The girls behind the Swanky Shrinky Dink Earrings
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There are a lot of great small businesses in Duluth, but not many are run by a nine and eleven year-old. Ingrid Bakken (9) and Madeline Plote (11) are the girls behind M.I. Boutique and the Swanky Shrinky Dink Earrings.
The two friends started selling the earrings back in August in Ingrid’s back yard but now they have their earrings displayed in Vikre Distillery.
“Well, we’ve gotten a lot of compliments on them”, says Ingrid.
To put in a custom order you can shoot them an email at swankyshrinkydink@gmail.com.
The two entrepreneurs had no idea there was such a demand for their earrings. Madeline says, “We started and we were just going to do the one sale in their backyard and have fun with it. And then it grew into this and like, we’ve improved.”
Ingrid Bakken and Madeline Plote are the girls behind M.I. Boutique and the Swanky Shrinky Dink Earrings.
She goes on to say, “So we use a material called shrinky dink. It’s like a paper… and we print out the picture, and it shrinks in the oven, and it’s really cool.”
Both the girls’ moms Kelly Plote and Nicole Bakken had no idea demand was going to be this big either. They say they are so amazed at how creative the duo is.
Kelly says, “It’s amazing how they work together and collaborate and come up with things that. I never would have thought of that.”
Both moms are incredibly thankful to the craft fairs and the businesses that have taken interest in the earrings and have let the girls sell them. “I think it’s an honor to have a local business support, two local entrepreneurs. So I think it’s it’s a blessing”, says Kelly.