Here's what happened.

I've been feeding people for thirty years. I've made dinner for 300 in a field, and breakfast for 12 in a kitchen smaller than your bathroom. I've catered weddings where the bride cried over the soup, and Thursdays where a stranger told me it was the first meal anyone had cooked for them in a year.

But at some point, I realized that feeding people wasn't quite enough. I wanted to be at the table with them. I wanted to make things alongside them, not just food, but the kind of slow, hands-on, slightly messy projects that make you forget what time it is.

So I called my friend at Iola Gardens on Vashon Island and said: What if we did a camp? Not for kids. For grown-ups who used to make things and stopped. For people who want to sit at a long table and eat something extraordinary and leave with dirt under their fingernails and handmade things in their bag.

She said yes before I finished the sentence.

That's Mischief & Makers Camp. It's equal parts culinary retreat and craft immersion. It's a table set for 32 and a raccoon named Pip, who was here before any of us.

- heidi finley, Chef & Maker-in-Chief

What we believe.

  • Illustration of a raccoon cooking in a kitchen

    Nourishment

    Chef-prepared food that tells a story. Seasonal. Pacific Northwest. Made with the same care as every craft project at camp.

  • Illustration of a raccoon holding an acorn with art supplies in the forest.

    Craft & Intention

    Every workshop is led with purpose. We believe in making things slowly, deliberately, and joyfully - and keeping them forever.

  • Illustration of a raccoon roasting marshmallows over a campfire in a forest at night.

    Playful Irreverence

    We're grown adults at camp. We lean into that. The raccoon is not accidental - he's the spirit guide of the whole operation.

  • Cartoon raccoon on a ferry with 'To Vashon Island' sign, surrounded by nature.

    Place as Character

    The venue isn't a backdrop, it's a co-host. The land, the fog, the garden, the ferry ride - they all belong to the experience.

  • Raccoon at a table set for dinner in a forest setting

    Small & Special

    A table set for 32. Never more. The intimacy is the whole point. Everyone knows everyone's name by Saturday morning.
Chef in a kitchen preparing food on a counter with various dishes and utensils.

The food at camp is not catered. It's cooked.

Every meal is prepared by Chef Heidi and her team, using seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredients, many of them pulled from the nearby Vashon gardens. Dinner takes its time. Breakfast is ready when you are. There's always bread, and the bread is always worth talking about.

If you have allergies, restrictions, or preferences, we've been handling those for fifteen years. Just tell us. We'll feed you well.

Explore the Menu
Person using a tool on a wooden object with a blurred workshop background

The making is the whole point.

Each camp brings together a small group of working artists to teach what they love. Printmaking. Jewelry. Textile art. Whatever they're obsessed with this season. Every workshop is hands-on, beginner-friendly, and structured so you walk away with something real, something you'll still have on your shelf in ten years.

You don't need to be "creative." You just need to want to make something.

See what you'll make

Who this is for.

  • This is for you if…

    You used to make things and stopped. You're tired of weekends that disappear into errands and obligations. You want to sit at a table with people you don't know yet and leave knowing them. You want to eat extraordinary food, sleep near trees, and come home with something you made with your own hands.

  • This is not for you if…

    You want a packed itinerary, luxury resort amenities, or a "curated immersive experience." This is camp. There will be dirt. The bathroom might be shared. The best moments will be unplanned. If that sounds like a warning, this probably isn't your weekend. If it sounds like a promise, we'll see you at the table.
Illustration of a raccoon in a forest with flowers and a path

Oh, and about Pip.

Pip is the unofficial mascot, official spirit animal, and full-time freeloader of Mischief & Makers Camp. He was here before us, and he'll be here after us. If you see him during the weekend, that's good luck. If he gets into your snacks, that's also good luck. Don't fight it.