Amanda Ball has a creative mind and spirit. She is the creator and master mind behind Colorado Creative Vending and Parker’s Trinket Trade Box.

Amanda has an extensive background in graphic design with a minor in fine art and advertising. She taught middle and high school art at private schools while living in Maryland and then stepped back when her youngest of two was born.

Amanda and her family moved to Parker in 2014. She had always wanted to own a small business and waited for the right time and idea to find her. A friend introduced Amanda to the concept of creative vending and she knew she had found her business. It checked every box, even allowing her to stay creative throughout the product design and packaging.

Creative vending machines are small, curated store fronts customized for the modern customer. Each machine is filled with things such as handcrafted items from local artists, mystery bags of socks, games, T-shirts or sunglasses, and retro grab bags filled personally by Amanda with 80’s, 90’s, or 2000’s items. The kid-friendly machines also contain grab bags filled with crafts, toys and candy. Items range in price from $6 to $30.

“I love the idea of putting items in people’s hands that create a genuinely fun moment,” said Amanda. “Whether someone is pulling a rare Pokémon card, digging through a mystery retro bag, or discovering something made by a local artist, I love knowing I had a small part in that experience.”

Creativity recently struck Amanda again, bringing about the Parker Trinket Trade Box, a community sidewalk treasure box found just off Parker’s Mainstreet. It is Amanda’s happy project, a project built from love.

The idea is similar to the library book boxes: take something that catches your eye and leave something behind for the next person to discover. The blue treasure box is filled with community contributions with items like painted rocks, handmade crafts, jewelry, stickers, small toys and collectibles.

The community keeps the trinket trade going. Amanda and her husband, Kevin, make sure it stays clean, organized and well-stocked on a daily basis. “At the end of the day, it is a small box with a big heart, and the community has truly made it something special,” shared Amanda.

Currently, Amanda owns six vending machines, repurposed from snack machines, scattered around businesses in the Denver metro area. She, along with local artists, retrofitted and painted each machine by hand to fit each venue. The vending machines can be found at Alidade Brewing in Castle Rock, Lone Tree Brewing Company, Downhill Brewery in Greenwood Village, Full Frame Beer in Denver, Resolute Tap & Cellar in Arvada and The Hive Community Center in Parker. There is no charge to a business to host a creative vending machine.

To learn more about the creative vending machines and about the featured artists, visit coloradocreativevending.com. The Parker Trinket Trade Box can be found outside of Kilwins at 19501 E. Mainstreet and photos can be found on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Article and photos by Julie Matuszewski; photos courtesy of Amanda Ball