When her daughter was a toddler, Leeanna Gantt started looking for arts-and-crafts studios where Riley could experiment without having to be enrolled in a class. But the Sherman Oaks resident couldn't find one.
"There wasn't an unstructured place for little kids to do art," Gantt said.
So for years, the Gantt dining room served as the staging area for Riley and her friends to paint, cut and glue away. It was a hot play date, partly because other parents didn't want a mess in their homes.
These days, Gantt no longer hosts paint-covered kids in her dining room. Nine months ago, she and her husband, Brad, opened up a business for them.
Tinker, located in Sherman Oaks, is an open space with big tables and small chairs; shelves lined with scissors, glue and stamps; jars full of sequins, bottle caps and beads; and tubs overflowing with fabric, plastic bottles and yarn. Though there are classes throughout the week for kids of all ages, the key to Tinker is its come anytime, do anything philosophy.
"In a way, our dining room was a mini-Tinker," said Brad Gantt, 38, who is a creative director at an advertising agency. "Our classes are structured but we try to be flexible. The kids just like trying stuff."
One day last week, Corinne Mesner brought her two daughters, 3-year-old Sophia and 3-month-old Ava, to Tinker. While Ava stayed in her stroller or her mother's arms, Sophia was busy painting. Sophia re-created the fireworks she had seen July 4, pasting mini-erasers and felt cutouts onto a piece of paper covered in red and yellow paint.
"This is like a dream for a parent," Mesner said of Tinker, where she brings her daughters every few weeks. "I can just kind of relax and she can go nuts. And I don't have to deal with the mess."
It's a dream for Leeanna and Brad Gantt too. There were obstacles along the way, but the couple overcame them with the help of family and friends -- and the three credit cards they used to finance the business.
Opening Tinker took three months longer than they expected. They had planned to have their daughter's fifth birthday party at the store in August, but it wasn't ready in time.
"Everything is a challenge," Leeanna said about launching a business. "Construction, permits, figuring out payroll, taxes -- we had never done any of that before."
