Inside always-bustling KC craft cafe, everyone is an artist: ‘Therapeutic’
On the corner of West 12th Street and Liberty Street in Kansas City’s West Bottoms sits a former United States Postal Service station.
Coincidentally, the old mail hub is now home to a place where visitors can not only buy stamps, but also make them.
Inside the historic 1920s building is ADHDIY Craft Cafe, a plant shop and craft cafe co-owned by Austin Moiser and his partner, Tristan Carlson. The space includes a plant store featuring work from nearly 180 local artists and a craft cafe where customers can choose projects from a menu and create them on their own.
Moiser describes the concept as “restaurant-style crafting.”
“People can walk in or make a reservation, sit down and enjoy a different craft,” Moiser said. “Each person can pick something different off the menu, like a restaurant. Each craft comes with DIY instructions or videos that guide them through the process.”
The experience is designed to mirror the experience of dining out. The menu is divided into categories, and servers bring supplies out on trays. A small selection of pre-packaged snacks and drinks allow guests to snack while they craft.
The cafe has been open for a little more than two years. Moiser said the timing — opening shortly after the COVID pandemic — played a role in its growing popularity.
“I really think people just needed good things to do that aren’t just going out and partying or sitting at home scrolling on the internet,” he said. “People wanted a nice activity that was a little therapeutic, just to hang out, relax and craft.”
As for the name ADHDIY? “DIY” stands for “do it yourself” — and the rest is an inside joke to a side craft business Moiser and Carlson ran years ago, when they called themselves “craft daddies.”
What can you craft?
The menu currently features about a dozen options. On the “plant-based” side, guests can build terrariums or try to make a kokedama, a Japanese bonsai form in which a plant’s root ball is wrapped in moss instead of placed in a pot.
Other offerings include embroidery, stamp carving, canvas painting and seasonal specials.
“People love the terrarium. That’s definitely our most-ordered craft,” Moiser said. “The plants really draw people in.”
Everything needed to complete a project is provided by ADHDIY. Tools and materials arrive on a tray, and customers typically leave with a finished piece. For those who want to craft at home, the cafe also offers “to-go boxes” packaged with crafting supplies.
That atmosphere is what drew first-time visitors Dylan Peterson and Anna Marinello, who found the cafe on Instagram while planning a birthday outing.
“I made a little menu of different things we could do,” Marinello said. “And this was the craft camaraderie option.”
The pair chose embroidery.
“I’m having great fun. It’s super fun. I learned that I can’t be a Victorian lady, though. I would fail at stitching by candlelight,” Peterson said.
“This isn’t something I would necessarily make time for at home. It’s making me focus all my effort on this instead of being distracted,” Marinello said.
Marinello said the built-in guidance helped her return to a hobby she hadn’t tried in years.
“It’s nice to have a little bit of guidance to get back into it,” she said.
Marinello added that she also enjoyed the pre-packaged banana bread pecans the cafe offered.
Beyond the crafts, Moiser said the goal is to create an inclusive environment.
“We want to provide a safe, inclusive space for people to explore new hobbies without feeling judged,” he said. “We don’t want people to feel like we’re expecting the Mona Lisa when they leave here.”
“It’s truly meant to be a place for exploration.”
