50 Bite-Sized Ideas for Make 100 Food Projects
Calling all amateur chefs, recipe wizards, and food-lovers alike: read on to discover 50 wild ideas for food-focused Make 100 projects, courtesy of Kickstarter creators and staff.
Make 100 is Kickstarter’s annual call for projects focused on limited editions of 100, and a way to kick off the new year with a small creative project you’re excited about. In the Food category, this bite-sized challenge has inspired creators to organize chili pepper CSAs, publish food-inspired zines, host nacho parties, and more.
Sometimes, the hardest part of starting a new project is focusing your idea. That’s why I reached out to a few Kickstarter creators who have run food-centric Make 100 projects in the past. Together, we brainstormed a list of 50 delicious — and sometimes daring — food project ideas. You’re welcome to take one and run with it, or adapt it to something that you’re working on.
— Carol Benovic-Bradley, Senior Education Specialist at Kickstarter
You could make 100…
- Plum-filled dumplings
- Neighborhood food maps
- Great British Baking Show fan zines
- Cheese-scented stickers
- Copies of directions for the perfect boiled egg
- Funky-hued hair nets for when you’re working in the kitchen
- Photos documenting your daily coffee habits
- Days of an exhibit featuring the recipes and eating habits of your family
- Tickets for small, themed dinners at your house
- Bottles of onion jam
1–10 provided by Carol Benovic-Bradley.
11–23 provided by caterer and cookbook author Jenn de la Vega. After her Kickstarter residency, she’s continuing to run her Drip and trying to cater in both New York and Oakland next year.
11. Plates of eggs or nachos for a party
12. Cookies you send out to backers
13. Helpful recipe postcards
14. Pretty food photo prints
15. Copies of a food zine
16. Recipe kits including tools and spices for a specific dish
17. Little sample packets of salt blends (like Jenn’s Drip)
18. Design-y kitchen towels
19. Hand-sewn aprons
20. Measurement conversion posters (or laminated cards to keep on the fridge)
21. Invites to a livestream, in which you eat 100 tiny things (like Cheez-Its, for example). Think: mukbang videos, performance art, etc.
22. Things from food waste (like peels, bones, and green tops)
23. Video-chat cooking consultations sharing advice, recipe ideas, or “What to do with that can of pumpkin”
24–34 provided by Robyn Jasko, who is currently working on a new Make 100 project idea that will involve unique peppers like California Reapers and Peach Scorpions.
24. Hand-drawn recipe cards with top-secret family recipes
25. Food-scented candles (think: scents like brussels sprouts and hot pepper)
26. Jars of organic pickles
27. Tins of spices
28. Packets of your favorite kitchen garden seeds or herbs — or both
29. Napkins featuring hand-drawn illustrations
30. Handmade cookbooks of your favorite curated recipes
31. Tickets to a class on how to make/prepare/create your favorite cuisine
32. Invites to a huge potluck party or brunch in your neck of the woods
33. Hand-painted or hand-carved wooden spoons
34. Hours of online cooking classes taught by a chef
35–44 provided by writer Tamara Palmer. Tamara ran a Make 100 campaign in 2018 to launch California Eating, a zine filled with surprising food finds from the golden state. She’s currently planning on making the zine quarterly.
35. Printed maps of the best places to eat in your city
36. Food-themed coloring books
37. Food-themed napkin sets (paper or cloth)
38. Downloads of an album of food songs (covers or originals)
39. Decks of playing cards printed with your original recipes
40. Enamel pin sets based on popular meals
41. Graphic T-shirts featuring a food pun
42. Silk-screened, food-themed prints
43. Meal-planning notebooks
44. Recipe calendars (day or wall)
45–50 provided by Michael Stewart, Director of Food Projects and Partnerships at Kickstarter.
45. Homemade essential oils, distilled from aromatic plants
46. Nut butters (if food allergies aren’t an issue)
47. Loaves of sourdough bread
48. Butter sculptures!
49. Limited-edition birthday cakes (break out the funfetti)
50. NO ONE SAID MAKE 100 PIZZAS?
Let us know what you’re cooking up in 2019 by emailing food@kickstarter.com.
