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From the beach shores to your mantle, Baycraft turns driftwood into treasures

Editor’s Note LAURA CHURCHILL DUKE SALTWIRE NETWORK

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Bailey Faulkner had no intention of starting a business, but sometimes life has other plans. It all started when her cousin was looking for décor for her house.

The Truro woman says she then threw together a house using supplies, like driftwood, she already had on hand. Her cousin asked a few more, so Faulkner went to work gathering additional materials.

Most of the driftwood she uses in her creations is collected from her cottage at Hart Lake, near Wentworth, with the wood perfectly weathered from being down by the water.

Combining this driftwood along with other materials she gathers outside or from different craft stores, Faulkner creates a series of decorative driftwood houses.

“I am always collecting cool pieces of wood, so back when COVID first shut everything down, and I had an abundance of time, I started messing around with all of the craft stuff I had until I made the houses,” says Faulkner.

Now, she operates under the business name of Baycraft. The name, she says, comes from the name her father calls her, “Bay,” short for Bailey, and “craft,” representing all the crafts she makes.

When it comes to knowing what she will make next, Faulkner says she never really knows. Instead, she lets the seasons determine most of the colours she uses. For example, since it’s now spring, she says she will probably use a lot of pastel colours.

“Sometimes I will find one material or piece of driftwood and already know exactly what I want to do with it,” she says.

Some pieces are decorative,

“I am pretty open about anything I can make so any requests can be discussed.” Bailey Faulkner

while others are functional and can be used as a key rack or coat rack. Each piece is sealed for minimal weathering; however, she reminds people the pieces are meant for decorative purposes.

The most popular items she makes are her Christmas villages or her mini-driftwood houses. The Christmas villages are three or four houses put together on a longer piece of wood, painted in Christmas colours and decorated with snow, ornaments, and trees. For a magical touch, she also includes lampposts on them that even light up.

“They look great on the mantle,” she says.

For the mini-houses,

Faulkner uses smaller driftwood pieces she finds suitable for making tiny décor. These mini-houses she uses to make the key holders and coat racks.

She says the coat rack is her favourite out of everything she has made thus far. It was done as a special request for her grandmother.

“My grandmother wanted something a little different for their cottage versus a standard coat rack, so I found a large piece of wood and put multiple mini-houses on it with hooks so it could be mounted on the wall, she explains.

Faulkner says she does a lot of this custom work.

Many of her commissions are re-creations of people’s own houses — essentially a mini-version of a home. They send her a picture, and she paints it exactly how it looks.

“I am pretty open about anything I can make so any requests can be discussed,” she says.

Most of the driftwood pieces Faulkner makes stay locally within Nova Scotia, mainly at cottages, due to the beachy feel of the driftwood. Two houses she made shipped to Ontario, and she said some people buy the houses to ship to their families as a bit of craft from Nova Scotia.

To see Faulkner’s work or place an order, she can be found on Etsy or Facebook under the name Baycraft. She can also be reached at bailey5faulkner@gmail.com for any inquiries.

Her spring and summer houses will soon be available.

TRI-COUNTY VANGUARD

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2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

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