By Kyle Coppola
Crafted Scent Bar Opens New Location in Mount Dora
Crafted Scent Bar, Central Florida’s popular DIY fragrance studio, is relocating from Eustis to its new home at 129 West 5th Avenue in downtown Mount Dora, with its first classes in the new location scheduled to begin July 5.
The move marks an exciting new chapter for owner Mellisa McHaffie, a seasoned candle-maker with more than 26 years of experience. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mellisa has called Lake County home since the late 1980s and has watched the region grow and evolve much like her business.
(Mellisa has over 26 years experience in making crafted scents.)
Crafted Scent Bar was born during the pandemic in November 2021, inspired by Mellisa’s desire to reconnect with others through creativity and scent after months of isolation. The idea came as what she describes as a “still small voice,” encouraging her to share her passion with others. What began as a leap of faith quickly blossomed into one of the area’s most unique experiential businesses.
The studio offers a hands-on experience where guests can craft custom candles, room sprays, reed diffusers, and more from a scent library of over 100 fragrance oils. With guided workshops and walk-in sessions, customers blend signature scents and take home one-of-a-kind creations.
(You can take a class that will educate you on how to make crafted-scented candles.)
Crafted Scent Bar has quickly gained a loyal following, boasting more than 50 five-star reviews and recognition for its community involvement. Mellisa was recently honored with a Community Service Award for supporting other local small businesses and delivered her first TEDx talk in February 2024 titled “The Untapped Power of our Sense of Smell.”
The new Mount Dora location situates Crafted Scent Bar among the city’s vibrant shops and historic charm, creating new opportunities for foot traffic and collaboration with other downtown merchants.
Classes and walk-in sessions are available for booking through their website, www.craftedscentbar.com, with the first workshop at the new space slated for July 5th.
We wish Mellisa the best of luck! If you are in the area especially for the fireworks show, be sure to pop in and look around. It’s worth the visit.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
