Treasured Traditions: A Wing Family Business

By Cynthia Doherty

Our Window on the Wings team has been highlighting Wing owned businesses for the

past year or so. We didn’t need to go far to highlight our next business. Our very own Wing Family of America President, Melanie Hendrix, under the store name of “Treasured Traditions”, creates beautiful pieces of stained glass in her workshop in Claxton Georgia.  I asked Melanie how she started her career, what her process is, and where we can find out more. This is what she said:

“I started working for a stained-glass gift shop in 1996, learning the basics of cutting, grinding, foiling and soldering Tiffany Style-stained glass. In 1997 I had to quit because I was pregnant and the lead fumes were of concern. In 2016 I began slowly purchasing tools and re-teaching myself what I had forgotten and so much more. I made my mom a lot of small items that she would smile and thank me for, then discreetly hide in a drawer somewhere. By 2019 I was actively making 4 or 5 projects a year.  Wedding gifts, Christmas Stars, sun catcher type items. By the end of 2020 I started selling things to friends and family.  By the end of 2023 I was thinking about as well as working on stained glass during ALL of my free time. In May of 2024, I quit my job and made it my focus.  Right now, I have one part-time employee, and we have no less than three projects on our table at a time. 

“I draw all my own patterns, usually from pictures that my clients send me or VERY VERY

detailed descriptions. I focus on Tiffany Style-stained glass. That is using a copper foil as a bonding material for the solder. It allows for more creative and smaller individual pieces of glass to make up the larger image. I can and do use the Lead Came style when asked to. That is usually what you see in church windows and projects with larger or more geometric style pieces. 

“My sister laughs at me because she thinks that analytical people, such as myself, are not usually artistic. I laugh back, because glass works with my right or wrong, black or white brain! The final image is artistic and beautiful; the process however is NOT. It either works or it doesn’t. It is either right or it is very wrong. I have also noticed that over the years, I am learning to be patient and let the process fill me with as much joy as completing the project. I am learning to appreciate the art in talent and imagery, as much as I do in checking my to-do list and dedication. I am still mortified when someone suggests that I make a flower arrangement or decorate a room because I am ‘artsy’!

“I have a facebook page, Treasured Traditions.  You can see some of the items that I have created.  I charge $1.35 a square inch and have an $80 minimum.

“I can be messaged through my Facebook page by texting me about a potential project: 912-290-1375. I do like to use text or messenger so that I can refer back to what information has been shared with me when I am working late at night.”