Allegra Murray of the Petal Peddler’s Shop, on crafting what you love
Episode 5: April, 2018
Airs every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. and every at 9:00 a.m.
About this episode:
Allegra Murray of the Petal Peddler’s Shop is the guest on this episode of ?Broad Appeal.? A Milton entrepreneur, Allegra and Melissa chat about how her crafting genius has evolved into a business
About our guest:
The Petal Peddler?s Shop is a home-based craft business in Milton, Massachusetts. Through her business, Allegra handcrafts flowers from unique paper like book pages, sheet music, and vintage street maps. These flowers are then sold by the stem or incorporated into one-of-a kind jewelry, pens, hair clips, and more.
The Petal Peddler?s Shop bloomed (pun intended!) from Allegra’s volunteer work with the Friends of the Milton Public Library.
“Last fall, I was helping with the creation of the new ?Jane Austen Tea Series? and brainstorming some options to be used as centerpieces. One of the ideas we landed on was to create arrangements using roses made from used book pages. I volunteered to create the centerpieces and, the next thing I knew, I had crafted 36 roses plus another dozen to be used as a raffle prize.”
The roses were very well received at the event and Allegra received a lot of interest from people who wanted to buy the flowers – and that?s how The Petal Peddler?s Shop was born!
The Shop specialized in custom orders during the holidays, and as the new year began, expanded its offerings to include jewelry, new hair accessories, and floral arrangements – many of which you can see on the show (below).
“As a new business, I find it essential to build my business on the local level first, which is why I do not currently sell on Etsy. The feedback I receive from my neighbors is integral to both the growth and success of The Shop which is why I personally deliver each item. For more information on The Petal Peddler?s Shop, including photos and ordering information, new product releases, and the latest news, please like and follow The Petal Peddler?s Shop on Facebook.”
More about Allegra:
I grew up in Smithtown on Long Island, New York. I started studying opera performance at age 12 and eventually went on to obtain a Bachelors of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in Classical Vocal Performance. While in college, I created and managed the school?s first student-organized a cappella chorus called ?Parallel Motion.? After running the chorus for several years, I discovered that I enjoyed arts management more than performing. As a result, I moved to Boston in 2007 to pursue my Masters of Science degree in Arts Administration and a Certificate in Fundraising Management from Boston University.
Currently, I live in Milton with my husband and five year old son. In my spare time, I regularly volunteer with three organizations: as a member of the Milton Cultural Council, with the Friends of the Milton Public Library and their Milton Reads committee, and in the Development/Marketing Committee at the Forbes House Museum.
Today’s Twist:
The Moscow Mule
Melissa shows us how to make this quick and easy cocktail. View recipe.
Today’s Tip: Microsoft Excel for all!
I rely on Microsoft Excel to help organize almost anything and everything – both personally and professionally! In my personal life, I used Excel to plan our wedding, track my son?s eating/sleeping/growth when he was a baby, create charts to help me pack for vacations, help visualize the pros and cons of different cellphone plans, and so on. For my business, Excel is invaluable. From managing inventory and documenting income/expenses to establishing timelines and check lists, I use the program almost every day.
I think that Excel has a reputation of being unapproachable and difficult to learn; however, the versatility of the program allows you simply focus on what you need for it to do. Can I use the program to do trigonometry? Absolutely. Will I ever? Probably not. But I do recommend that everyone becomes comfortable with the program, because once they do, they will have a new tool to with which hack their life and become more efficient.