Claudia Hill, the founder of Chill Mom Craft Co., is actually not a “chill mom” at all, she says with a laugh. The former kindergarten teacher and mother of two spends her days wrangling toddlers, attempting to limit screen time, and hopping among doctor’s appointments, playdates, and activities.
It was a day full of all of the above when Hill was inspired to launch her curated craft kit business on Instagram. Her almost-3-year-old and her 1-year-old sons were bouncing off the walls after a full holiday season of cabin fever. “It was January 2,” Hill recalls. “I looked at my husband, and I was like, ‘We need to do something.’”
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Hill researched subscription craft boxes online but couldn’t find any for less than $50, plus shipping. “Also, like, no offense to the Play-Doh lovers, but I have a wild boy who’s gonna probably put it in his mouth,” she says.
Hill quickly told her husband, “I could probably make this myself.” Weeks later, Chill Mom Craft Co.—a curated craft kit company with monthly bags of themed crafts available for delivery, shipping, or pickup—was up and running, with Hill’s “mom friends” as her first customers. “They are the ultimate hype girls,” she says. “They immediately jumped up in support.”
When concocting a name for her company, the running joke among her friends was that Hill is “the least chill among us,” yet her idea for the service was to offer a chill, simple, and easy-going experience for moms like her. Thus, Chill Mom Craft Co. was cheekily born.
The Beginning
The first official Chill Mom craft kits offer both activities and lessons based on February holidays: Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, and Mardi Gras. Each bag is $20, plus $5 for delivery or $9 for shipping, and is geared toward kids ages 2 and up, depending on the level of participation that adults want to have.
“I wanted it to be an easy experience,” Hill says. “Even alleviating the mental stress—these are crafts you can put on the fridge after you do it with your kids and recycle or pitch them in like in a week if you need to, rather than feeling like you need to hang onto a thousand little pieces.”
So far, Hill has sold 62 February craft kits based on word-of-mouth alone. She’s solidified a partnership with indoor playspace TotSpot Social in Clayton as a birthday party add-on, with a goal of collaborating with more St. Louis brands in the future.
Although Hill says her main plan is to just “get through this month first,” next steps for Chill Mom Craft Co. include launching a website and creating customizable birthday-party packages. For now, families can place orders through the Chill Mom Craft Co. Instagram page.
Hill highlights local moms as the supportive circle who helped her get to this point so quickly. “The St Louis mom influencer/entrepreneur community has been unbelievably supportive,” she says. “This community is so fun and so cool. I have to give them credit for a huge part of my success and confidence so far.”
The Inspiration
The entire business venture is a dream long in the making for Hill, who started her career in social work, then attended the University of Missouri–St. Louis for a master’s in elementary education. She then worked as a kindergarten teacher for years, until rising daycare costs made it more economically reasonable for her to stay home with her sons.
Hill’s education roots are very much entrenched in the Chill Mom venture, which she says promotes fine motor skills and fosters mental health development. “A little kid learning to use scissors, opening and shutting a glue stick, opening and shutting markers, gluing paper down… I’m huge on early exposure to those things. The more they practice those at a young age, the more well-equipped they’ll be in kindergarten or in preschool when they start school.
“Also, some kids may feel like it’s hard to express themselves, but when they do art or when they have those materials, they may feel so much more comfortable and in their element,” Hill adds. “So many kids in art classes just glow because it’s something they feel comfortable doing.”
Ultimately, Hill explains, her mission is about experiencing something easy, new, and fun with your little ones.
“I want more people to have more special moments with their kids,” she says. “As a mom, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day of cleaning the house, the doctor’s appointments, the pick-up and drop-off of it all. The rhythm of those things has been the last two and a half years of my life, and it’s hard. Just making that one thing a little bit easier for moms, dads, grandparents, babysitters—whoever will be doing the craft with them—that’s what it’s about for me.”
