You don’t have to be an economist to know everything is bonkers expensive these days: Your hard-earned paycheck likely doesn’t keep pace with inflation. If you care enough about the planet to stop to think about the carbon footprint of packaging being made and goods shipped to your door, it’s not just expensive, but also depressing.

Wouldn’t it be empowering to cut out the middleman, guilt and some of the expense by making and repairing things yourself?

If you think so, and you have the time and willingness to learn, permit the Central Oregon Maker Faire a word. After being held the first two years at the Deschutes County fairground, the faire returns this weekend for its third year, albeit in a new home, Deschutes Brewery in Bend.

“Essentially it comes down to making people feel that they are effective on this planet, that you don’t have to rely on purchasable items from a factory,” explained Timothy “Doc” Burnett, board president of High Desert Makers. “You don’t have to buy into a waste stream. You can help the planet and yourself and feel good about it, all at the same time.”

The editors of Make: magazine launched Maker Faire in 2006, according to centraloregon.makerfaire.com. Maker Faires are worldwide at this point.

“They have Maker Faire Shanghai and Maker Fair Zimbabwe and Maker Faire Munich and you name it,” Burnett said.

A professor at Oregon State University-Cascades, Burnett said he’d always wanted a workshop, and soon found his way to the DIYcave upon moving to Bend in 2016.

“The DIYcave had all the tools that I needed, so I didn’t need my own shop,” Burnett said. “I volunteered for them for many years.”

When local makers were reorganizing High Desert Makers, “a nonprofit organization of passionate makers, ready to spread the love of their craft,” as it’s described at highdesertmakers.org, they needed board members. Burnett was tapped to be the board president.

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“We don’t have a physical location … but we do a lot more outreach and try to benefit the community more so by not having overhead,” he said. “We’re so unique in Central Oregon (in having) so many highly skilled makers, it just makes sense to highlight all of their skills and abilities.”

A large majority of the High Desert Makers are locals with day jobs who tinker in their free time, but for some others, being a maker is a livelihood.

“But they all share a passion for it,” Burnett said. “It’s a big reason we get so many makers at the faire is because our booths are free, but people aren’t allowed to sell. So it keeps the faire true to that learning and showing and sharing of passion. It’s not just trying to sell you tchotchkes.”

Among the makers and exhibitors are a wide variety of disciplines and institutions. One can learn about home brewing, metal laser engraving or catch a unique LEGO display by local creators.

You can take part in the Cardboard Tube Fighting League, learn about urban lumber salvaging or witness 500,000-volt Tesla coil demonstrations.

You can also hear how the The Environmental Center, DIYcave, Home Depot, Deschutes Public Library and others can assist or provide what you need for making endeavors.

“It’s not an event that you just go to. It’s an event that you participate in. You’re not required to participate, but the moment you get there, you’ll say, ‘Oh, here’s a metal-casting station where you can make a commemorative coin that you essentially cast yourself. Or over here, there’s a huge take-apart marble coaster that you can design your own marble run, or there’s a mill that milling logs on-site, and you can stop and ask the miller how he does everything.”

The list goes on and on, Burnett said.

“I would say it’s practically impossible to do everything at the faire in both days. Most of our people who come on Saturday and buy the day ticket buy the second-day ticket and come back.”

What: Central Oregon Maker Faire

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday

Where: Deschutes Brewery, 901 SW Simpson Ave., Bend

Cost: Daily admittance $5 for adults, $2.50 youth 15 and under; $10 for adults, $5 youth

Contact: centraloregon.makerfaire.com