Kim Himebaugh turned her love of baking into a business.

She started her business – Krumbs – a little more than three years ago, and it is the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 Rising Star Award winner.

The Rising Star Award is given to someone who has been in business between one and five years.

Himebaugh received the award on Tuesday, Jan. 22, when the Chamber held its annual awards program, at the Waupaca Ale House.

“I was shocked. I’m very happy. I’m pretty surprised, very honored,” she said.

From the time she was a young girl, Himebaugh always liked to bake.

“Cooking not so much,” she said with a smile. “It’s not as much fun.”

She recalled baking with her mother, Linda Byars, and also baking with babysitters.

“Mom was always baking cookies,” Himebaugh said,

Years later, Himebaugh delved into the creative side of baking when she made a Barney cake for her son, Christopher.

That was 19 years ago “when Barney was cool,” she said of the big, purple dinosaur.

Himebaugh made the cake to celebrate her son’s first birthday.

About 10 years ago, she started making cakes for her nieces.

One of her nieces liked to draw a picture of what she wanted her cake to look like.

Himebaugh replicated it.

About four years ago, Himebaugh decided to take a six-week class at Fox Valley Technical College, because she “wanted to learn how to make roses.”

She continued making birthday cakes for family members.

Her husband, Brett, thought she should advertise.

“You’re good at this,” he told her.

Himebaugh told her husband she would need a license and a separate kitchen if she wanted to advertise and sell her cakes.

“Let’s build one,” he said.

They talked about it briefly and forgot about it.

One Friday evening, Himebaugh returned home after her one night a week of waitressing at Country Inn to discover her husband was tearing out drywall in the basement of their home.

“I’m building you a kitchen,” he said.

With help from family and friends, he built her a small kitchen.

Last January, they more than doubled her space so she now has about 700 square feet from which to work.

Krumbs’ kitchen has a definite pink theme, although Himebaugh said it was not always her favorite color.

“Bakeries make me think of pink for some reason,” she said. “I wanted something that would be cute and cheery.”

Himebaugh particularly enjoys the creative side of the business, as she comes up with different frostings and fillings for her desserts.

She encourages her clients to provide pictures of what they want for a design.

“My favorites last summer were when I did a couple dessert buffets for a couple weddings,” she said.

These days, Himebaugh is gearing up for cake tasting for upcoming weddings.

The wedding side of her business has grown.

“In 2011, I did 20 weddings. In 2012, I did 50 weddings,” she said.

In addition to being the owner of Krumbs, Himebaugh is also the branch office administrator of the Edward Jones office on Royalton Street, in Waupaca.

She also loves that job.

Evenings are spent working in her kitchen.

Never in her wildest dream did she see herself owning such a business.

Her favorite part is how she starts out making a cake for a wedding and eventually receives a call to make one for a baby shower, followed by a baptism and then a first birthday.

“That tells me I’m doing something right,” she said.