Bay Area shop brings 'wizard world' to life

Inside Mad Dragon Studio, a small, family-owned business in downtown Zephyrhills, lies a world of fantasy and magic.

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. - Inside Mad Dragon Studio, a small, family-owned business in downtown Zephyrhills, lies a world of fantasy and magic.

What they're saying:

"I couldn't live in the wizard world, so I built my own," Mad Dragon Studio owner Sarah Hamilton said. "I am an artist who loves to create things that go in the wizarding world."

Items in this "world" include dragon goblets, quills, toy creatures and a variety of color-changing potions.

Mad Dragon Studio owner Sarah Hamilton shows off one of her potions.

"I've been making potion bottles for a long time, and I just started playing around with them," Hamilton said. "I accidentally made one, trying to get like a glitter in it, and it changed the color of the bottle, and I went, whoa, that's cool, so let's keep doing that."

Dig deeper:

The shop opened in 2017, but Hamilton has been a lifelong self-described "jack of all trades." Her first creations were for her youngest son, who requested a wizard-themed birthday party. Impressed with the décor and party favors, her family and friends encouraged her to try selling.

An Etsy shop was born, and years later her husband nudged her to look at open retail space in town.

Mad Dragon Studio owner Sarah Hamilton says she loves the "wizard world" she's cultivated.

"Everyone wants to be a wizard. Everyone wants to be able to do something amazing and magical and find the power in them that they didn't know they had, so I think people really tap into that," Hamilton said.

Naturally, the best-selling items are wands. Hamilton handmakes each individual wand. Each is one-of a-kind. She once created a wand that helped with a marriage proposal.

The best-selling items at Mad Dragon Studio are wands.

"You have to open them and see which wand chooses you," Hamilton said.

The shop is open on weekends, with occasional weekday hours. Hamilton creates products during the week. Her favorite aspect of the shop is meeting people.

Mad Dragon Studio owner Sarah Hamilton says she loves the "wizard world" she's cultivated.

"It's ridiculously validating to know that other people like the same things you like. You're like, ‘wow, I saw this vision and I wanted to create it, and somebody else actually likes that,’" Hamilton said. "It's just connecting on a human level, that we have these passions and these ideas, and they actually do connect and that we find that common ground."

For more information on Mad Dragon Studio, click here.

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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13 photojournalist Barry Wong.

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