Our Story

For 30 years I worked as a restaurant manager at various national fast food chains (and various levels of competence!). In hindsight that was about 20 years too long, but in 2019 I’d had enough and quit with no plan other than to spend a month “at leisure”, in contemplation of two divergent roads. Needing something to occupy my cerebellum I headed to the local discount tool store and, under my wife's skeptical but indulgent eye, spent a couple stacks of nickels on basic woodworking tools. Pretty soon I was making little wooden cars and tossing them in a bucket, more to occupy my time than with any plan. By the time the bucket was full of toy cars, I was pretty sure that what I really wanted was not to have a job at all. My wife’s response was “What, are you going to sell toy cars for a living?” We both laughed, but pretty soon she had a local flea market pulled up on the web, and was registering us for the next Saturday. There we sat, with a table full of handmade toy cars and a little Schnauzer to lure in the children. 8 hours later, after $20 for the space rental and $12 dollars for lunch we’d lost 8 bucks for the day. So much for that…but there was that one little girl who said “ I like the cars but do you make a train?” I had nothing else to do, so I made a train, and then another and another and so on. Next thing I knew we were going to farmers markets and selling a few toys, making new contacts and getting new ideas for toys.

Now, as “way leads on to way”, I spend all my time making and selling toys. I never got around to getting a job, but so far they haven’t taken the house and the lights still work. If you’ve taken the time to read this, then you might be the kind of person who appreciates things made a little slower, by hand, with natural materials. If so, take a look around here, then check our schedule and come see us! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pour my wife a cup of coffee and give that little Schnauzer a piece of chicken jerky.

-Shane

I worked in the hospitality industry for more than 25 years, 18 of those years working my way up the ladder for one company. I learned quite a bit through my roles as restaurant manager, marketing manager, and event planner that I am excited to apply to the success of Knox Handmade Toys. As of June 2022, I am now full time working from home with Shane. Since 2019, I have been mostly a behind the scenes support role and now will take a more active role with our business with the admin tasks that will help us grow. I am also learning more about the creation and assembly of our toys! I couldn't be more excited, truly!

As Shane said, I had a skeptical but indulgent eye in the beginning but quickly realized that supporting him along this "path" was important. All though I was very nervous about how this would all go in the beginning, I am happy to say that I couldn't be more proud of Shane, and myself, for how we have built our toy making business into a lifestyle that we can now both enjoy full time!

We are both very proud of the toys we make for kids of all ages and love seeing your eyes light up as you realize how fun, durable, and educational our toys are. We are also excited to now both be walking the same path together through Knox Handmade Toys. We have plans for growth, personally and professionally, but for now we are just enjoying the trail we are creating for ourselves.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us and now I'm going to get myself organized, maybe take our fur babies for a hike, and look forward to seeing you at the next event! Visit our Upcoming Events tab for a calendar and links to the future events you can find us at or visit our online store to add your favorite piece to your toy box.

You can always reach out to us by email or messenger if there are events near you that we could consider, as we grow you may see us at an event near you!

-Jessica