Y’know when you give a kid a toy in a box, and the best toy is the box?

I spent a few evenings lately playing with cardboard — making my first papier mâché project, following the pattern (and copying the joyful print) of the incredible Corrie Beth Hogg.

Fun with cardboard reminds me of that glorious childhood summer when our neighbour bought a new fridge. Leaving behind the greatest cardboard box a kid could wish for. I spent weeks in my beautiful fridge-box-fort. I learned that if I laid it flat on the ground lengthwise, and took a bit of a “run” into it, I could tip the whole box up to face the sky – with me curled up and nestled securely in its base. It was my upside-down observation tower, watching the heavenly blue of summer through the square window of the open end. There I was, sat inside the telescope, the open top my lens on the sky.

It’s amazing how much you can think outside the box when you’re literally sat inside of one.

I love to make things, especially out of anything that’s considered to be nothing. A telescope out of a cardboard box. A candle out of a stick. A flame out of a bit of fluff.

I make things to put myself back together, when something beyond my control has broken me.
I make things because while my hands are busy, my mind is free to untangle itself.
I make things because it’s a balm against powerlessness.
And because it wedges the door open to a different future.
Making is a counterspell against consumption.
It’s essential, it’s life-creating, it’s an antidote to despair.
It’s an act of resistance.
An instigation of joy.

Make food and gardens and repairs and love and time. Reattach missing pieces, and seal the seams with gold.

Maker’s Dozen will be off IG until 2025, entering into a dark cozy December. I’ve made some wild foraged treats for the holidays — black walnut pralines and sumac turkish delight. I might not be able to contain my enthusiasm about them, and a post or two might find its way to our site. Or I might curl up in the great offline and see what I can see.

Have a wonderful holiday season folks. May you have enough warm dark to rest in, and enough light when you need it.

~K.