201812.09
0

Slime is shown off in Orange County

by in News

The District in Tustin was swarming with slimy business people on Sunday. But that wasn’t a bad thing.

Thirty entrepreneurs gathered at the SoCal Slime Bonanza to sell their gooey and unique creations, which featured gingerbread scents, foam shapes, and consistencies that are “more holdable and less sticky,” vendor Tiffany Navarro of Anaheim Hills explained.

Navarro’s concoctions smell good enough to eat and have food names — fair desserts, fruit and yogurt parfait and warm vanilla sugar — but they are meant to sooth the soul through touch.

  • Ava Kolker, 12, left, of Woodland Hills is amazed by how lightweight the Strawberry Twizzler, slime feels during the Slime Bonanza in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Halo Carpentiere, 9, of Buena Park makes a face at her dad while competing in the slime trick competition at the District in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. Actress Mackenzie Hancsicsak, who plays the young Kate on NBC’s “This is Us” is left and Disney channel actress Ava Kolker is center. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Sound
    The gallery will resume inseconds

  • Flynn Margetis, 13, of Seal Beach tests a vendor’s slime during the Slime Bonanza at the District on Sunday, December 9, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Halo Carpentiere, 9, of Buena Park, is a seller and collector of slime. She checks out vendor Tiffany Navarro’s concoctions during the Slime Bonanza at the District in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • TheeSlimes vendor Tiffany Navarro with her dog Stacey, was at the SoCal Slime Bonanza at the District in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Halo Carpentiere, 9, left, of Buena Park plays with slime while watching a presentation on slime making at the SoCal Slime Bonanza in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. She also collects slime and sells her own online. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • The SoCal Slime Bonanza featured 30 vendor booths, and one where visitors could make their own unique mixture at the District in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Actress Mackenzie Hancsicsak, who plays the young Kate on NBC’s “This is Us,” competes in the slime trick competition at the District in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Nick Werfelmann, 16, shows off his “Banana Split” slime at the SoCal Slime Bonanza in Tustin on Sunday, December 9, 2018. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

of

Expand

Navarro said she quit her retail job because she is making more money selling her “TheeSlimes” on her Etsy.com site. A 6-ounce container goes for $8. “It’s really growing because adults are getting into it,” Navarro added.

Bella Garcia, 12, of Irvine has been a “slimer” for about a year. Her mom Lainey says her daughter fidgets a lot so slime is the perfect antidote. “It’s a texture thing. It’s soothing,” Lainey said.  Except maybe when it’s left out overnight and it seeps into the carpet, dying it a different color. “But it’s worth it when she smiles, has fun and expresses herself” creatively.

Nick Werfelmann, 16, quit going to school because of slime. But don’t worry. He’s home schooled and saving for college. The young businessman tried selling a couple of different things online but nothing took off. Now he has 195,000 followers on his Instagram accout, itsslimetyme, and says he gets 2,000-to-3,000 sales a month. On Black Friday he had 7,400 orders. Werfelmann of Rancho Santa Margarita says he is thinking about buying a Tesla as a tax write-off.

Also appearing at Sunday’s event were actress Mackenzie Hancsicsak, who plays the young Kate on NBC’s “This is Us;” Disney Channel actress Ava Kolker, and Tori Spelling’s daughter, Stella McDermott, who has 20,000 followers on her slime-dedicated Instagram account.