By Emily Etheredge
When Sherry Buckner created a decorative floral wreath and sold it on eBay, she had no idea her hobby would soon turn into a thriving business.
Buckner and her daughter Amanda Boykin own and operate Petal Pusher’s Wreaths and Designs in Isabella, creating wreaths for different occasions that now include both national and international customers.
The mother-daughter duo started using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to promote their business resulting, in orders from around the world.
“We have customers from many different parts of the world that purchase wreaths,” Boykin said. “There was one ordered we had this week from Australia, and we have shipped to places like Africa and Japan as well.”
Buckner originally learned how to construct wreaths when she worked at a floral shop in high school near her home in North Carolina.
“I decided to start working with artificial flowers because I like flowers that last a long time,” Buckner said. “Now, you can get artificial flowers that look almost identical to fresh flowers.”
When Buckner’s father became ill with cancer, she needed an outlet to take her mind off things and began working on decorating wreaths in her spare time. After some prodding from Boykin to sell a wreath on eBay, Buckner put the wreath online and it quickly sold. 600 wreaths later, Buckner and Boykin decided to go into business together.
After creating a Facebook page, website, and Twitter account, the business hit a boom with more than 100 wreaths sold weekly.
“Six months ago, we were creating and selling about 10-15 wreaths a week,” Boykin said. “We are rapidly growing.”
Buckner’s younger daughter, Rebecca Boykin, now contributes to the business as well and has worked with her sister and mom for the last month making wreaths in a workshop near their home.
“There are not many people who can say they get to work with their daughters every day, so I am very fortunate,” Buckner said. “The business allows us to bond in ways we would have never imagined.”
Recently, Buckner and Boykin decided it would be fun to host a Christmas in July contest for a “Gingerbread Delight” wreath being given away. Within the second day of having the contest posted on their Facebook page, they had more than 100,000 entries for the wreath.
“It was amazing to see how word traveled so fast,” Boykin said. “We were thrilled.”
The high-end wreaths sell for $129-$190 dollars with free shipping for any order within the United States.
The family business also relies heavily on the local post office in Maplesville to ship all of the orders for the wreaths.
“This business is all about community involvement,” Buckner said. “We make the wreaths and then take them to the post office to be shipped, and they do a wonderful job of making sure the wreaths are delivered when we need them to be.”
Boykin said a lot of people have questioned why she would want to work professionally on something that is often considered a hobby.
“My response to people asking me that question is I have been able to work hard at turning a hobby into a profession,” Boykin said.
Buckner and Boykin said they are happy to construct any type of wreath for their customers, as they reminisced about several unusual requests they have had in the past.
“We had one customer that wanted a wreath filled with deer horns,” Boykin said. “We were able to find some things to make the wreath, and it all worked out.”
Erica McGraw, daughter-in-law to television psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, frequently orders wreaths to be shipped to her home in Beverly Hills.
“She (Erica) ordered a wreath from us to give as a Christmas present,” Buckner said. “We got the call on Dec. 22 that she needed the wreath by Dec. 24. We scurried around and had everything finished and shipped and it made it to her home just in time.”
With the holiday season approaching, Buckner and Boykin say a wreath makes the perfect gift or a wonderful decoration for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
“We have a lot of different wreaths to choose from for the holidays, and they make wonderful gifts that will last a long time,” Boykin said.
Although the workshop is not open to the public, customers can view the wreaths online at petalpusherswreaths.com.
“We like to say that we can make ordinary doors turn into extraordinary doors,” Buckner said.