Creating boards, boxes and bombs

Many people have tried out new hobbies during quarantine, but one Chelsea resident turned hers into a thriving seasonal business.

Mercedes Stewart created Boards by M, a business that allows her to showcase her cheese boards and charcuterie boards along with hot chocolate bombs and chocolate boxes.

It was midway through the pandemic when she started making her creations, Stewart said. She and her family have “Bachelor” nights, and she would always bring the cheese boards as they watched the popular TV show. At the encouragement of her family, and after being furloughed from her job for a period of time, she took their advice.

“In May, I decided to go ahead with making them and selling them,” Stewart said. “I’d look on Pinterest for inspiration and decided to see what I could create.”

She tested the concept out on her personal Facebook page, and her friends from Knoxville said they wished she could make boards for them. She then had inquiries from local people and said it went really well with the traction she got from it.

“I got a lot of likes and comments on them, so I looked into doing Instagram, and then it really just blew up,” she said. “When I posted on the Chelsea Neighborhood Watch page, that was probably the best decision. Now friends of friends recommend them.”

Stewart, whose mom is a baker, said her family is always creating something with food. She started out by purchasing two boards and began making her creations. It wasn’t long after that she came up with the idea to put them in the to-go boxes people could pick up. They were popular for gatherings like birthdays and girls’ nights. She also made an option for customers to purchase a board they could keep.

Most of the boxes are customizable and include a variety of cheeses, a jam spreadable (pepper jelly is the most popular), crackers and meats including spicy salami, prosciutto ham and chorizo salami.

“I try to do a little savory and sweet to have a variety,” Stewart said. “A crowd favorite is blueberry vanilla goat cheese (available at Aldi and Trader Joe’s), and I also try to put a little chocolate in there.”

During the holidays, Stewart also added hot chocolate bombs and chocolate boxes. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, she stayed up most nights until 2 a.m. before having to get up for work at 7 a.m.

“I kind of got overwhelmed at times, but I was thankful,” she said. “I just could not believe how many people were interested in my products. I really felt honored people were asking me to make them. I wanted to know how I could make mine unique, and I think it was the quality and brands I used that really kept people coming back.”

  After the holidays, along with the spike in COVID cases, Stewart took some time off from her business. She decided that the schedule was too much to work her full-time job and do Boards by M, so she will make her business a seasonal one.

“This coming Christmas, I may make a big quantity and do pop-up shops,” she said. “That would be better as far as my schedule goes, I think that’s a better approach to that than what I did this Christmas.”

As for the future, Stewart said that if her items are consistently in high demand, she may consider doing it full-time.

“That would be so much fun to have a shop and maybe even doing classes on how to make your own boards,” she said. “I just have so many ideas.”

For information, visit @boardsbym on Facebook and Instagram or email boardsbym@gmail.com.