Sallie Smith celebrates nearly 40 years of Uniquely Yours

     Sallie Smith is looking to scale back a bit after nearly 40 years in the craft business, but she plans to continue doing the work she loves.

     Sallie started her business, Uniquely Yours, not long after she and her husband, Tom, moved to Buffalo Center in 1976. That was when Tom had the opportunity to come back to his hometown to teach history and coach at Buffalo Center High School.

     Sallie makes decorative things for inside and outside the home, including floral arrangements, wooden decorations and painted window screens. Tom helps her with the woodworking and base painting, while Sallie does the decorative painting. She also decorates people’s homes, refinishes furniture and takes special orders.

     “I absolutely love what I do,” said Sallie. “Very few people can say they still enjoy what they do after 40 years.”

     In addition to her crafting career, Sallie also held full-time jobs up until four years ago, when she retired from Hancock County Health Care as a home care provider. She says she loved that job as well, but it’s very physically demanding.

     Sallie says she makes most of the crafts she sells, and she recycles a lot of stuff. She says she doesn’t buy anything that isn’t on sale.

     See story in this week's Tribune.