If you’ve been to the shop, you may have seen the 18” mdf Kentucky shapes we sell. This was the very first door hanger we ever brought to the shop. We had high hopes that it would be a bestseller before we even had keys to the studio!

As the studio was being built, my five employees and I sat around my kitchen table, brainstorming and creating samples. We worked out details like how we should organize “the works,” (our muffin tins full of bling) and other ideas that we still use today. We also painted several samples, some of which are still in the shop today.

One of the most notable is the button-covered Kentucky shape. Tanya (who is now retired in Florida) took on the task of painting this big Kentucky shape we had. She wandered around the kitchen a bit, trying to figure out how to make this shape stand out from the others. “Do you have any buttons?” she asked me and I dug into my closet full of scrapbook supplies. Originally, she planned to outline the KY with buttons, but she ended up covering the whole shape. Good choice, Tanya!

When we opened, it was the largest shape we had. The texture and dimension the buttons added made it a real eye catcher.

I can’t tell you how many of those Kentuckys customers covered with those buttons. We began buying UK blue buttons by the pound! But we’ve seen it done in many different themes: fall colors, EKU colors, one woman even worked her monogram into the design.

We don’t sell as many Kentuckys these days, mostly because we now have a couple dozen door hangers instead of just one. We also have Kentuckys embedded in a circle, in a horseshoe, in a “HOME” sign, and more.

That orginal KY is still hanging up in our shop today on one of the display peg boards. Some of our other original samples can be found around the shop too. There’s a anchor covered in decoupage papers, a purple dragon, some wiggly wooden animals, and a pink treasure box. Next time you’re in, see if you can spot them.

What was the first item you or your kids painted at Cut & Paste?