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Jack and Brenda Cole, owners of The Crafty Coles, have been making their homemade sea salt seasonings for years.

They started out making their flavored sea salt mixtures for their own use. But then their family members noticed how great the food tasted, and wanted to try it at their own homes.

So, the Coles mixed up a batch for them.

Then, friends liked it, too.

Pretty soon, the Coles were making bigger and bigger batches of their sea salt flavorings.

After someone told them they should be selling the seasonings, The Crafty Coles business was born.

They went through all the proper channels, buying the business license, the name and the website.

“In the last year and a half, the business has really taken off,” Brenda Cole said.

Cole added everyone in her family cooks – her, her husband and their four children..

Their company offers several varieties of sea salt flavorings: apple smoked, habanero, hickory smoked, jalapeno, lime, maple, and oak smoked.

Hickory smoke is their best seller.

They also offer pure vanilla extract and a Christmas extract containing vanilla, allspice, cinnamon, orange zest, cloves, ginger, and Vodka.

Merry Christmas indeed.

The Coles and their four children, plus four in-law children, all help out with the business. Each person pitches in to contribute to the success of the company. “It’s 100% a family business,” Cole said. “One child helps with the smoking. One helps with marketing; and, another is a photographer.”

Cole said each person has something to offer, and they all contribute to the greater picture.

“We’re starting a blog with all our original recipes using the salts,” Cole said and added for people to keep checking the company’s website for that added feature.

Besides creating all the different sea salt seasonings, the Cole family also grows most of its own organic ingredients, including all the different peppers.

“We grew 125 heads of garlic just this year,” Cole said. “If it doesn’t meet our standards, then we don’t sell it.”

How do The Crafty Coles come by those standards? They use their own products.

Although both Jack and Brenda both have other jobs, Jack full-time and Brenda part-time, the business is starting to turn into a full-time venture.

“I wake up doing jars and making salts,” Cole said. “We make everything here, and we smoke everything here. We even make our own water-proof labels.

“We didn’t plan on making a business. We planned on just selling a few of our things at the farmer’s market. This wasn’t a planned thing.”

The Coles set up a booth at Camellia City Fest this year. But by far, their best venue has been the Butler County Farmers Market.

People kept coming up to them and telling them how much they loved their products.

“It just kind of grew on its own,” Cole said. “We’re all Christians, and we are all strong in our faith. We realized that if it takes off, it does; and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. We’re not really worried about it. It’s in God’s hands.”

After their faith, Cole said the number one thing in their family is family.

“This business will always be second to family,” she said.

So, what exactly is success to The Crafty Coles?

“Running a business with the family and still having a family that loves each other,” Cole said.

The Crafty Coles business can be contacted at its Facebook page and also on its website, www.thecraftycoles.com.

The Coles can also be contacted at craftycoles@gmail.com.

The business offers a $20 deal where customers can pick four seasonings of their choice for a gift box.

And their seasonings are now for sale in Jones Drug store at 207 Cedar Street in Greenville, near the Piggly Wiggly grocery store.