03/12/2026
Is it too late to make a holiday post?
I didn’t want to design a run-of-the-mill book. I wanted to create a book that had a little holiday magic and would become a part of the holiday rituals.
For this edition of The Nutcracker, I used book design and bookbinding to turn the act of reading into a part of the advent ritual. Instead of just reading each chapter, the reader gets to interact with the object to unlock the next part of the story.
The challenge was to create and sell it. It needed to be reproducible and marketable. And the reaction at the holiday fair surprised me. The people who stopped by my table were curious about it, they wanted to touch it, figure out the mechanics, and understand how it worked.
I was reminded that even in today’s digital world, we’re still wanting physical experiences with all of the minor quirks and flaws a handmade book can give.
I wrote a full breakdown of how I created this piece—link in bio. This is just the alpha version though, I would love to see some comments with feedback so I can revisit this book and others to make them even better!
