Castillo’s Craftycles, a family-owned company, repurposes recyclable material to make captivating crafts. I had the pleasure of asking co-owner, Samantha Castillo, about her experience.
What is the main goal of your company?
Castillo’s Craftycles is a family business that takes a unique approach to recycling as we transform soda-cans into different forms of art and décor… We believe in creating an alternative purpose for the cans we get and we plan on taking any scraps we do not use to a local recycling facility, so we do not allow any of it to go to waste. Our main goal is to reduce the amount of recyclable materials being thrown away and save the planet one can at a time. It may not seem like a big feat right away, but in the long run we hope to have every individual across the nation have some form permanent recycled craft in their home preventing more pollution and creating more art.
What kind of materials do you reuse to create your products?
As of right now, we are currently only using soda-cans, because that was the most common item we were able to either find or obtain. Any spare soda-cans we find outside or our companions give us, we transform into these pieces of art. We do plan on expanding our creativity with other recyclable materials in the near future.
What has been your proudest moment since starting the Craftycles business?
The proudest moment for my mom and I has been overcoming the many obstacles that have popped-up along our journey… We are putting every ounce of effort we have towards make this successful and take pride in everything we have accomplished in such a short amount of time.
How long does a flower or a butterfly magnet take you to complete?
Our single flowers take an estimated 2 hours from start to finish. This involves rinsings, cutting, painting, assembling and decorating our products. The butterfly magnets take an estimated half hour to an hour. Both processes are considering the fact that the cans are washed, prepped and ready to begin the crafting process.
What is your favorite thing about Craftycles?
We got to turn a passionate recycling and crafting hobby into a beautiful business that also helps the planet. We never dreamed other people would love our crafts as much as we do, and although we take pride in everything we create, we enjoy being able to share them with others across the nation.
What kind of obstacles did you face while starting your company?
There were many obstacles to starting this business. The initial obstacle began even before our hobby became a business. We have never been a very financially prosperous family. We often struggled to make ends-meets and basically lived paycheck to paycheck, sometimes even coming up short for that. We have put everything we have in trying to make this business successful, and we hope to fall nothing short of this success. We are not ashamed of where we came from, because it has taught us to appreciate everything we have. This appreciation has made us extremely grateful for all the new opportunities that have come our way with this business. Due to this, we hope to spread this joy to the others surrounding us.
Other obstacles have been marketing our products and getting people to be aware of our business. Especially because we are so new to the business realm, it has been hard for us to spread the word with such limited funds. But through Facebook, Instagram, our website and other social media outlets, Castillo’s Craftycles is slowly but surely growing as a company. We are targeting craft shows, flea markets and online target markets to try our best and get people to notice our creations.
In your opinion, which craft have you best enjoyed making?
Personally, my favorite craft to create has been the single flowers. After the cutting and cleaning, comes the painting. I, myself, have always loved drawing and painting, since I was 8 years old. Being able to incorporate this passion into our business has brought nothing but joy and excitement to this unique concept.
What should we expect to see from Castillo’s Craftycles in the near future?
We hope to have crafts in every household around the globe one day. But in the near future, we hope to incorporate new designs and products onto our website. We want people who know us and recognize our name to go, “Wow, they really made it!” There are many people who believe in our ideas and want us to succeed. Personally, we also want to succeed because we dream about making a difference in the world, whether it be through recycling and saving the planet or simply by being large enough to hire employees and create jobs. We have goals to make change, create opportunities and help others in any way we can. Hopefully, one day we can make this happen.
Alma Tovar
Features Reporter