About
Welcome to Prairie Oaks Designs
We would like to welcome you personally to Prairie Oaks Designs. It is with a grateful heart that we can share with you our new business. After a major life change in 2014, I was struggling with what to do with my life. My priority in life is God and family, but I was faced with trying to find a new job and the possibility of moving from our home in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Raising two girls, while living 45 miles from any town with a population over 2,000, created an obstacle for finding that perfect job.
After doing some soul searching, I had a vision of the company I wanted to create. Lucky for me, my husband was a master welder in his ‘younger’ years so when I showed him a picture of what I wanted to create he knew what type of machine we would need. After finding out the initial cost, I began to have second thoughts, but the Lord blessed me with an encouraging husband, and he helped me research what I would need to make my vision come alive. When the equipment arrived, I immediately discovered it was not going to be as easy as I hoped. After a few late nights and calls to the manufacturers, I self-taught myself how to design in a CAD program with a CNC water table plasma cutter.
We have evolved since our first show in 2015. The first few years I would design and cut all of our metal signs and decor, and my husband would cut the wood panels for our various signs. After each metal piece cut, I had to grind the back to remove all dross to attain a smooth, clean look...and then hand sand the front of each piece to achieve the polished look. This was a time consuming process which led to many late nights. We have since added two wonderful people to work with us as a team. I still design all pieces...and the team works together on each piece to give you a quality item for your home.
All items on our website are designed and cut in our shop in the Flint Hills of Kansas....downtown Florence, Kansas. Not only do we cut all of our metal in the Florence location...we also have a gift shop with a variety of items. We hope to offer you a glimpse of our designs as the possibilities are endless as to what we could create for you! We continue to travel to various shows, create a new product for area stores, and ship custom orders across the United States. Thank you for stopping by, and we look forward to hearing from you!!
Blessings,
Troy & Sara Dawson