Lisa Stelly: The Female Behind Fancy

On the surface, edible stars and hearts, rainbow-colored candy, and glittering drinks may seem like frivolous little luxuries, but FANCY SPRINKLES^® Founder, Lisa Stelly, believes that small things make a big impact.

“One time I read a comment on one of our Fancy Edible Glitter posts, and someone said, ‘why would you put glitter in champagne?’ They were sort of knocking it,” said Stelly. “This was a few months ago, so we’re still in the pandemic, and my first thought was, why not? Do we really have to explain now that we’re doing little things that make us happy?”

Truly, I dare you to swirl some glitter in your cocktail or top a frosted cupcake with an iridescent sprinkle blend of pearls, crystals, metallic caviar, and shimmering sequins and not feel the corners of your mouth curl up. Beautiful, colorful, and sparkly treats just make people happy, it’s as simple as that. They make you feel, quite literally, like a kid in a candy store. 

“I liken our products and the way that adults feel about them to the way children feel when they see a lollipop,” said Stelly. “Or the way my daughters feel when they walk down the toy aisle looking at the Barbies. It’s this wide-eyed, anything-is-possible, life-is-great-and-beautiful feeling.”

Stelly wants her products to elicit those warm fuzzies you feel when you pour sprinkles on your ice cream (or straight into your mouth, no judgment), and beyond that, she wants her products to inspire the Fancy fam to create their own joy.

“There are so many little nuances that our products bring to people, and I don’t think it’s insignificant,” Stelly said. “Cake decorating and the aesthetics of edible arts brought me out of a massive depression that nothing else cured —well, medicine helped— but it really brought me out of something and it gave me so much self-confidence. Once you master your art form or get better at it, it’s really therapeutic.” 

It isn’t just about baking something beautiful and delicious, and yet, baking something beautiful and delicious isn’t just a trivial pursuit. There’s nothing “just” about finding happiness in the little things. In fact, it’s what being “fancy” is all about, according to Stelly. 

“Sometimes, I go into our factory and I’ll mix sprinkles myself because it’s cathartic for me, and it feels good,” said Stelly. “We post videos all the time of us blending our sprinkles, and people are just mesmerized. They leave comments saying: ‘this is so satisfying, this makes me so happy,’ and you can’t put your finger on it. It’s that feeling of you’re looking good and you see yourself in the mirror and you’re like, damn. You just get that wave of confidence. That’s what I think our products give. Not only are they elite in taste and flavor, but they stand alone in a crowd just based on the way that they make you feel. A product is powerful whenever it can make you feel something.”

For Stelly, creating innovative products is really at the heart of her work with FANCY SPRINKLES^® as she continues to innovate in the cake decorating and edible arts space. She’s driven by a desire to modernize baking products, creating something that looks as good as it tastes and making the entire experience easier and more approachable along the way. With every product, Stelly takes a step back and asks, why have we always done it this way and how can we make it better?

“So much thought went into these products when I’m developing each single blend, the amount of work I do, the care and the attention to detail that I put in,” said Stelly. “People can feel that in the products, and it feels so well thought out, and that’s because it is. That feeling of joy, that’s what we’re trying to spark over here.”

Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to pour some Fancy Edible Glitter in my champagne.