This type of box or canister has roots deep in Sweden’s folk craft history. Simple tools and simple materials are used to create a thing of beauty, with design possibilities only limited by the imagination. The techniques employed with this style of canister allow large containers good for storing coffee and tea or other dry goods inside. In this class students will learn about the different qualities of birch bark and what kinds work well for canisters. We will learn to lay out and cut simple but ingenious joints to lock the bark together and how to shape and fit the base and lid. The birch bark can be stamped with homemade punches made from deer antler and painted with homemade paints mixed from natural earth pigments and linseed oil.