Hello, I’m Hayley, the maker, marketer and everything else-er behind Silver Halos!
I’m a bit of an introvert, so this blog has been a long time in the making, I’m not used to talking about myself at all! Here goes…
Having grown up with creative parents I’ve always enjoyed making things. When I was younger my Mum used to make and decorate the most amazing cakes and my Dad would create giant Christmas crackers full of gifts, we always used to have the best Halloween party props all made by my dad and incredibly inventive food made by my Mum, our parties were the best! These things have definitely passed down to me, I’m well known for my party props!
That being said, I kind of fell into crafting as a job. I moved from my hometown of Torquay to be with my boyfriend at the time (now husband!) to Hinckley in 2011. We had our little boy Charlie in 2012, and considered our family complete. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I started to feel like I needed a challenge. All my children were at school or nursery, and although I worked part time I was feeling a bit redundant!
Flicking through a magazine one day I came across an advert for a charity trek. That was it, I decided there and then that’s what I was going to do! After a bit more research I signed up to walk the Inca trail in Peru, to raise funds for the charity Breast Cancer Care.
If you’re still reading, you might be wondering what this has got to do with anything! Well, having signed up I now had to raise the minimum amount of £3750. This was a daunting task, but I just knew I was doing the right thing. I am a firm believer in fate, and Angels and things happening for a reason, so what happened next really confirmed this for me!
My mum and I had taken up making jewellery as a hobby a few years before, and one day mum told me about a little bead shop that had popped up in the small part of Torquay where I grew up. The lady inside had some beautiful little angel bag charms for sale. We got chatting to her and started telling her about my trek. This wonderful lady was so touched; she was a breast cancer survivor herself, so she offered to show me and mum how to make these angels so I could sell them to raise some of the funds for my trek. Strangely, the shop closed down just a few months later. Was it fate that we went in and met this lady? Were the angels showing me the way?
I bought enough beads and supplies to make 10 angels that day. I set up a page on Facebook, Halos was the obvious choice, what with selling angels and my nickname Halo! I ended up selling hundreds of them in various forms, from charms to earrings, necklaces to wine glass charms and even Christmas tree decorations! Every penny went to charity. I am still thankful to the lovely lady, whose name I can’t remember.
Fast forward now to 2016. I completed my trek the year before, and had decided to keep my page on Facebook to try and make a go of it as a legitimate business, but the angels were becoming more readily available elsewhere, and my love for making jewellery had diminished. Scrolling through Pinterest one day I saw a wreath. A new passion was born! I bought my first artificial flowers and wreath base on Boxing Day 2016, and I’ve never looked back! I now sell worldwide, with several sales to Europe, USA and even Australia and New Zealand! I also run wreath workshops from my home and at a local hotel.
I honestly have a lot to thank the little bead shop and it’s owner for, as well as the Angels for showing me the way ?
Thats me, 3rd from the left at the back, having completed a 26km trek with an amazing group of people!
