had past, and then I finally received a message from a lady on Facebook asking about my Horse Hair Keepsake's. I was answering questions for her, and then she told me about her horse and why he had passed away, she mentioned that she had been saving her horses tail hair for years waiting for someone that was affordable. She had only found 4 or 5 other people that do this and they all charged over $100 for a bracelet, but I advertised mine for more than half that amount which was in her price range. Once she received her Keepsake she immediately posted on my page saying how impressed she was by the quality of work I had done and how delighted she was to finally have a Keepsake she is proud to show off. ...and the rest is history, as they say. Once customer's started expressing to me how overjoyed they were to receive their Horse Hair Keepsake, I knew this is what I was meant to do. If anyone would have told me 10 years ago that this is what I would be doing at the age of 60 I would have laughed and called them crazy. I feel very blessed to be able to give others so much joy at times of sadness. I don't just do this for the money, I know how it feels when a beloved fur baby passes away. It feels like they take a piece of your heart with them when they cross The Rainbow Bridge. I just hope that I can continue providing affordable and beautiful Horse Hair Keepsake's to help others with the grieving process.