Isle of Palms Winter-Spring 2018-19

19 www.IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com | www.ILoveIOP.com | www.IOPmag.com treasure,” said Sanders. On average, Sanders creates around 2,000 treasure boxes a year. She typically has about 14 of them in stock, and she usually creates three or four new designs each year to replace any discontinued lines in the collection. While Sanders enjoys the creative aspect of making the boxes, she isn’t crazy about the sales and marketing side. That’s where her close friend and fellow Goat Island resident Diann Clark comes in, handling orders, helping to promote the products and accompanying Sanders to craft shows. “She works at her own pace, and I work at mine, and we get it done,” quipped Sanders. Sometimes the type of wood shipped to Sanders for her boxes changes, so adjustments must be made. She can work with about 35 to 40 different wood varieties. “It’s always evolving; it’s ever- changing, which makes it fun,” said Clark. Some things have remained the same though. Sanders’ friend Johnson still gives her picture moldings for creating one- of-a-kind orphan boxes – so dubbed because they are made using reclaimed scrap wood. During the holidays, Sanders and Clark are busy selling the treasure boxes at craft shows throughout the Lowcountry and in Columbia. Nikki Haley started giving the boxes as gifts when she was governor of South Carolina and continued to gift them with her United Nations seal printed inside when she moved on to her role as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Clark said they can print corporate logos on the inside of the boxes for companies interested in gifting them to employees or clients. Every year, the Kiawah Company buys its employees who have demonstrated exemplary service a specially made Kiawah box, and the South Carolina Association of School Administrators presents them as a thank you to teachers. Sanders also donates treasure boxes to charity fundraisers such as “Hope on Goat” and to Pet Helpers. “She’s always been a giver – as a teacher, as a coach and now with this craft,” said Clark of Sanders. The treasure boxes are sold statewide, including at the South Carolina State House Gift Shop in Columbia, jewelry stores in Greenville and Spartanburg and the South Carolina Artisans Center in Walterboro. If you’re looking to buy the boxes as a Christmas gift, you can find them locally at the Isle of Palms Marina Store; Sandpiper Gallery on Sullivan’s Island; Edward Dare Gallery on Broad Street and the Historic Charleston Foundation on Meeting Street in Charleston; and at the Boone Hall Farmers Market and Southern Accent in Mount Pleasant. Online ordering is available at www. goatislandtreasureboxes.com. [ Feature ]