Burkhardt At Home, Made with Kim

Burkhardt At Home’s most popular home-crafted items are the one that are the most personalized. Items that are specifically relevant for the recipient.

Take, for example, the photo above. I grew up in Bellingham, a small town in Northwest Washington (the state, not the capital). In Bellingham, it has been locally popular since the early 1970’s to paint a boulder just south of town to commemorate special events. “Bellingham rock” is located immediately to the right of the northbound lanes of the freeway (I-5). When someone has a special event – milestone birthdays, graduations, weddings, retirements, etc. – friends and relatives will paint the “Bellingham rock” (Bellingham is abbreviated locally as B’ham) to acknowledge the special event (“Congratulations Jane,” “Way to go, Joe,” etc.). Then, in 2025 the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) decided that the rock had to be moved (by 2026, WSDOT and their contractors figured out that the boulder was too big to relocate to a new location where it could be memorialized – WSDOT contractors demolished the local boulder known to have “local historic value”). Locals were disappointed about the pending removal of the boulder (BTW, the off-the-freeway boulder – which is taller than me – had been painted so many times in 50 years that the layers of paint were four inches thick!). In my sadness about the fate of the “Bellingham Rock,” I decided to memorialize it by painting my own “B’ham rock” for my balcony in Seattle where I now live. My “B’ham rock” is shown above (my feet in the photo indicate that my “B’ham rock” is considerably smaller than the off-the-freeway boulder). I then continued on, making similar (and similarly-sized) “B’ham rocks” as Christmas gifts for Bellingham-area friends and relatives. Given local sentiment about losing the off-the-freeway boulder, the “B’ham rocks” gifts have been popular among rock recipients…..

More recently, I had a good time attending Seattle’s Superbowl parade in February, 2026 following Seattle’s second Superbowl win (I also attended Seattle’s first Superbowl parade when Seattle won in 2014). At the 2026 parade, I collected up Seattle Seahawks confetti (in team colors of blue, green, and white) that was spread along the parade route using air blowers. When I got home, I used my laminator to make “Seahawks confetti bookmarks” to give friends (see photo below). People who weren’t able to attend the parade were thrilled to “get a piece of the parade.” For example, I sent one “confetti bookmark” to a friend in Toronto who had supported Seattle in the Superbowl – he was so happy to receive a Superbowl bookmark that he photographed it and emailed the photo to me. Another friend who got a bookmark asked me for more bookmarks to give his friends – weeks later, he told me that his friends were thrilled to get “Seahawks confetti bookmarks.” Another success of personalized gifting.

At present, I am crafting another personalized item that blends “church and community” for people who attend church. If you’ve visited churches, you may have noticed that some churches have votive candles that people can light. People often light these individual votive candles as part of their prayer for loved ones or as part of prayer about a personal matter. I am now creating table-top versions of these prayer candle racks that people can have at home. In some cases, Iassemble these with glass candle holders that are in colors relevant to the gift recipient. Contact Burkhardt At Home if you’d like to order one of these!

Personalized gifting is always in good taste!

Burkhardt At Home crafts personalized gifts. Come to us about individualized gifting for the people in your life – make gifting personal for the gift recipient. Further, ordering from Burkhardt At Home supports micro-businesses – a way to support healthy communities. Shopping from micro-businesses is a way to avoid over-commercialization and supports the livelihood of individual business owners. Thank you for supporting this micro-business!