About Us

Little Way Caskets is my contribution toward cultivating ecologically conscious death care within my local community. While we cannot entirely eliminate the carbon footprint left at the end of our lives, we can do our best to tread as softly as possible. In a world where a lack of transparency and over-reliance on mass production can make alternative choices feel out of reach or nonexistent, I offer artisanal, traditional craftsmanship rooted in our local landscape as a small step in the right direction. I firmly believe that natural, locally rooted death care can provide true comfort while navigating grief and loss, guiding us home to the land that sustains us, from dust to dust.

My Experience and Background

My background as a death doula and holistic health practitioner has allowed me to walk alongside individuals and families with care through major life transitions for over fifteen years, shaping my practice as a casket weaver. My hope is that those I serve feel supported to cultivate personal agency regarding burial care for themselves and their loved ones, and that death care can become a healing process for all involved.

I am one of very few formally trained, actively practicing casket weavers in the United States. The lineage in which we were trained and the plants we work with are unique because they directly reflect the lives and landscapes that each casket weaver inhabits and loves. This process is enhanced when we have the opportunity to collaborate with individuals and families on personalized casket designs.

I come from a long line of craftswomen who refined skills such as lacework, crochet, and mending as a way of life. Creating simple pieces of beauty by hand connects me to my beloved family members who came before me, honoring their legacy through how I live and serve my community. I am passionate about working with my hands to collaborate with nature’s abundance, tend the soil and plants, and remain intimately connected to the growing seasons, all as a divine gift to be cherished. Deepening these practices in service to others is at the heart of why I am a casket weaver.

My Philosophy

Conventional burials and cremations often produce a heavy environmental impact, relying on resource-intensive materials and procedures that lack reciprocal benefit for the surrounding soil, plants, and wildlife. Too often, mainstream death care can feel impersonal or detached during a time when families yearn for warmth and closeness. I believe that it is our birthright to return gently to the earth that holds us so dearly throughout our lives, and that natural burial offers the most humble and respectful path available to us, leaving the least damaging imprint.

My deeply personal, abiding Catholic faith grounds me in the awareness that life is a sacred gift and a profound mystery. I believe that part of what makes us human is our capacity to offer loving support to one another as we navigate our unique journeys toward greater acceptance, reverence, and peace within this mystery. Devotional practices, such as daily prayer, weekly Mass, and moving in rhythm with the liturgical year, anchor me in the beauty of the present moment as life unfolds from day to day, bringing greater meaning and purpose to my work.

My devotional life lays the foundation for my casket weaving, which I experience as prayer in action. As I weave each casket by hand, I integrate natural colors and materials that evoke a gentle remembrance that burying the dead is a loving and natural act, while holding the steady prayer that they are at peace throughout their transition. The soothing nature of weaving, with its rhythmic movements and simple focus, can also be therapeutic for those who wish to participate in crafting their own casket or that of a loved one. Casket weaving creates fertile ground where humility, compassion, gratitude, reverence, and devotion can all flourish through grounding, restorative craftsmanship.

We all remember the littlest moments surrounding the death of a loved one, as our senses are heightened during this tender time in our lives. It is important to acknowledge the vulnerability that comes with death and to cradle it in a protective way, much like cradling a newborn baby. Death requires patience, compassion, sincerity, sensitivity, and earnestness. It is a time when small expressions of beauty and hope can carry profound meaning.

Natural death care keeps the dying process in the hands of families and communities, encouraging us not to relinquish the care of our loved ones to outside institutions when it is unnecessary to do so. Death care is something we naturally understand as human beings. Often, we simply need a bit of education, encouragement, and support to understand our options, empowering us to make intentional choices that honor the lives we and our loved ones have lived so our care reflects those values clearly.

Our modern culture can often feel overwhelming and overstimulating, and navigating the logistics of burial care on top of grief can be daunting. Keeping death care as simple, natural, and local as possible minimizes external pressures, allowing our focus to rest on our loved ones and our inner spiritual journey as we navigate loss. Little Way Caskets is my effort to contribute toward a cultural mending where death is honored as a sacred time, and families are aware of ecologically conscious options that can bring about greater peace and acceptance for all involved.

About the Natural Materials I Work With

As my work is devoted to ecological preservation, keeping my weaving practice anchored in the local landscape is essential to me. Locally grown plants are embedded directly within each casket design, and fabrics are naturally dyed using bioregional herbs that carry gentle healing qualities through the natural colors and properties inherent to each one.

Our caskets and burial trays are crafted using pesticide-free, American-grown willow, locally sourced pine, and unbleached, untreated cotton rope. All fabrics for shrouds, casket linings, mattresses, and pillowcases are made from unbleached cotton, while mattress and pillow fillings consist of untreated wool and dried organic herbs. Whenever applicable to a design, I naturally dye the fabrics used for both shrouds and vessel linings.

You can read more about the specific materials used in each piece by visiting the Burial Vessels page.

My Hopes for This Work

My hope is to reach and support as many individuals and families as possible through my services, providing practical and comforting assistance to all who resonate with the means of death care I can help with.

Eventually, I hope to cultivate a personal garden of willow, natural dye plants, and flowers. From this garden, I look forward to harvesting many of the natural materials used in crafting my caskets, burial trays, and shrouds, as well as fresh blooms for natural burial arrangements when seasonally appropriate. I also envision a dedicated workshop space of my own, a place to weave burial vessels, naturally dye fabrics, and welcome community members who wish to participate directly in the weaving and design of a casket. These goals are all in service of strengthening the sustainability, locality, and personal connection I hold dear within my practice.

On a broader scale, I hope to advance the availability of natural burial throughout our local communities by way of education and improved access. For my Catholic community, I hope to expand awareness of how natural burial beautifully reflects and fulfills a devout life, while supporting efforts to increase access to local Catholic burial grounds that permit natural practices. My dream is to provide caskets for religious communities (nuns, monks, and the otherwise ordained) as well as individuals who are incarcerated through an access program. I also hope to participate in an access program for bereaved parents who wish to navigate child loss through natural death care, by providing my burial vessels to them at low or no cost.

My main wish is that people feel supported through very difficult times with beauty, simplicity, and gentleness.

Relevant Certifications and Trainings

• 2025: Home Vigil & Funerals- Sacred Undertakings

• 2024: Willow Casket Weaving Apprenticeship- Moss and Thistle Farm

• 2024: The Social Art of Natural Death Care: Body Care- Sophia Center for Life Studies

• 2023: Hospice Volunteer Training- Hudson Valley Hospice

• 2021: End of Life Doula Certification- The Dying Year

• 2020: Creating an Herbal Toolkit for End of Life Care- Emily Ruff

• 2018: Somatics Certification- Embodied Flow™

• 2017: Herbal Intensive Program- Dina Falconi

• 2011: B.A. in Women’s Studies & Italian Cultural Studies- SUNY New Paltz

Ways to stay in touch

Please follow me on Instagram @littlewaycaskets to view current projects, receive weaving updates, and read reflections from the workshop.