Rabbit’s Foot Art and Craft opened in downtown Menlo Park with a simple mission: encourage kids and adults to experiment with creativity — even if they don’t consider themselves artists.
The store, which sells supplies and offers DIY projects and art classes, opened May 7 at 845 Santa Cruz Ave., the former home of Sense Fine Art Contemporary Gallery. It was founded by husband-and-wife team Li Li and Emma Yi, who live in Redwood City.
“Right now, a lot of kids stay at home and just watch screens all day. Now, they can come here and work on something, build something outside of the home,” Li said. A lot of the time parents don’t bond with the kids because they don’t work together so we want to have a place for them.”
Rabbit’s Foot provides materials and instruction for a variety of hands-on projects, including textile art, cream art, mosaics and embroidery. Most activities don’t require a reservation, and visitors of all ages are welcome. Yi chose the name Rabbit’s Foot because of her love for rabbits and the common belief that carrying a rabbit’s foot is lucky.
“These are all my favorite projects,” Yi said. “Sometimes, I would find one on the internet and then I would just try it myself. And then all these projects I’d do more than twice, and I thought, ‘That’s the fun project. I want to put it in my store.’”
Yi, who loved art as a child, majored in animation in Guangzhou, China, before immigrating to the United States in 2010 to pursue a master’s degree in fine art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She later worked in tech as a graphic and motion designer.
Two years ago, Yi and Li began searching for the right city in which to open a craft store.
“We explored different locations, like Mountain View and Palo Alto,” Li said. “We felt like, in this area, we don’t see any craft stores aside from an art studio. So we decided, ‘Let’s start a business.’”
Yi designed the store’s 10 current in-store projects herself, drawing inspiration from what she’s enjoyed over the years and what she’s seen online. When customers come in, she helps guide them through the process, allowing for plenty of creative freedom. Many projects offer templates or the option to create a design from scratch.
Yi said her favorite project is tufting, a process that uses a tuft gun to push yarn through a backing material to create rugs or other textiles. Customers can design their own patterns or use images projected onto the backing.
Since opening, Yi has been working on her own tufted rug inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Pokémon.
“Before we opened, I thought I’d have a ton of time to work on it, but it’s taking a lot longer because we have been so busy,” she said.
Li agreed that the response from the community has been overwhelming.
“People spread the word and know the space,” he said. “During the weekend, we’re so busy. Originally, we didn’t have a plan to hire an employee, but just after three weeks, we had to hire four people.”
Both said they’ve felt welcomed by Menlo Park residents.
“This neighborhood is amazing. Like a lot of people give us a lot of suggestions and help us. We really appreciate the help from the local community,” Li said.
“People are really nice here, and they give me a lot of courage,” Yi added. “Everyone is so sweet.”
Menlo Park resident Michelle Betancourt said her family are already big fans.
“Its a great addition to downtown,” Betancourt said.
Yi plans on adding more projects, in particular ones that are appealing to boys and adults.
Rabbit’s Foot does not only cater to kids’ creative impulses. Yi said companies also host team-building events with them. She plans to expand the art class offerings to add fine art classes, like painting, using her background as an artist.
The couple also plans to add projects like soap making and candle making.
