When one enters the ‘World Famous Crochet Museum,’ they’re instantly greeted by an assortment of crocheted creations, ranging from animals and fairy tale creatures to food homages and clothing. Barely capable of fitting two people within the building, visitors can expect to examine the museum’s interior space in roughly 15 minutes.
The bright green “building” is actually an old drive-through photo booth, repurposed by local artist Shari Elf on a self-described “whim.” With bright lime-green paint, the museum is hard to miss, making it the perfect attraction on the side of Highway 62 in the middle of the Yucca Valley, California.
Crocheted clowns, poodles, and Pekingese stare back at people as they walk through the museum. Each piece was lovingly curated by Elf from thrift stores, yard sales, and sites like eBay. However, as her museum has picked up in popularity, she started receiving pieces from visitors as well, all vying to get their work into the (self-proclaimed) World Famous Crochet Museum, with Elf explaining to reporter Ellen Bluestein, “Once I was on the internet, I started getting crochet animals in the mail. It was great.”
Elf’s website stands as an ode to the ’90s, standing out in a world made up of carefully coded homepages and landing pages that start to blend together. Featuring photos of the museum and its contents, visitors are led down the page through photographs of the site’s official mascot, Bunny, a crocheted alligator.
Bunny shares her favorite friends from the museum, including a poodle that is filled with golf balls and kangaroos with joeys happily looking out of their pouches. At the end of the homepage, visitors are encouraged to sign up for an email list and are kindly reminded that Elf “likes to be offline as much as possible.”
For a truly kitsch experience, guests can visit the World Famous Crochet Museum daily from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is free, although donations are appreciated, and souvenir t-shirts can be bought for $10.