By Mary Owen
As a new mom, Michelle Armstrong found so many poorly made, high-priced baby-and-mommy items that she decided she needed to do something about it.
Armstrong joined with her sister, Christina McDaniel of Scio, to open Mango & Mint, an Internet business.
“I wasted my money on so many things and when I looked at the products, I knew I could make them with the high quality I expected,” said Armstrong, a trained doula and self-taught seamstress from Virginia. For her own handmade items, “The price was fair, with beautiful fabrics, and I knew other mothers would want those as well.”
Now living in Texas where her husband is stationed with the US Army, Armstrong started making pouch slings and asked family and friends to test the popular baby fashion accessory. The feedback helped her to make adjustments and today the slings are made to bond mommies with their babies from birth to 35 pounds, with multiple positions – cradle, facing forward, tummies together and hip.
Her sister Christina, she said, “has been an integral part of everything I do, so it made sense to have her on board for marketing and helping with product design, even though we are miles apart.”
“My part of the business is making the memory books, sort of origami-looking, that can be folded,” McDaniel said. “I had seen them all over and just decided to do my own. They’re designed for different interests – babies, sports, weddings.”
McDaniel most recently got into teaching Baby Signs, a sign-language program based on American Sign Language, designed for hearing babies up to age 3 and their parents. A sign-language interpreter for about a decade, she knows about the frustration that can rise out of not being able to communicate basic needs.
“This class can teach babies to use and parents to recognize signs like ‘hot,’ ‘milk’ and more,” she said. “The purpose of signing is to help pull out infant-directed speech and build communication between the child and the parent.”
McDaniel plans to host a parent workshop to introduce the concept, followed by a six-week sign play class for both babies and parents. Each class has a theme, including getting dressed, mealtime, and bath time, even going to the zoo.
With Mango & Mint growing to include McDaniel’s class, the busy mom has little time to peddle products, so a majority of the business is run online. The sisters also attend local marketing events, including Bellies, Babies and Beyond that takes place each November at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
“We believe that parents would give their children the purest things available to them, but reality is that cost plays a major role in buying decisions,” said Armstrong, a mother of one who enjoys a sense of accomplishment and joy when she sees someone wearing a Mango & Mint baby sling.
“It’s humbling to see the gifts God gave me produce products that make mom and baby bond and make mom’s life a little easier.”
McDaniel and Armstrong also have a sister site, MangoAndMintOrganics.com, that offers certified organic products for the family.
“We also use gDiapers, which are earth friendly,” Armstrong said. “The diapers can be flushed, composted or even trashed and biodegrade in about 50-100 days. A traditional diaper takes 50 years to biodegrade.”
Armstrong, who wants to have a “quiver full” of children, calls the diapers “just plain cute on the precious bum!”
The two are working hard to add to their line of products, including carrying Soak Saks, nursing covers, car/toy bags, wipe cases, baby shower cakes, baby hair clips and pacifier clips.
“Everything is handmade in the USA by WAHM’s (the networking community for work-at-home moms),” Armstrong said.
The sisters are passionate about what they do. All their products have been developed and perfected out of their own desire to provide “unique and eye-catching accessories that are now on the ‘must haves’ lists of today’s moms,” McDaniel said.
