Light rain early. Partial clearing overnight. Low around 40F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%..
Light rain early. Partial clearing overnight. Low around 40F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Updated: November 5, 2025 @ 10:47 pm
Power High School senior Tanner Vick stands with a belt he made for a local resident earlier this year. Vick started making custom designs in March and also makes other leather-based products such as wallets and knife sheaths.
PHS senior Tanner Vick’s floral-themed custom belts are featured above. Vick creates a variety of designs.
Power High School senior Tanner Vick is putting his leather-making skills to use and making various custom leather objects on demand for area residents.
Vick, 18, son of Travis and Lauren Vick, has three younger brothers. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, before the family moved to Power in February 2017. Vick started doing leatherwork with his grandfather in Texas when he was 11 years old.
Power High School senior Tanner Vick stands with a belt he made for a local resident earlier this year. Vick started making custom designs in March and also makes other leather-based products such as wallets and knife sheaths.
Vick started by making a belt for his friend, who showed others the finished product. He has since received a lot of custom requests from people, but with football, basketball and track and field season happening during the school year, Vick is unable to do his work full-time.
“It’s easy because it doesn’t feel like work,” Vick said in an Oct. 24 interview with the Acantha. “It’s another way to make money, but I also enjoy making things for others.”
Vick also makes other leather-based items, such as wallets and knife sheaths, and creates things for himself, like a leather fly fishing rod case.
Vick said people started asking him to make belts the past year. He has made about 20 custom designs since March and 10 more after a Facebook promotion by his mother. He said his grandpa taught him the basics of leathermaking, but he self-taught the more complex skills.
The price of Vick’s custom work varies depending on the complexity of the project. If the design includes markings like floral designs, it will cost more than a basic stamp design. Vick said the stamp designs are less work and not as time-consuming.
After football practice, Vick works for two or three hours on weeknights and between four and six hours on Saturdays and Sundays for a total of 20 hours a week.
PHS senior Tanner Vick’s floral-themed custom belts are featured above. Vick creates a variety of designs.
During his work, Vick starts with a blank piece of leather, measures it, draws the design on the leather and carves the design with a flat knife. He then adds dimensions to make it look very realistic, and adds a spread to make the cutting stand out from the rest of the leather. Vick buffs the belt, puts a finishing on top and finishes the edges. He wraps his projects by punching the holes.
The PHS senior class will host a vendor fair in December as part of Power’s Christmas Stroll on Dec. 6 from 12-6 p.m. in the Power High School gym. Vick will set up a booth to sell belts and take custom orders. He said he has a lot of custom orders already.
“It’s something I won’t be able to do full-time, but it’s something I would want to do as an adult when I have a full-time job,” Vick said. “I put a big investment into my tools. My brother, my friend and I made a trip to Missoula and bought a leather sanding machine. I want to continue to do it, and it’s something I really love doing.”
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