As a ski shop, you couldn’t be luckier to have an artist like Heather Mullins in town. People often ask where our end-of-life skis wind up, and the answer is cooler than you expect: jewelry!
Heather Mullins is the local artist behind Après Ski Jewelry, creating gorgeous jewelry from our collection of skis that are no longer skiable. Beyond that, she’s incredibly creative and a talented builder with reclaimed wood and other materials to create anything you can think of. Not only does she recycle our end-of-life skis into something beautiful, but she also builds tons of furniture and storefront pieces for us here at the shop with beetle kill pine and other ski pieces.
Heather took some time to show us around her studio, where she cuts, sands, and builds all the intricate designs you see with the finished products.
How’d you get into art and crafting these pieces?
Heather: I think a lot of things—I went to art school, and my undergrad and grad degrees are both in sculpture. I started using the wood and metal shop a lot. But, I will say I grew up just helping my parents with fix-it projects, and they got me swinging a hammer really early. I’ve always been creative, and that’s an outlet for that.
What started the jewelry business?
Heather: That’s… so, for one, I never thought I would have a jewelry business! In college, I did not like the small stuff. I didn’t love the metalsmithing. I didn’t like any of that. I love making big stuff!
But I went to grad school in Chicago, and I was in the wood and metal shop there. And that’s where I started making furniture. And then I had a lot of scrap. I had scraps out of metal, out of fire hose…scraps of just tons of stuff that I started, for fun, making jewelry out of. While I was in school, I would sew stuff out of other materials, too. So, at one point during that time, I made a table out of skis. I had the offcuts, and I’m like, “Wow, these are the best scraps I’ve ever seen.”
And that’s how that started. That was about 15 years ago in Chicago, and I would just kind of make them for fun. And then I moved back to Colorado, where I’m originally from. I grew up in Evergreen. I had a job that kind of fell through and wasn’t a good fit, so I thought I’d better start focusing on this stuff I’ve been doing and make my own business happen. That’s basically how Après Ski Jewelry started.
My furniture company has always been called Relevant Reuse, but then I rebranded the jewelry a few years after, just because I needed a name that was…relevant.
What do you look for in a ski? Are there certain wood types that are better than others?
Heather: Skis with metal are tricky. I’ve found ways to use the metal for things like coasters, for instance, and then I’ve started making keychains out of the edges. I’m finding a few more ways to use that.
But for the main jewelry, what I really love is a very pretty wood core that has multiple layers, so you see stripes and the variety in the wood rather than just one solid piece of pine. I love the most colorful ones. People like the neutrals as well, so that’s always in there, but I really like the great colorful skis.
Oh, and skis that don’t have like too many bumps and ridges and stuff. That’s hard to work with.
Are you able to use an entire ski?
Heather: It depends on the ski, but somewhere between 50-90% of a ski I usually use. I’ve started to find ways to use the tips and tails, but generally the flat and smooth parts are the easiest to work with.
What does your process look like for building the jewelry?
Heather: I first pick out what skis I want to make, so that might be based on getting some variety or based on a specific order someone has. Then I’ll cut the skis across on a horizontal band saw to get through the edge. So they’ll be in bigger chunks, and then I will cut them lengthwise on a tabletop band saw, and then cut them down into the small pieces you see for the jewlery.
And then, sand them on the sander, and then oil them to seal them. They get sanded very lightly by hand again, then I’ll assemble with the metal pieces and package them.
Check out final pieces below!
Do you use any other recycled materials in your work?
Heather: I love working with beetle-kill pine. I’ve done most of that with you guys. Rusted metal, and then a lot of other random materials like semi-truck flooring or other reclaimed wood, I really love a lot.
On the left, a rad ladderball setup Heather made for a friend, and on the right, a desk Heather built for us made with beetle kill pine and more ski scraps.
Did you grow up skiing? Where do y’all normally ski at?
Heather: Yep, I grew up skiing. Still skiing as much as I can, working on getting our two-year-old into skiing. My husband is a big skier, too. I’ve really grown up skiing A-Basin a lot. I’d say A-Basin, Winter Park, and Steamboat would be my favorites. I’ve had the Ikon Pass the last several years.
I have a lot of friends from growing up who live up in Steamboat, which I love. But, this year I actually didn’t make it up to ski there. But they had, you know…this year was weird.
Skier Hot Takes:
Spring skiing or powder?
Hmmm…spring skiing.
Favorite lift snack?
A Hershey Kiss. Or, you know, a PBR.
First chair or last chair?
Last chair. Or more like the middle chair. I’m never the first one on the mountain, and I’m never the last, to be honest.
