Growing up with a creative Mom in the 1980s, our bedrooms were cozy with matching handmade bedding, pillows, curtains, and lamp shades. (She never used a pattern). Pool time included big hair and handmade velcro wrap-around monogrammed towels. Mulberry Aromatique fragranced Potpourri filled the decorative bowl on the dining table. Raised on a ranch in Odessa, TX, I left home for the military in 1988. Stationed in Massachusetts and Hawaii for my tours, it was great to meet people with different backgrounds and upbringing.  

Returning home to Odessa 5 years later, married with 2 little girls, it was wonderful to live only 45 min away from my parents. Weekends included grabbing craft supplies and meeting up with neighboring ladies at the ranch to make the latest craft trend. I remember Mama wearing a denim long-sleeved shirt as an apron as she made her crafts and candles. The kitchen bar would include fun food & drinks - from coffee and sweet tea to strawberry margarita’s, chips, queso, homemade Chex Mix, or Caramel Corn.

My daughters were raised with many of the same memories. Designing devotionals, candles, body products, photo editing, sewing, designing

cookbooks or magazines. 

In 2002, a seed was planted in me to birth something, what it would be, I could only guess. Mama passed away at the age of 60 in 2010. In 2014, I had a tough day of missing her and wanted to do something to feel her near. I went to my closet, pulled out her denim shirt, rolled-up the sleeves, and went into the kitchen. I put a stew pot on the burner, added some oil and a handful of popcorn kernels and shook it until it was full of popcorn. I picked out all the hulls and un-popped kernels. In a saucepan, added a stick of butter & sugar making caramel. I put it in the oven for an hour…as I sat eating this popcorn, it was great to remember all of the wonderful memories of her! I was filled with comfort, & joy. I believe these come from the Lord, but the surprise to me was the passion to continue making the popcorn.

This was the birth of my popcorn business. "Jeremiah 29:11" I have survived some storms and created a few in the pursuit of birthing this dream. Failure more times than I can count. Lessons were learned, perspectives changed. Stress was replaced by Faith.

I created a list of all of the things I wanted the popcorn to be. I wanted you to open the bag and smell butter. I wanted the popcorn to not clump together or stick to your teeth in a chewy way. I definitely didn’t want hulls. The first flavor was Buttery Caramel. 

Since 2013 when I started the popcorn journey it has moved from Altus, Oklahoma to Waco, TX and in 2025 to Shawnee, KS.

I still pop 1 cup of popcorn at a time. I still hand-sift for hulls. I still use one stick of butter for each batch.

I still make the caramel with butter, sugar, molasses and salt. I hope you enjoy it!

Chase your dreams until you reach them.

Christy Michelle