Instilled in her from an early age, South Forker Jarhn Blutstein knows the value of homemade. The Springs resident has called the East End home for nearly a decade and among her many talents (among them, curating bespoke cocktails for parties via her company, East End Mixology) is her exceptional eye for detail, more often than not resulting in something beautiful and special.
Enter Maidstone Creatives, her new hand-made jewelry company based out of her home. Now, everything she touches, in a way, turns to gold.
Growing up in New Bedford, Mass., Blutstein loved arts and crafts, recalling her mother’s efforts to have everything for their at-home parties be handmade. For her, these personalized party favors have great memories associated with them.
“I come from a blue-collar family,” she says. “And I had truly memorable birthday parties, all made from scratch. We were doing it before ‘do-it-yourself’ was cool.”
Since Blutstein became a mother to Poppy Emilia during the pandemic in August 2020, she decided to carry on that family tradition.
“During Covid, I would host these playgroups for Poppy,” she says, “since we have this huge, fenced-in back yard, everything was outside and it became this thing for about 14 moms and their babies.”
Inspired by how special her own childhood parties were, she began creating themed events for the kids. Her at-home party efforts thrived, as kids attending a Blutstein bash could adorn themselves with monogrammed aprons and personalized sunglasses sourced and decorated by Blutstein herself.
After one of the moms from their pandemic pod gave baby Poppy a beaded bracelet of her own, a seed was planted and the idea for Maidstone Creatives was born.
“I was looking at it and remembered how much I loved to bead when I was younger,” Blutstein says.
After making a couple of pieces for her close friends, word got around about the adorable gold-filled bead bracelets.
The beads are sourced from a company in Pennsylvania, and made of either 14-karat gold or sterling silver, while the beads with letters are acrylic, originally chosen for their durability while being worn and used by the kids. Each bracelet is double strung and won’t tarnish. Buyers can choose from one of the six templates Blutstein offers or can opt for a customized piece.
Sized accordingly, each one takes about 15 to 20 minutes for Blutstein to make and are reasonably priced. Prices run from as low as $10 for kids and up to about $35 for adults, with each piece including its own personal jewelry bag.
So far, she’s made about 50 pieces for her friends and family, mailing her jewelry locally and beyond to Ohio, Virginia, Massachusetts and upstate New York. Her most recent orders include everything from mother/daughter combos, to doggie moms to bachelorette parties.
“I enjoy crafting so much,” Blutstein says. “It’s one of those little things that keeps me going.”
Named for a place near and dear to her heart, Maidstone Creatives honors Maidstone Beach, mere minutes away from the Springs home she shares with her chef husband, Jeremy Blutstein. “So much of this is so personal,” she says. “I got engaged at Maidstone!”
To order your own personalized bracelet, or for gift and decoration ideas for your little one’s next party, send a DM to Maidstone Creatives’ Instagram page.
