This project is about producing a set of stoneware canisters decorated with a pattern that pays homage to the helpful kitchen witch.  

When our ancestors were still living in caves, they already understood that most home accidents occurred in the kitchen. Tea spilled, pots broke, and woolly-mammoth casseroles burned. The ancients believed the cause of these mishaps were minor demons and the solution was a Kitchen Witch—a talisman with the magical powers to thwart malevolent forces in the home. Today, kitchen witches in various forms are still found protecting lucky households around the world. 

These canisters are decorated with a pattern that celebrates the kitchen witch—an ancient benefactor who helps thwart malevolent spirits in our homes.  The canisters are available in three sizes. They are decorated in black on white on all four sides and the lids. They are heavy stoneware so they are food safe and dishwasher safe. Airtight lids with silicone seals preserve freshness. They are made for us by a workshop in China where wizards have been making porcelain and stoneware for three thousand years.  (Not literally, the same wizards all that time, but the same tradition of craft.)

Versatile. Excellent place to store cooking ingredients.  Ideal to conceal caches, hoards, and stashes. 

Makes a great gift. Fill a canister with your famous cookies, fusilli, tea bags, or coffee beans, and you’ve got a gift that will never be forgotten. (Tip: Not all those things at the same time.)

What’s in there? One of the four sides has a label zone you can write in to differentiate your ingredients.  Write directly using a Sharpie or China marker or paste a label if you are fastidious. If you prefer not to label your stash, turn that side of the canister toward the wall. 

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What you’ll get. Sponsors of this project will receive one or more stoneware canisters with lids. All decorated with the Kitchen Witch pattern from Don’s sketchbook.

Schedule.  Assuming this project reaches the funding goal, production will go fast and we should be ready to ship by the end of May 2022, maybe sooner.

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“An utterly practical solution for storing eye of newt, toe of frog, and cookies.”

“Finally something that’s not blue. Stark black and white is going to look great in my kitchen.”

“Can a cat be an Easter egg?”

“Not just the kitchen. These beauties are perfect to store snacks in my office.”

“Wow. These are beautiful.”

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Shipping. The cost of shipping will be added to your pledge based on where you live. Because these canisters are heavy, shipping costs are astonishingly high. But acquiring distinctive ceramics that could be treasured for generations might be something that you can justify.

Just the local neighborhood. Because shipping has become so unreliable, we are limiting rewards to residents of the U.S. and Canada only. I wrote a blog about the international trade mess, if you care about these things.

Customs. Sometimes, but not always, shipments to Canada get hit with customs duties. I have no way of predicting if they’ll apply to your shipment. Customs inspections are very arbitrary and willy-nilly. Most packages sail through without any duty, but some are selected seemingly by chance and the recipient gets hit with a duty fee. So if you can’t tolerate the risk that your shipment might get selected for extra costs, you should probably not support this project. Or arrange to have your reward shipped to a friend in the U.S. who can bring your canisters during their next trip.

Tracking number. You will receive a tracking number when we ship, so monitor your package daily to make sure it doesn’t get hung up in the system and returned to us. Don’t just assume it will show up at your door. Shipments have a way of getting stalled (often in the last mile of their journey). Monitoring the status of the tracking number allows you to intervene promptly.

Where are you? When the rewards are ready to ship, we’ll send out a Kickstarter address survey. If you don’t respond to that survey within 6 months, we’ll assume you no longer want your reward. I don’t have the space to hold your reward in perpetuity or until the cows come home.

Fulfillment is provided by our capable and multi-talented partners at Fulfillrite. Our Fulfillrite friends are fast and they do things right the first time.