tldr at the bottom!
So our (my twin and I, both 31) mother and aunt own a small crafting company and go to local markets every Christmas to sell things. It’s mostly old-country Christmas stuff made with barnboard, like wall decorations and centerpieces for tables, wreaths etc.
My aunt has been asking for a couple years now if I would do some artwork for her company and I’ve always declined because I didn’t like the idea of someone else mass-producing my work and selling it for their own profit. This time however, I caved and agreed, mostly because I really love my family and I hate disappointing anyone. About two weeks after though, I changed my mind and had a heart to heart with my aunt about it, saying that I would really like to try selling my artwork at the craft shows MYSELF, because there is a lot more money in that and it could be more long-term than the one-time purchase she would make from me, plus it would be a huge opportunity to get out of retail hell.
Without going into insane detail, my sister and I wanted to make Christmas wreaths with my artwork in the center of the wreaths (its mostly pet artwork, so lots of different dog and cat breeds) with some extra embellishments to make it personalized to the customer’s specific pet. My aunt’s original idea was to have a few different popular dog breeds inside of the wreaths, but I had expanded upon the idea with my own input and twists to further flesh it out, so while the initial concept was hers, much of it was collaborated upon with myself and many of the ideas that were given were my own. To end the story, our mother and aunt are extremely upset and won’t let us make wreaths. They understand why I don’t want them to sell my artwork and are on board with that, but they said that they Christmas wreaths “was their thing” so we can’t use anything like that, even though our designs, aesthetics and overall products are going to be WILDLY different from one another’s. Like not even in the same ballpark.
p.s we have always supported their business however we can, including working at their shows for them, helping them set up, loading up wood etc. When we decided we wanted to take a crack at the Christmas market, we avoided anything rustic/barnboard like the pieces that they made for walls and anything that could be seen as similar. We figured wreaths were our best bet because they are a simple, classic Christmas staple that you can buy just about anywhere. They arent unique to their company like their other crafts are.
tldr; my twin and I want to start up a crafting business making custom pet wreaths, and our mom and aunt dont want us to because they don’t want us making wreaths.
A wreath with artwork is not some original idea, and your mom and aunt certainly don’t have a patent or copyright on it either. If you and your sister are of age to start your own booth at the market, then they can’t stop you. If you don’t want there to be some huge rift in the family though, agree to sell through their booth, with you and your sister taking the majority of the profits for every wreath sold while they receive a small percentage as a booth fee more or less.
Edit: missed that you guys are 31. More than old enough to get your own booth should you choose to do so.
It’s not copyright, it’s inspiration to be creative. Maybe they want that place for themselves bc of tradition between them 2, and it’s easier to be angry or jealous than to acknowledge a good idea for your own benefit, you should do what feels right I support you buddy, go and start your experience in the market! Good luck
NTA! Your mother and aunt don’t own the Christmas wreath concept! Good grief.
Are they the crafting police? Just don’t get a booth near them. Here’s the thing. Wreaths take up a lot of room and people tend to buy just one. You need to have more to sell that is smaller, people will buy multiples of, and has a high profit margin to really make $. Per stockings, per ornaments, personalized leashes or pet tags Other small signage.
> Are they the crafting police? Just don’t get a booth near them
The mom and aunt obviously can’t stop them. This is clearly more about the personal ramifications that may occur when a rift occurs between four family members who all seem really close. Because the mom and aunt aren’t going to stop being pissed when the market shuts down every day or for the season. What OP really seems to be asking is if pursuing this is worth creating a ton of tension with their mother and aunt, especially over the holidays.
They didn’t invent Christmas wreaths so you’re fine.
NTA for wanting to sell on your own at the art show. YTA for essentially taking what you originally agreed to produce for your aunt to sell at said at show and selling it as your own. Come up with something wholly original and it’s unlikely to be an issue.
NAH. You’re adults and can compete with your mother and aunt if you want. But stop pretending that you’re not competing with them, and don’t blame them for being resentful, especially since you’ve renegged on your original agreement to contribute to their business this year.
Good news is it’s December 9 so you all have a year to reconcile before 2026 Christmas markets, since you won’t have inventory for any of this year’s markets nor have you reserved a spot for them if you’re just considering it now.
If you have actually done everything already and this isn’t theoretical, I might think differently.
I think you’re very slightly YTA for agreeing to help in this specific way then deciding to put profit for yourself (and yes, in the context of a Christmas market, everyone is in competition with everyone else!) over working with your family as promised. But none of you invented the Christmas wreath concept, so I don’t think that’s a real issue.
And they could have just sold your unique handmade wreaths alongside their other things instead of buying your concept — then everyone would have won!
YTA
As your description it is not art, it is a DIY. If not, how many sales you actually have of your own “art”?
They are your family, you gave them your word and then baked up.
Not only that, you choose to give them that instead of buying a present. It was like laughing at their faces
Dress it up any way you like, but you’re still going to be competition for your mother and aunt if you’re at the same show, so they’re going to be annoyed.
You collaborated with them initially based on your aunt’s idea, so you can expect some anger when you flip the script and take the idea and make it your own.
Is it illegal? No. Nobody owns wreath-making. Is it a good idea to screw over family? Rarely. When the show is over, you’ll have to deal with the resentment. If you’re good with that, there’s nothing stopping you from selling your stuff anywhere you like.
What makes you the AH here is working with your aunt then running with her idea instead. You’re being shortsighted.
YTA
YTA, some people are approaching this from a legal perspective, but I do think that from a close relationship standpoint, it’s kind of an assholish thing to just start running with someone else’s original idea and then cutting them off from it. And even from a business perspective, it may not be illegal but it is seen as a cutthroat thing to do.
You’re not an asshole from wanting to profit from your own work but it’s also sounds like that’s not the issue from your aunts and mother’s perspective. They came up with the idea, your own ideas were build up from that, but it was still their orginal idea.
You stated that you went into this because you really love your family. This will have consequences for your relationships with them. I would let go off the wreaths for this year and start working on some new ideas or just start planning for the following year, or just ask for a percentage of the profits from your wreaths.