Business carries on grandma’s legacy
Basket Maker’s Supply in Taylorsville
WHEN ARDIA HERNDON taught basket weaving on the family’s Taylorsville farm decades ago, her granddaughter, Dani Sue Anderson, learned much more than how to make baskets.
Anderson, owner of Basket Maker’s Supply in Taylorsville, said her grandmother taught her everything needed for life, and Anderson has used that education to build a wildly successful business.
“In her weaving space, I learned how to be a friend, a teacher and a spouse,” says Anderson. “It was never just about a basket. It was about how our lives are woven together.”
Although her grandmother passed seven years ago, her legacy lives on. Basket Maker’s Supply is a two-year-old company served by Salt River Electric, offering professionally designed basket kits, weaving supplies and classes that draw customers worldwide.
It all started when her grandmother attended the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville. She brought an egg basket kit back to Taylorsville and soon started teaching others her craft.
Anderson never forgot those lessons, launching her first original basket design and teaching business in 2017. She and her husband, Christopher, returned to Taylorsville four years ago.
Two years ago, she purchased the Basket Maker’s Catalog company from Beth Hester, Scott Gilbert and Mike Sims, who were retiring and looking for the right buyer. When she learned they had known her grandmother, she knew it was a match made in heaven.
“I felt like a puddle,” Anderson says. “I knew in that moment, before I’d ever met the owners or walked into their warehouse, that I was the buyer of Basket Maker’s Catalog.”
With the business now thriving where her grandmother taught, life has come full circle.
“Only the goodness of God could orchestrate this life I’m living,” she says. “I’m creative, but nowhere near creative enough to dream this life up.”
Barn becomes family’s weaving home
A visit to Basket Maker’s Supply feels like stepping into a living piece of Kentucky heritage.
Housed in Dani Sue Anderson’s grandparents’ beautifully renovated barn, the space features country warmth and Southern hospitality.
Visitors can browse more than 120 basket designs, buy basket and chair-caning supplies, and watch the family at work: Aunt Jill Herndon checking quality, Valerie Armstrong pulling orders, Christopher Anderson managing the website and Dani Sue teaching new designs.
Her Dad, Scott Herndon, lives nearby, along with uncle Darrell Herndon and cousin Heather Kingsolver. You may also run into Dani and Christopher’s daughters, Lillie Grace, 13; Hannah Kay, 10; and Ella Rae, 7.
During open weaves, you can come to the farm and choose a project, weave at your own pace, or just come to buy materials and T-shirts. Learn more at basketmakerssupply.com.
