Little Craft
School
We host project-based workshops that experiment with methods of teaching and learning about the craft of woodworking. Each class is designed around a particular object or technique from the popular history of folk art. Students learn to cut wood and make useful, beautiful things while also inquiring about the stories and ideas that surround each object. We are curious about how it is people learn, what is worth learning, and how craft can teach us all kinds of anciliary things about the world and ourselves.
Scroll down to see our current workshops!
TREASURE BOXES
This class is the first of a new long-form series that explores the fundamentals of woodworking through the theme of holding, containment, and display.
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This first session, we will make a custom wooden box inspired by the technological components used in in a collection of ancient Egyptian cosmetic boxes.
Students will be encouraged (but not required) to bring a small treasured object or two to construct their box around! We will consider the container as both a practical tool for gathering your stuff, but also as a way to celebrate small treasures of the world.
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​Our most technically advanced class, but still open to beginners.
Fall 2025 Session
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This class takes place over the course of three Thursday evenings.
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Day 1: December 4th, 5:30-8:30 pm
Day 2: December 11th, 5:30-8:30 pm
Day 3: December 18th, 5:30-8:30 pm
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Price: $285 each
​Class Size: 5
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To register, email littlecraftschool@gmail.com.
HAND-PAINTED TABLES​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
In this two-day class, we will design and build a small plywood side table while learning traditional furniture painting techniques and how to use these cool old graining combs...
The design process will focus on geometry and elegant shapes, made with templates and basic measuring and drafting tools, like French curves.
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The building process will be based around the bandsaw, with the use of drills, drivers, screws, and handsaws.
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The painting process will focus on faux-wood graining techniques with a focus on graining and sponging. ​
Fall 2025 Session
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This class takes place over the course of two Tuesday evenings:
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Day 1: November 11th, 5:30-8:30 pm
Day 2: November 18th, 5:30-8:30 pm
Price: $200 each
​Class Size: 5
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To register for this session, email littlecraftschool@gmail.com ​or email us to schedule your own private workshop.
These graining combs date back to the 1600s! In Victorian times, they were used by humble craftspeople to make simple pine furniture look more 'distinguished', imitating 'finer' hardwoods like burled walnut and zebrawood that were highly sought after by the bourgeoisie. We like to think of these faux-hardwood graining techniques as a way to gently mock these monied aristocrats who tend to develop a taste for opulent and irrational things!!!
CHILDREN'S TOYS
AND GAMES
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In this festive one-day class, we will make small wooden gifts inspired by antique toys and Walter Benjamin's writing on children's toys. These objects will be based around simple moving and interacting parts: turning wheels, pieces on boards, tiny fulcrums, etc. This will allow us to use saws, drill presses and files and use geometry in very practical ways. Most of all, it will be a basic exploration of engineering problems and solutions, and these will fascinate us during production and leave us with a gift for a little friend to treasure.
Fall 2025 Sessions
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Sunday December 7th, 12-6 pm
Sunday December 14th, 12-6 pm
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Price: $150 each
​Class Size: 6
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To register, email littlecraftschool@gmail.com.
PEOPLE'S PICTURE FRAMES
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This is a day-and-a-half long frame making class where students will design, cut, and paint their own wooden frames inspired by a collection of Russian folk art frames from the early 20th century. We will do some light woodworking and chat about the people in our lives or from the past that are meaningful to us. Students will learn how to use the bandsaw, the jigsaw, the trim router, and wooden files. Paints and such will be provided to decorate the frames too.
Fall 2025 Session​
This class takes place over the course of two consecutive days:
Day 1: Saturday October 11th, 6-8 pm
Day 2: Sunday October the 12th, 10-4 pm
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Price: $150
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Class size: 5
To register, email littlecraftschool@gmail.com
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MAKIN' MARI: THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF WOODWORKING
​​​In 1974, Enzo Mari published Autoprogettazione?. He described the idea this way,“A project for
the building of easily assembled furniture using rough boards and nails by those who will use them.”
In this class, we will build Mari’s iconic “P” chair, using the blueprints that first appeared in this book.​ Makin’ Mari will have two twists that we feel are in the spirit of Enzo’s project:
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First, class will begin at the hardware store on Friday evening. Here we will spend time making sense of the immense collection of materials and hardware so that we can come away with a practical understanding of what all this STUFF is for, if anything.
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​Second, all day Saturday, we will build the chair without electric power. Instead we will learn the basic operations of handsaws, hammers, squares, nails, pencils and glue. At the same time we will learn about the basic engineering principles behind Enzo’s simple but solid designs.
Fall 2025 Session
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This class takes place over the course of two consecutive days:
Day 1: November 8th 5:30pm-7:00pm
​Day 2: November 9th 10:00am-4:00pm
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Cost: $175
Class size: 6
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To register, email littlecraftschool@gmail.com
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CRYSTAL'S WOODEN TULIP
This is a one-evening class where we will carve and paint wooden tulips to celebrate the coming of Spring.
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This workshop is inspired by a painted wooden tulip that my friend Crystal found at a market in Amsterdam (the Dutch bourgeoisie are notoriously tulip-obsessed). It also happens to be my favorite flower (white please). Tulips are one of the first flowers of spring! They shoot out from the ground, sometimes through the snow, interrupting winter with small bursts of blinding color. The sight of an early spring tulip is simply one of the most joyful, naturally-occurring spectacles I can think of (but I’m happy to discuss nominations if you have them).
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Learn the basics of shaping and carving using the bandsaw and drawknife.
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Spring 2026 Session​​
Dates TBD
Class size: 6
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Cost: $125​
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To get added to the waitlist, email littlecraftschool@gmail.com
CRAZY STOOLS
This is a one-day class where we will make a three-legged stool with random pieces of hardwood. This class is about learning to work within constraints, not with total design freedom, and embracing the unexpected. You will have the option to paint your stool red, green, blue, or apply a simple oil finish.
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Spring 2026 Session
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TBD
Class size: 6
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Cost: $175
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To get added to the waitlist, email littlecraftschool@gmail.com
