The name Nutmeg & Apple speaks to my fondness for where I grew up (New York, aka, the Big Apple) and for where I am raising my family now (Connecticut, the Nutmeg State).

Nutmeg and Apple is rooted in my love for making handmade items for family and friends.

My passion for creating and designing began when I was a child. During my childhood, I would make embossed bookmarks and greeting cards for my family, as well as hand sewn coin pouches (among other items). My mother introduced me to a wide variety of different crafts, and is the one who taught me basic sewing skills, as well as how to knit (though I do not often do it as I find it more stressful than relaxing 😊). I continued loving crafts and making handmade items as I grew older and decided to gather more skills after earning a graduate degree and subsequently studying at The Fashion Institute of Technology (‘FIT’) in New York City. My time at FIT expanded my knowledge of sewing, garment construction and overall fashion design. I continued learning at FIT until my first daughter was born.

While raising a family, I found myself diving into making different handmade gifts that we would use as party favors at significant events (baptisms, birthdays, etc..). One of the first favors I learned to make were candles and I have been making them ever since. I also learned machine embroidery so that I could make personalized shirts for my daughter's birthdays as well as cute baby gifts for friends. Doing this opened up my eyes to all the cute embroidered gifts I could make as well as decor for my own home.

Having children of my own also made me look more closely into the products that I used on them as well as myself. I found that most products that I had been using (body scrubs, lip balms and soap etc) all had ingredients that I did not find to be healthy for the human body. I even found "natural" products that had ingredients that were not, in fact, natural (artificial dyes, fragrances and different preservatives)! After that, I decided that I would begin to make safe products for my family and any of my friends that wanted to test out what I made. I found that the products I was making were more moisturizing, healthier (without all that extra "stuff"), and did not smell like chemicals as so many of the products we were used to using did.

That is why all face and body products that are stocked in my shop are made with ingredients that I would use on my children. I use the best ingredients available to me and as many certified organic ingredients as possible. Any ingredient that I use that is not labelled as certified organic are sourced from companies that practice organic farming. Finally, as an animal lover and owner of three dogs and 10 chickens, I could never condone animal testing. My products are NEVER tested on animals and we are proudly certified cruelty free by Leaping Bunny!