St. Louis Park woman makes 'Beautiful Impact' with jewelry made from upcycled tins

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ST. LOUIS PARK, Minnesota — Alysha Boie has always considered herself a maker. Growing up, she loved drawing and making friendship bracelets. In college, she turned to candle making, knitting and crocheting.

"I was just always wanting that creative outlet. So I was making beaded jewelry for years and years... and really wanted to start incorporating materials that were eco-friendly. So I started looking into different materials to repurpose," recalled Boie, who lives in St. Louis Park.

That's when Boie came across a pair of cookie tin earrings on Pinterest. It inspired her to launch Beautiful Impact in 2017.

Boie takes everything from vintage biscuit tins to beer cans, and transforms them into meaningful pieces of jewelry.

"A lot of people have tins that are maybe holding buttons or they're just in a box in the attic or in the basement," Boie said. "I think a lot of people don't know what to do with them so they will send them to Goodwill or just keep them in the box."

Boie is currently working on an order for a customer she met during a holiday market last year. Boie had a few vintage tins on display when a woman walked by and recognized a biscotti tin her grandpa used to buy during Christmastime.

"She got really emotional with that memory," Boie said.

Boie is now working on about 10 ornaments from the upcycled tin; the woman plans to gift her family them this holiday season.

"She said, 'I am so excited to give these ornaments to my loved ones because when they open them, and when they see the tin and the print, they are going to think about grandpa,'" Boie said.

Another custom order involved taking Busch Light cans from their partnership with John Deere and using the print on the can for pairs of earrings. The customer wanted them as a way to promote farming and community in North Dakota.

Not every piece of jewelry has sentimental value but all the tins have a story.

"When I get a tin like this I think about who was gifted this tin 80 years ago, and where it's been and the story that it is has," Boie said.

Boie, who is a mom to three kids, creates all the pieces from her home in St. Louis Park. She has a background in mental health and community work.

"It really brings me peace. It does. Just being able to sit and take something and transform it into something else that people see beauty and value in, that is really nice. But really it's the process of creating and it's the process of slowing down," Boie said. "I can get lost in it for a long time."

Beautiful Impact donates a portion of its proceeds every month to a nonprofit. This month, donations will go to One Tree Planted.

Next weekend, Boie will be selling her jewelry at Art Attack! at The Northrup King Building in northeast Minneapolis. She will be showing her work at A MANO's studio (Suite 252).

Beautiful Impact pieces are also sold at I Like You and I Like You Too, as well as online. Custom orders are encouraged.

Know a local business we should feature for our Behind the Business segment? Email Heidi Wigdahl at [email protected].

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