Tanglewood Baskets and Wood Craft was created by Rob and Cathy Sylvester, and is located on the outskirts of Independence, Missouri. It features hand woven baskets and wood crafts made from hand milled wood harvested from the small farm located on the bluffs that overlook the Little Blue River, in Jackson County, Missouri.

Cathy Sylvester has been weaving, designing, and teaching basket classes for over 30 years.  Cathy has taught at previous Missouri Basket Weavers Guild Conventions, the Oklahoma Weavers Weekend, Missouri Town 1855, Powell Botanical Gardens, and other venues around Jackson County Missouri. Her baskets are exhibited and sold at the Amana Colonies in Iowa.  Cathy teaches basket classes, designs and creates patterns, and sells kits from her Tanglewood Baskets studio in Independence, MO.  She is a retired Blue Springsl Middle School Spanish teacher who especially loves traditional reed baskets and has a passion for teaching and promoting the craft.

Cathy’s husband, Rob has a small sawmill and woodshop. After he retired from teaching college and high school, he used his building skills from rehabbing houses to do woodcraft. He makes basket bases and accessories, and also makes a variety of wood projects. All items are made from trees he milled from our small acreage at the edge of Independence, Missouri. Rob works with hardwoods such as Black Walnut, Oak, Maple and Osage Orange, and also uses Sycamore, Elm, Hackberry, and Cedar. We are proud to maintain a stretch of Missouri’s natural forest.