What started as a way to make extra money through the pandemic has turned into a bountiful small business for Moira Pyhala.
“At the time, I worked at a neighborhood coffee shop and started putting my jewelry out at the café to make extra money through the pandemic,” Pyhala said. “My customers at the shop supported my art, and my jewelry began to sell out.”
Once she started seeing her growing success, she began to take it more seriously. Her tag of “Moira’s Originals” grew into her passion project: Alaska Ice Queen Crystal Crowns & Jewelry.
“The most exciting parts of creating crystal crowns and jewelry that inspire me are not necessarily the creation process or the final product, but rather what comes after,” Pyhala said. “I love vending at local community events statewide throughout the year, and my heart is so whole when customers put on a crown and make ‘that face.’ In that moment, you can see that the customer feels truly beautiful. Seeing the inner beauty of others shine is such a fulfilling thing to see.”
Her basic base crowns take around 30 to 45 minutes to complete, but specialty crowns can take anywhere from a few hours to days. She tries not to limit herself by adding deadlines to creative projects, but is always making as many crowns and accessories as possible leading up to a festival weekend.
“Sometimes I have an exact vision of what I want to create and what the final product should look like, and sometimes I just let the creative process take over,” Pyhala said.
Many of her pieces are rooted in nature, Pyhala says. She tries to incorporate and capture the beauty of Alaska — where she was born and raised — in her work.
Pyhala said without her communities in Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula, where she grew up, her business would not be nearly as successful as it has been.
“Many of my first customers were people I grew up with or those I built a close relationship with throughout my time living in Anchorage,” she said. “I am blessed to have a tight circle of friends who also run their businesses, like my sister company, Sleeping Sisters, and my neighborhood coffee shop, Cafecito Bonito, previously Uncle Leroys.”
Alaska Ice Queen Crystal Crowns & Jewelry can be found online and in East Anchorage at Cafecito Bonito.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.