Skip to Main

Sightseeing in Northern Michigan: Liberty Gumball

Skilled craftsmen are getting harder and harder to find these days — people who can build things with their hands that will be handed down for generations.

But there’s one here in Northern Michigan who is making something a little bit out of the ordinary, much to the delight of children young and old.

It’s today’s Sightseeing in Northern Michigan.

"The one word they all used is unique, these are very unique," says Jeff Seiting.

A gumball machine, with a whole lot of flair, built with plenty of love.

"It just started out as a square box, and after I built a couple of them and started looking at them, I thought you could really embellish on these a little bit.”

Jeff Seiting is the brains and the brawn behind Liberty Gumball and Woodwork, handcrafting pieces of art from the old Seiting Hotel in Kalkaska.

A business almost made by accident.

"I grew up in construction, a 40 year career, moved back here from California about 22 years ago and wanted to continue with the woodworking, but there wasn’t really a niche that I was accustomed so I created my own," explains Jeff.

These machines — inspired by a toy.

"I had young kids and I was bored one day, so I decided to go down in the basement and thought I would make one of those Plinko games,” says Jeff. “Built one, thought that’s kind of neat and said let’s put a gumball in there and give the kid a little reward when he’s all done,” says Jeff.

But from there to today has been a learning process, like their first craft show.

"Everyone could tell we were the rookies of the bunch and the second day I had three different vendors come up and different times and say I don’t know you, but my suggestion to you is that these are so unique you better pack them up and get them out of here and patent them or trademark them before someone tries to steal this concept," explains Jeff.

He did, and laid low for a while, perfecting his craft.

"Some may take 8 or 9 hours when I have clarity on where I want to go, and others have taken 40-50 hours to build, so it just depends. The sky’s the limit, my imagination is the only limitation, and that’s the fun part,” says Jeff.

For Jeff, the pride not only comes from design, but from craftsmanship and materials.

"It’s very rewarding to take something like this and hand sand, hand shape and pick each piece of wood for where it goes,” says Jeff.

In the end, not every design is a winner.

"I had some of them that I spend 40-50 hours on and ended up burning them in the wood stove, because I just couldn’t make them work right.”

But the ones that do work will hopefully find a place in a family’s house and heart for decades.

"We build them to be around for families for 100 years, something they can hand down, they’re built with heirloom quality in mind,” says Jeff. 

For more information about Liberty Gumball check out their or call (231) 564-0731.