“I’ve had my eye on garbage for a long time,” says designer John D’Aponte. In Brooklyn, where he lived most of his life, he learned to pillage the detritus of […]
Home / Making
Inspiration for the crafty, projects for the practical, spaces for dreamers.
Browse all Home / Making stories below or dive into a topic:
MEET THE MAKERS
Girl Scouts Learn a Jeweler’s Craft
Making rings to celebrate friendships and earn a badge
It was a quiet day in early March, but the Jewelry Studio of Wellfleet was buzzing with activity. Seven members of Girl Scout Troop 82548 were inside, soldering, hammering, and […]
DIY
In a Wellfleet Back Yard, One Family’s Maple Sugaring Tradition
What to do after the thaw, when daffodils push up, crows return, and the sap rises
The Outer Cape is known for many culinary delicacies: Eastham turnips, Wellfleet oysters, and Provincetown’s seafood-laden Portuguese stews. But maple syrup? That’s long been the pride of our neighbors to […]
ECO-FRIENDLY
How to Clean Up Your House Cleaning
Change your homemaking routine ‘one thing at a time’
Katie Scott started out helping people make their houses more beautiful. Now her mission is to make their surroundings healthier and greener, too. Growing up, Scott loved art. She felt […]
RECLAIMED
Board by Board, the Detritus of Old Provincetown Becomes a Home
A fisherman builds a house of driftwood, discards, and dredge finds
Daniil Zakharevich’s handcrafted house on a dirt road in Provincetown appears to grow out of the surrounding woods. Using found materials, he has designed, renovated, and built an eclectic space […]
MEET THE MAKERS
Facing the Winter, Naturally
Secret ingredients to slather on during the off season
There are artisans of all kinds among us. You may know one who is spending the winter holed up in a garage building a wooden boat or bent over a […]
HOME/MAKING
Wellfleet’s Other Chamber of Commerce
Though this old house is deteriorating, its purpose is priceless
Tucked in the magazine rack at the Wellfleet swap shop, a few reproductions of 17th-century Dutch paintings stand out among glossy periodicals. In one, a richly dressed figure commands the […]
MEET THE MAKER
Barbie and Ken Get Dolled Up for Christmas
Toys, tinsel, and fake fir
Celeste Hanlon sits in her Eastham studio surrounded by vintage Christmas ornaments and boxes of Barbies from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s — most missing those fabulous fashions Barbie collected […]
UP A CREEK
Twelve Days of Christmas
A handy shopping guide for inflationary times
Inflation has arrived at the worst possible time — the holidays. The costs associated with the traditional 12 days of Christmas gifts is up 5.7 percent from 2020, with this […]
SHADES OF HISTORY
What Color Was This Old House?
Paint followed practicality and the swinging pendulum of styles from overseas
Edward Penniman, considered one of the most successful sea captains in New England, traveled the world hunting whales in the mid-19th century and amassed enough wealth to retire to Eastham […]
MEET THE MAKER
In Search of the Elusive Perfect Beach Stone
Stacked, looped, and paired, the right rocks are for recollecting the Outer Cape
EASTHAM — Kathleen Masterson-Lavalley doesn’t go to the beach for its waves or for its sunsets. Instead, her eyes sweep the sand for the perfect stones — flat, round ones […]
MEET THE MAKER
Beanies That Blanket Babies, Near and Far
Carolyn Souza keeps on knitting because it tickles her pink
Carolyn Souza first learned to knit when she was in the Girl Scouts in Truro, where she grew up. “We all knitted little squares,” she says. Then all the girls’ […]
MODERNISM
On a Tour, Glimpses of How Architecture Inspired a Way of Life
At the Kepes and Hatch houses, brief encounters with modernism’s inhabitants
WELLFLEET — Down a sand road along the back of a kettle pond sits an austere one-story plywood-skinned rectangle on low stilts. Barely discernible from its surroundings, it was designed […]
MEET THE MAKER
Agostino DiBari Molds Beeswax Into Light
In the end, even for a mold maker, it’s not the shape of the candle but its glow
The air in Agostino DiBari’s shop on Main Street in Orleans smells slightly sweet. But not in that Jolly Rancher way that can make scented candles so fearsome. It’s a […]
PLANTCRAFT
How to Make a Fall Wreath for Stick Season
A circle of branches can serve as a starting point for decorations through the year
Wreaths aren’t just a Christmas thing. At different times in history, their circular form has suggested eternity, or feminine power, as in the floral wreaths atop a maypole, or victory, […]
