Candy Shop GRAND OPENING and RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY!

Yesterday was the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Kit 'n' Kaboodle A.R.T. Candy Shop. Officiating was none other than Kit Kittridge (pictured above). Among those in attendance were Molly McIntire and Samantha Parkington. Nellie O'Malley was unable to attend due to a recent unexpected trip to her grandpa's house (meaning, my dad needed to borrow her for scale).

You can see from the smile on her face, she feels like a Kit, I mean, a kid in a candy store! :)

The white furniture, including lollipop tree and store sign, was created by my brother and will soon be available in our ETSY shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/KitnKaboodleART)
with shipping in time for Christmas!

All of the goodies were created by my dad and me during our many late night conversations and are available in our ETSY shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/KitnKaboodleART) while supplies last!

This wall hanging was created using scrap booking papers and a frame found in a bin at Michael's craft store and matched the counter (my daughter's shave ice stand that started all of this) perfectly. I felt the need to display ALL of the rock candy lollipops because they are my absolute favorite item!

I had the little chevron baggies leftover from a previous project, and they looked great in a little basket (see picture below) my dad picked up at Hobby Lobby - sadly, there are none near me. The little pink candy scoop was another HL find from my dad and was located in the jewelry making section (another of my favorite hobbies).

A previous blog titled 'Candy Store Coming Soon!' includes some great close-ups of the treats in all of the containers.
So, there you have it...the whole Kit 'n' Kaboodle for our Candy Shop :)

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions. Hopefully this will inspire some of your own doll adventures!

~Amanda

Holiday baking

I have had so much fun creating pies that look just like the ones my mom baked each Thanksgiving and Christmas! My favorite memory of holiday pie is that on these two special days, I was allowed to eat dessert for breakfast while my mom was already hard at work preparing our holiday meal.

Several unsliced, baked pies (2 apple, 1 cherry, and hopefully a pumkin or two if time allows) for $25 each will be listed next week...

                              

...along with several sets of cookies.

My dad designed and created these frosty friends - cute, huh?!

~Amanda
Kit 'n' Kaboodle A.R.T.

Candy Store Coming Soon!

We have been hard at work creating a couple upcoming collections that I hope to list in our ETSY shop (www.etsy.com/shop/KitnKaboodleART) next Wednesday, November 27.

We are so thankful for the interest so far! It has been an exciting adventure. I often joke with my dad that I wish my hands could keep up with my head. We have so many ideas that we are hoping to introduce to the shop, but as with most things a little balance and a lot of patience are necessary.

Keeping that in mind, we have chosen to start with a Candy Shop Collection and Holiday Collection. Here is a sneak peak at the creative process and items you can expect in our store next week…

The candy store was inspired by our summer vacation to Newport, RI this past July. I saw the way my children’s eyes light up as we entered the room filled with confections of every kind. Though we left with only a few in hand, I’m sure they would have loved to bring the entire store home. Naturally, we couldn’t do that, so we decided to do the next best thing and recreate it in miniature!  Am I alone in thinking things are even better in miniature?

My father (A.R.Thom) created the rock candy lollipops, and I must admit – I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a set! They are adorable!

We will also offer several holiday inspired treats. I was pleasantly surprised by the interest in the Fall Sugar Cookies I created, so we will be offering several sets of doll-sized cookies that look like gourmet bakery or café cookies. Hopefully a blog with some examples will be coming soon :)

We hope you like what you see and are inspired to create, display and play!

                                                                                                                    ~Amanda

                                                                                                          (Kit ‘n’ Kaboodle A.R.T.)

NOTE: All food items discussed and displayed are NOT edible and were hand created by Kit ‘n’ Kaboodle A.R.T. of polymer clay and other craft materials.

Loving Autumn

Hip Hip Horray! We made our very first sale this past week. It’s official!
We’ve also been hard at work trying to perfect some of the tasty treats (and other items…) we hope to list in the next couple weeks.
In the meantime, I’ve been very distracted by Fall.  It’s my favorite season, though I love them all!  I’ve always loved the smells and sights of Autumn.  Growing up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, I looked forward to the start of school (I still love shopping for new supplies, though now they are for my daughter), a new football season, homemade pumpkin or apple anything, my birthday and the new colors my favorite season offered.  The hills transformed to a beautiful backdrop of gold, orange, and red.
Though my home is now in New England, I’m welcomed by the same colors and smells I remember from childhood.  So, while I am supposed to be focused on our first big collection of goodies to offer, I’ve been tinkering with these…

What do you think?  The shiny, delicious candy coating dripping from the apple the way I remember my grandma making it, looks almost good enough to eat.  (Please don’t though…It’s just for dolls.)  I wish there was time to create more treats from my favorite season, but that will have to wait until next year.  For this season, I’ll have to stop with apples…

There will be a total of 7 candy apples and 6 caramel apples with sprinkles listed in our shop. www.etsy.com/shop/KitnKaboodleART

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back soon to see what we’re cooking up next.
Happy Fall!
~Amanda

Check us out

Check us out at KitnKaboodleART on ETSY.com to see what we have available.

Grand Opening!

We hope you enjoy our first set! We have big things cooking and thought this Trick or Treat set would be a great way to showcase a small sampling of the many items we hope to create. Look for more to follow in the very near future.

About Us

Who is Kit 'n' Kaboodle A.R.T.?

Well, let me start with how we came to love clay, dolls, and everything in between. A recent trip (July 2013) to our local bookstore ended with my daughter asking to buy the American Girl Kanani book. She quickly began reading and asked "Mama, can you help me make a shave ice stand?" Never one to back down from a challenge (especially at the disapointment of a little girl who still believes I can do anything), I replied "Sure, lets look online for some ideas!"

I must admit I was trying to contain my excitement! I grew up reading the original three American Girl Doll books but never owned one of the dolls until I was reintroduced to them through a younger cousin in 2003. At that time, I was much too old to be 'playing' with dolls, but I was also much too old for anyone to stop me from buying one if I wanted. I purchased Samantha for my daughter (who didn't exist yet...always the planner), then Nellie for Samantha, then clothes for each of them, then a few accessories...you get the idea.

So, there we were, browsing the internet for a shave ice stand for Kit (my daughter's doll). She drew sketches of her vision and the planning began. A friend of ours was nice enough to volunteer her husband for the task of helping to cut the wood and assemble the stand. We  arrived with graph paper and detailed plans, and he later asked his newlywed wife if I realized what a perfectionist I am. Thanks, and YES!   ;)

The stand was nearly complete just in time for our family vacation. We were sooooo excited that Mamaw and Pap Pap would be here to see what we had made. My daughter decided on slighter darker than Pepto Bismol pink and went to work painting our creation. 

Next, we needed treats to fill it. When I saw that people were creating their own clay doll food, one of my favorite childhood memories came to mind. One weekend, when I was around my daughter's age, my dad made homemade play dough in a variety of colors. We (me, my brother, dad, and family friends) made loads of creations and ate pizza for hours. I remember one of my favorites being my dad's small scale hotdog with mustard. So, naturally I wanted to try to recreate that with my dad and daughter this past summer. She joined in, made some really cute doughnuts and cinnamon rolls, and was off to another adventure. Hours later, my dad and I were still creating! The memories were recreated and though he is back in the sunshine state and I'm preparing for a New England winter, we're together several nights a week (Thanks, FaceTime!) creating again. 

We recruited a carpenter, a.k.a. my brother, along the way. He has recently retired his apron (former cook) and purchased a saw. He's leaving the cooking to us for once (at least in small scale).

So, there you have it!

We are Kit 'n' Kaboodle A.R.T.

Kit for my daughter's doll, Kaboodle for all the fabulous collections we hope to offer, and A.R.T. for Amanda (me), Ray (my brother), and Thom (my dad)

We hope you enjoy our blog and welcome comments!