Story and Photos By Courtney Hernandez, Communications & Events Coordinator with IFDDC
Strengthen bonds with your family, friends, or team members while bonding metal and stones together to create something unique and beautiful.
The Stone Pony owners, Katie and Hannah, started by making jewelry for themselves and to sell, using natural stones and silversmithing. Then their friends wanted to learn, and then friends of friends wanted to learn and the idea of opening a creative workshop space was born. Stone Pony first opened their doors in Blackfoot in January of 2023. Then, in October 2023, they opened their downtown Idaho Falls location, next to SnakeBite Restaurant on Park Avenue!
Katie and Hannah are both local Idaho girls that wanted to make creative, western, high-quality jewelry for other Idaho girls, but they think the most important part is the experience of interacting with metal and gems to create something unique. While they call themselves a Custom Ring Barn, you can actually create so much more than rings! Bracelets, necklaces, hair combs, and key chains are just a few other options of items you can create.
Steps of creating in workshops:
1. Book a workshop online. All workshops must be booked at least 24 hours in advance. You can book them easily on their website.
2. Choose your stone. Stone Pony has more options of stones than you could dream of, but if you have a unique stone at home that you would like to use, you can also bring that in! The stone must have a flat back.
3. Be prepared to work. There is a lot of hammering, shaping, melting, scrubbing and detail work that you will be doing to bring your piece to life.
4. Listen up. Your instructor will walk you through the process step by step, presenting all your options to you as you go. Scalloped edges vs straight edges. A chain vs a cuff. Detailed metal or flat metal. Antiqued or shiny. You get to customize each step of your piece of wearable art!
5. Show it off. After your instructor helps you with the finishing touches of your pieces, snap a photo of your artwork, post it to social media and tag The Stone Pony! Reviews and word of mouth is one of the best ways to continue to support small businesses.
The Stone Pony is a hidden gem of eastern Idaho. It is a space where people can freely create while spending time with other people. In a time when a lot of our interactions are happening through screens, attending a silversmithing workshop is a great time to put the phones down and talk with your people while making a unique piece of jewelry with your own hands.
Workshops are fun for all occasions, or as an any-day activity. Bachelorette parties, team building, girls' nights, date night, birthdays and more. Give the gift of a workshop, by buying a gift card. You can also purchase custom jewelry that was made by the trained silversmiths.
Workshops have a $50 workshop fee; plus, the cost of your stone and any upgraded details you may choose. The workshops will last 2-3 hours, but the jewelry, memories and friends you make will last a lifetime!
Head to www.thestonepony.shop for more information.