Our Kinda Long Story

Hi! Good on you for taking a minute to read our story. Most people never make it here. But, from experience, knowing the “why” behind something can often trigger emotions and forge connections in our brains that in turn make something more memorable. I’m sure our amateur pictures of teacup bird feeders will stir your heart and you’ll never forget them as long as you live, but just in case you need something more, here’s where this all got started.

I’m Kyra, the main point of contact behind the store Frogs & Toadstools. When I had my oldest son in 2017 there was a day we watched an episode of the Netflix show called Storybots (great show btw). It was all about recycling and the two Rs that came before it – Reduce and Reuse. It was fascinating. While I was growing up my family had never been into recycling anything, so when I finally had my own apartment and budding family I felt like I needed to be a better steward of the Earth and teach my son how to do the same.

It wasn’t until we moved into our last apartment after college graduation that our landlord provided us with the chance to recycle. I took to it like a fish to water, and I felt good every time I was able to keep things out of the landfill.

Only I wasn’t – keeping things out that is.

Before we moved into our first home reports started coming back that a lot of what we were recycling was going to landfills anyway. Talk about discouraging. Then my husband and I bought a townhouse (in the middle of a pandemic and the Utah housing crisis 🙄). The HOA provided dumpsters, but no recycling services for our community. It seemed like we had taken a step backward.

I considered recycling anyway – saving everything and taking it to the nearest recycling center once a week. But who was I kidding? I had two little boys and another on the way. I finally realized that the only thing I could do was truly focus on those first two Rs – Reduce and Reuse. With time I switched our cleaning supplies to eco-friendly products with compostable packaging (that I actually put in our compost bin). I started scouring the internet for ways to reuse soda cans, old worn-out clothing, and milk cartons.

That research is what lead me to create this business. What started as a way to alleviate my family’s footprint has become an absolute LOVE for creating something beautiful out of our (or someone else’s) recyclables. The mission is more than our sale of items at the random pop-up booths we do around Utah – it’s teaching others that they can reduce and reuse, too, and perhaps make something beautiful along the way.

When I shared my idea with my family I was surprised that a lot of them wanted in on it. My sister-in-law’s obsession with frogs and my love for upcycled garden decor gave us our store name, Frogs & Toadstools. We’re honored you read this far, and hope you are as passionate as we are about using what we already have.