Hammered DIY Studio & Gifts making its mark

by Dan Holland

For the mother-daughter team of Jen DeLorenzo and Kayla Dudas, opening a studio and gift shop for do-it-yourself projects was something in the making for many years. The business, located in the Broadview Commons Plaza at 9206 Broadview Rd., hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony attended by a number of city officials July 13.

“I think we always knew from the time Kayla was little that we would end up doing something together,” said DeLorenzo. “Once she got older, it just came about and fell into our laps and we decided this is what we were going to do.”

DeLorenzo was a co-founder and executive director of Wags 4 Warriors in Broadview Heights, which paired up service dogs with military veterans affected by their combat experience. Hosting a workshop for area high school students each year around Veterans Day, in which students would work on a project building wooden U.S. Flags for veterans, led to a desire to expand on the endeavor.

“Kayla would help me with the workshops, and we would have teachers involved in it, and we thought we would like to get more into something like this,” said DeLorenzo. “So, we looked around and there were some franchise opportunities, but the brands weren’t really known in Ohio, so we decided to go out on our own to be able to pick what we would do.”

The duo rented a small space along Royalton Road near Ridge Road for two years where they began hosting private events for DIY projects, including kids’ birthday parties. Most projects involved making custom wood signs, especially as gifts around the holiday season, explained DeLorenzo.

“There was never an intention to become a kids’ place, but it just kind of happened that way,” explained Dudas. “It began with doing birthday parties, and from that we realized how much kids loved doing this and decided to do more kids’ stuff.”

“We outgrew that space and since we moved in here, we offer walk-ins, so you can walk in and make a project,” added DeLorenzo. “We’ve expanded from wood and now do canvas. We also offer kids’ camps where we do a lot of projects during the week.”

In addition to DIY workshops and parties, the shop features handmade products from 32 local artisans and small business owners. Many of the vendors make use of the workspace and materials at the studio to build their “crafty” items.

Groups can rent out a time slot at the studio to work on craft projects of their choosing, explained DeLorenzo.

“We do a lot of kids’ birthday parties, girls’ nights out and we do a lot of fundraisers with the schools with PTOs and band booster club,” she explained. “We give a certain percentage back if they do a night in here. You can bring your own food and drinks in and have your events right here.”

“We have over 300 designs online to choose from,” DeLorenzo continued. “When someone books a workshop, we send them a link, and they all pick their project. If you come in with a group, you don’t all have to make the same thing. You can make something you want and come in here for three hours, hang out, and we can help you customize your project.”

Expanding the number of workshops, adding additional kids’ camps, increasing the number of local artisan products, coordinating events with other small businesses located in the plaza and building on local relationships within the community are all goals moving forward.

“People should definitely come check us out,” said DeLorenzo. “We have a lot of cute and neat things as far as gifts here. Also, many people don’t think they’re crafty, but when they complete a project here, they feel really good about what they’ve accomplished.”

For further information, visit hammereddiystudio.com. ∞

Photo (main): Kayla Dudas and Jen DeLorenzo opened the Hammered doit-yourself studio in Broadview Heights this past July. Photos by D. Holland.