When it comes to planning a party, society has been conditioned to go to the first party store we see and purchase the first prepackaged themed party-in-a-box we find.
These boxed themes often encompass something overdone, like "over the hill" or luau.
But with some glitter, ribbon, crepe paper and a little elbow grease, one duo is trying to do away with boxed themes and create a whole new decor for parties.
With this idea, from the crafty minds of Whitney Ford and Liz Meyers, Shiki was born.
Shiki specializes in a variety of items such as handmade party decor, moo moos and party planning.
The company’s name comes from Ford’s American Indian name, Shiki Tundus, given to her by the ceremonial chief of the Lenape Tribe. This translates to Pretty Lilly in the Lenape language. Shiki launched on Etsy, an online marketplace for unique goods, in August.
“We’re both naturally very creative, so we would be making gifts for people, we were always the ones in sorority that people would come up to and ask us to help them make gifts for their big or little or to craft things for recruitment,” Ford says. “In our adult life all of our friends would approach us and ask if we would make party decor for their baby shower or for their bridal shower and we just kept hearing time and time again you guys should make this into a business.”
While attending California State University Fullerton, Ford and Meyers met and became best friends when they rushed Alpha Chi Omega in 2006. Here they were able to let out their creative side when it came to crafting for bigs and littles and even recruitment.Their friendship has spanned over 10 years through various moves from California and Texas, finally putting both of their roots in Arizona.
Shiki creates handcrafted decor for an assortment of parties from bachelorette, baby showers and birthdays.
“We make everything by hand,” says Ford. “I think our generation has transitioned into loving things like Etsy because of the personalization aspect of things so then rather than just going to Party City or going to Target and picking out everything in the bachelorette party section or the Spider-Man party section, they can have things that are a lot more customized to them and can really dream up any theme.”
The amount of time that it takes the two to create decor for an event depends on what the customers ask of them. Customers can order single items such as cupcake toppers or banners, but in some cases customers may want a party fully decorated by the duo.
Since decorations and planning can vary depending on the order, the party partners can be working on a project for a couple hours to a few weeks.
“We put a lot of effort into making sure that it’s not just cute cupcake toppers in the corner over here,” says Meyers. “It’s the whole environment that encompasses that theme.”
On occasion, the two enlist their husbands for help on the bigger projects such as woodwork or heavy lifting, but the majority of it is done by them.
Handmade paper crepe flowers and ribboned archways aren’t just for Shiki’s customers based in Arizona. If a customer can dream it, Shiki is able to ship the product within means or consult with a customer on how to create the item.
If there are customers who want every aspect of the party done and shipped by Shiki, Ford and Meyers are able to consult with them and even if there are certain items that are just too big to ship, and they aren’t hesitant to walk them through what to purchase and how to create the item.
“I really feel like because we care about the end product, and a lot of times it’s our friends or people from our sorority days, we really care about how the party turns out so we’re willing to go that extra mile,” says Ford. “If we can’t ship it to you we’ll tell you exactly where to get it.”
Shiki is preparing to release custom party boxes, which can be a theme party in a box such as a bachelorette. The boxes will be able to be delivered anywhere and ready to set up as soon as it arrives.
Although the duo has taken on various projects, both Ford and Meyers work full-time jobs outside of Shiki, and they’ve had to figure out how to balance everything out since receiving positive response about their Etsy shop.
“It’s a matter of understanding when to say no to things,” Ford says. “We’d rather pull back a little bit and still be able to deliver on time and deliver good products.”
“We’re best friends first and foremost and that has to be the number one priority,” says Meyers. “I think it’s just communication and making sure that we’re being open with each other.”
Ford and Meyers have been able to find a balance in doing what they love both professionally and with Shiki.
Moo Moos
Moo moos are often thought of as a frumpy nightgown for moms to sleep or lounge around in, but Ford and Meyers were able to create a moo moo that was not only comfortable, but chic as well. Their sorority moo moo has become a staple product for Shiki, it was actually an idea that became a reality after Meyers’s wedding.
“When I was in college, some of my best friends that I grew up with would have competitions to see whose mom’s moo moo we could wear, we lived in them,” Meyers says.
When it came time for the wedding, she wanted to do something different for her bridal party. Rather than giving them something with her name on the item that her bridesmaids may not wear again, she came up with the idea to make moo moos as a gift that her bridesmaids could use forever.
“I had a million robes from different weddings and I just wanted to do something different,” Meyers says. “That’s really something we always believe in, is just breaking the mold and doing something different.”
Meyers called up her best friend, Ford, and asked for her help on what she should put on the moo moos. Because all of her friends lived in different states, each bridesmaid had the state they lived in with a heart over their city on their moo moo, and on Meyers’s moo moo she had a map of the United States with six different hearts on over the states where her bridesmaids were from.
“The moo moo aspect of our business was very organic,” says Ford. “We started our business to do the party decor and then we started getting flooded, people were asking us where we got them.”
Originally they were launching the moo moos aspect for bridal parties, then at Christmas have themed ones for the holidays, but then they thought of the concept of the “big and little” moo moos for sororities.
“Sorority girls love matching, they love custom things that they can pick out themselves because every moo moo is made to order,” says Ford. “We don’t pre-make any of them.”
Shiki has shipped the “big and little” moo moo to over 15 states in the past two months. The moo moos are available online through their online Etsy shop, Shikico and at Shop Olive You.
Alpha Chi Omega and Miss America Preliminary
The glitter trail follows the DIY duo to the local Miss America Preliminary Pageant, Miss Phoenix, Miss Scottsdale and Miss Maricopa County, where the DIY duo are executive directors.
“We’re one hundred percent volunteers, but it give us another way to be creative; another outlet,” says Ford. “Plan photoshoots and throw parties for these girls, stuff like that.
Ford is no stranger to the pageant world, she is a former Miss Placentia in 2011 and is a former Miss Phoenix herself after she won the title in 2012.
As an Alpha Chi Omega alumni, Ford has much involvement with the sorority here at ASU. She serves as their philanthropy advisor and gets to help out with various things such as recruitment.
“It’s really rewarding to still kind of play a role and see how they do the greek system here, says Ford. “It’s very different from where we went to school, so just kind of getting a new perspective on how they do their formals, how they do big and little; everything’s different. It’s fun for me to experience from a different angle.”
Although Meyers isn’t involved with Alpha Chi Omega directly as an alumni, she feels as if she knows the girls very well too because some of them participate in their pageants and she often helps Ford with crafts for sorority recruitment.
Alpha Chi Omega’s assistant philanthropy chair, Bailey Nestch, first experienced the crafting skills of Ford when she took her up on her offer of helping the girls craft for big and little season. Netsch wanted to create something original for her little and recalls the process for her custom made moo moo.
“I took her up on her offer and I was at her house for two weeks straight crafting,” says Netsch. “We waited about an hour with that hot iron; I was there for the first big and little moo moo.”
It wouldn’t be long until other girls in her sorority would catch on to the moo moo movement. Netsch’s sorority family wasn’t the only one who ordered them for this year’s big and little reveal.
“There are ton of girls who have moo moos and a ton who ordered them for big and little,” says Netsch.
She praises Ford at her ability to become a master at creating the moo moos and being able to develop the product through Shiki.
“She’s gotten good at the process,” says Netsch. “She has so many connections through Alpha Chi and her pageants; this is gonna be amazing.”
Partnerships
Shiki has expanded into partnerships with Shop Olive You and and Tiny Prints.
Shop Olive You is a boutique clothing store located in the Vista Del Sol shopping center near Arizona State University Tempe that retails Shiki’s moo moos locally.
“We work with Whitney closely because we sponsor the Miss America girls and their teens; that’s how we met her,” says co-owner Michele Tranberg. “We were hosting their send off party before they all went off to Miss Arizona and we saw their moo moos and I knew we needed them in the store.”
The moo moos were a hit in the boutique right away. Since the shop carries more than just the sorority associated “big and little” moo moos, Shop Olive You can sell up to nine moo moos one day.
“It’s been going really well, especially with the big and the little moo moos,” says Tranberg. “We really can’t keep them in stock.”
Tiny Prints, an affiliate of Shutterfly Inc., carries an assortment of stationery cards, home decor, pillows, picture frames and much more. In their partnership, Shiki has been able to work on various projects that enables them to expand their brand.
“We want to transition into the space where we’re not just delivering our product but hopefully that we are kind of changing the space of how parties are seen so you don’t have to be limited to Disney characters,” says Ford.
