A former Hobby Lobby worker demanded answers after noticing something unusual on the new vases that came into the shop. Katie (@kbrvnd) shared her chilling discovery after she no longer worked at the arts and crafts store.
Her TikTok revealing the vase earned 1.3 million views, with viewers lambasting Hobby Lobby and threatening to boycott.
What’s wrong with this vase?
In the clip, which has a text overlay that reads “WTF Hobby Lobby,” Katie shows a black vase she’s placed on the floor. She reveals how the object has a distinct handprint in white paint. However, it’s the size of the handprint that catches her attention.
“Soooo, that’s a kid’s hand,” Katie says as she compares the print with her own hand size, which is significantly larger. Katie adds in the caption, “I used to work at Hobby Lobby and one day my co-worker and I noticed child-sized handprints on all these new vases that came in.” She also used the #madeinchina hashtag, and her implication quickly led to over a thousand commenters arguing over the handprint’s origin.
“Asian people have very small hands on average,” one user argued. “Just because it looks like a child doesn’t necessarily mean it is. That said it probably is.”
While there is no official record that Hobby Lobby uses child labor, most viewers used the opportunity to bring up the various controversies surrounding the company.
“The same place whose owners were smuggling priceless artifacts? And we are surprised to find child labor involved in their goods?” one user wrote.
Another claimed: “The owner is a legit war criminal who owns a lot of stolen artifacts from Iraq that were looted after the invasion.” A third person simply asked, “I mean…it is Hobby Lobby…what did you expect?”
This led Katie to reply, “Oh trust me I was not surprised that place is a nightmare.”
The comments section echoed this sentiment, where folks listed several other Hobby Lobby scandals.
Hobby Lobby controversies
The arts and crafts store is owned by David Green, a conservative, far-right Christian who runs Hobby Lobby based on the family’s religious beliefs. In 2020, Business Insider wrote an article titled, “The 16 Biggest Controversies in Hobby Lobby’s 50-year History.” The report included the smuggling of an ancient tablet, as one of Katie’s commenters mentioned, and several others that included:
- Supreme Court ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby’s right to withhold insurance coverage of contraception from employees
- Smuggling 5,500 biblical artifacts from Iraq
- Leaving its doors open during COVID-19 “based on a message from God”
- Customers calling for a boycott over a store display that told customers to vote for Trump
And several others. As for the Iraqi artifacts, Hobby Lobby ended up settling with the government and paid a $3 million fine and forfeited all the artifacts. However, many still refuse to shop with the retail giant and not just because of the controversies.
@kbrvnd I used to work at Hobby Lobby and one day my coworker and I noticed child sized handprints on all these new vases that came in.#roseville #madeinchina #hobbylobby #foryoupage #viral #hobbylobbyfinds #sad #fyp #tiktok ♬ original sound – Katie
The crafts store has made headlines before after shoppers caught Hobby Lobby being “scammy” with their prices. Several claimed to have found inconsistent pricing on product, and one even caught them lying about their sale prices.
Despite all the uproar, the controversies have hardly affected Hobby Lobby’s sales. The company’s revenue continues to steadily increase and rose to $8 billion in 2024.
The Mary Sue reached out to Katie and Hobby Lobby via email.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
