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Where some people see a pile of aged wood and rusty metal, local artisans Anthony Earhart and Jessica Hannon see an opportunity to craft handmade barn wood crosses.

“We made crosses because I have been in recovery for two years,” Earhart said. “Jesus Christ saved my life from addiction and I have just leaned towards crosses and we seem to be pretty decent at it. I think everybody needs a cross because when you look at a cross you think about Jesus Christ.”

Earhart said he applied some of the skills he has learned in the 27 years he has done custom tile work and bathroom remodels to making the one-off pieces.

“Two Christmases ago, we made four of these framed crosses for Christmas presents and everybody fell in love with them,” he said.

The couple decided to make more of them, and were soon making a variety of different crosses and selling them at craft shows. Shortly after that, they stumbled upon Foothills Crafts in Manchester.

“We were just driving by and he said, hey that sign says crafts on it,” Jessica Hannon said. “We had some time to kill, so we just turned around and pulled in and realized it was more than a craft store.”

“We had intentions of just doing our stuff at craft shows and so far this has been bigger to us than we thought,” Hannon said.

Earhart said it is important to the couple that they share the story of their recovery and their ministry.

“We have a ministry called Rooted in Christ Recovery and the crosses just goes along with our ministry and our tile work,” he said. “Jesus has been blessing us with life every day, just coming out of addiction, so doing the crosses is another way of giving praise to him.”

Hannon said while genuine barn wood can be hard to come by, the couple has had luck finding aged wood from local lumber stores and sawmills.

“I can see the beauty in everything,” Earhart said. “If somebody is throwing it away, it is like wait a minute, we’re turning around to get that because we can make something cool out of it.”

Earhart said he and Hannon enjoy volunteering their time at Foothills Crafts once a month, and the opportunity to share their story with those who are interested.

“A lot of people like a success story and a recovery story,” he said. “If we can start telling you about our crosses and why we make them and how we got to this point and tell you a little about Jesus, and if he can save somebody like me, he can save anybody.”