Hampton resident opens laser-engraving studio in Etna

If you’re looking for the perfect personalized gift this holiday season, look no further than Etna’s new laser engraving and DIY workshop, Maple and Metal.

Hampton resident Leslie Michielli opened her laser engraving studio and DIY workshop just a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. Just two weeks after opening, Michielli already had the Christmas tree up and the laser-cut wooden ornaments hung.

Maple and Metal is set up for the holidays with a Christmas tree decorated with laser-engraved ornaments.

Since July, Michielli has been preparing the store for opening. She originally aimed to open the store in September, but an unexpected illness kept her laying low for a while — hence the soft, quiet opening. But now she is all set up and ready to receive customers for both shopping and workshopping.

Maple and Metal has customizable ornaments to celebrate every occasion.

How it started

Michielli used to be a full-time social worker, working with schoo children and people in nursing homes. She bought her first laser engraving machine to use as a stress-relieving activity in her free time. The very first laser-engraved wooden photo she made was a memorial gift for the family of Abbey Todd, a student and accomplished figure skater from Hampton who passed away in April 2020.

Leslie Michielli made a laser-engraved wooden photo of the late Abbey Todd as a memorial gift for her family. It reads, “The hardest goodbyes are the ones where the book was closed forever and the story wasn’t over yet.”

From there, others in the community heard about Michielli’s work through word of mouth. They began commissioning her for their own wood engravings. Michielli retired from social work during the pandemic and turned her engraving into an online business.

Her most requested items are the laser-engraved wooden photos that first got her into engraving items for others. Babies, weddings, homes and pets — engraved wooden photos commemorating and celebrating all of them now adorn the walls of Maple and Metal as examples of what Michielli can make.

Examples of laser engravings on wood are displayed at Maple and Metal.

On her TikTok account, @haute._.mess123, Michielli shows the process of creating laser-engraved wooden photos. First she receives the photo from the customer, and then she converts it into grayscale before engraving the image into wood using a laser machine. Finally, she glues it to a base and does any additional frame assembling necessary.

Before getting her shop, Michielli operated her engraving business out of her home. As the requests came in, the projects piled up, and the bigger laser machines for bigger projects took up more and more space.

“Nobody could sit at the dining room table,” Michielli said.

Now she has plenty of space in her new 1,750-square-foot brick-and-mortar shop, which includes a spacious storefront, an office with multiple laser-engraving machines and a back-room workshop with two big tables and lots of tools. There, Michielli plans to host workshops for customers.

Leslie Michielli’s office at Maple and Metal houses multiple large laser-engraving machines.

“Here, people can come in and do art projects (and) painting. Haven’t brought anybody in yet to do wood projects with hammers and nails and things, but that’s coming,” Michielli said. “And the fun thing about it is this is like, my thing, so I’m not corporate-run or run by any rules. So if you want to come in on a Friday at 2 o’clock with a few people, I can usually accommodate that, which is really, really nice. I can take up to 12 people, but if the project is larger, I go smaller.”

After regular business hours, Leslie Michielli hosts workshops in Maple and Metal’s back room, where customers can take part in the customization process. In the future she hopes to use the room as a community space, as well.

Maple and Metal’s regular hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, with time for workshops after 6, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, with time for workshops after 3.

Help from Duquesne

Michielli credits Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center for helping her purchase her store and educating her in everything she needed to know to start her small business.

“I worked with them since January of 2024, and when I was ready to open, they came and did my ribbon cutting,” Michielli said. “They link you up with a mentor. They offer all kinds of classes that you can take in person or online for like $25-30, like how to advertise yourself on social media, QuickBooks, all the things that, as a business owner, you need to know.”

Dreams for the future

Though she’s only just opened Maple and Metal, Michielli still has further dreams for her business: She wants to turn it into a community space and an opportunity to help kids, like her social work allowed her to do.

One particular idea Michielli has for family-centered activities she’d like to host in her workshop space is “Smiley Shiley” parties, inspired by her experience with her mother.

“My mom was, I don’t know, she was clinically depressed, not quite sure. But somebody told me that she had this nickname called ‘Smiley Shiley.’ They said she smiled all the time. I never saw that growing up,” Michielli said. “So I want to start ‘Smiley Shiley’ parties, ideally for children who can come in and do free-art projects, mom-and-me projects, to build some bonds.”

Another idea Michielli has is to allow kids to use her workshop space to explore their talents and complete volunteer hours, which some schools, including Hampton High School, require students to complete as part of community service programs

“I’d like to be able to start a program where the high school kids can volunteer their time to people in the community to do things that the high school kids are good at,” Michielli said. “So I would like to use the back room for that.”