Courses

It’s especially gratifying to have handmade everyday objects you touch on a daily basis. You’ll be proud to pull out your handmade wallet, capable of containing cards and cash. Using the saddle stitch and vegetable tanned leather, you’ll create a simple piece that will be useful for years. Ages 14+,…

This course takes us back to a time when the building process was mostly human powered. Starting with a stack of freshly cut logs we will use a combination of felling axes and broad axes to make square timber. For the smaller scantlings (smaller cross sectioned timbers) we will re-saw…

Rings on fingers have been around since the beginning of civilization. Egyptian and Greek legend place the wedding ring on the third finger of the left hand, because of a belief that the vein of that finger directly traveled from the heart. The Romans extended this description and called this…

The lucet is a simple historic handheld tool that is used to create practical square braids. The sturdy braids may be used for decorative purposes, embellishment and tying.  Wool, cotton, and novelty fibers can be used with different results.  Once the techniques are mastered, the useful braids are created quickly. …

Luffarslöjd is an old craft that is part of the tradition of making beautiful and useful objects for everyday use using one’s hands and simple tools. Farmers used wire to mend fences and make and repair basic tools around the house and barn. Hobos traveled across the country offering to…

"How did I ever do without this?” Be the proud maker and user of an essential woodworking tool: the kebeki, a Japanese marking gauge. Rather than scratching across wood fibers as a sharpened pin (the tool most often used for scribing in Western woodshops) does, kebeki slice the fibers, which…

North House is excited to welcome renowned storyteller Kevin Kling to Unplugged  as a performer and instructor. When telling a personal story, how do we recall the details hidden in our past?  In this workshop we will work with storyteller tools such as creating imagery, working with humor and crafting…

Rims and handles add functionality and structural stability to a basket.  Basket handles are typically made from wood.  Many modern basketmakers use either heavy splint or half-round reed for basket rims. These rim materials work reasonably well and are easy to bend to the rim shape desired.  However, they lack…

A wooden-bodied hand plane, properly tuned, epitomizes the harmonious connection between a woodworker and their tools. In this course we will begin with pre-milled and fully prepared stock, and follow a proven pattern to produce one of several different examples  (a smoothing, scrub, or hollowing plane are each possible options).…

Masonry heaters originated in Northern Europe where winters were cold and fuel wasn’t always plentiful.  The natural response?  Create a wood-fired presence that was at once incredibly efficient and highly attractive, capable of generating abundant heat and ideal for cooking/baking.  Masonry heaters are built with fire bricks and utilize their…

You eat meat, you love meat, but it is hard to find (and expensive to buy) meats prepared without unnecessary preservatives or from responsibly sourced animals.In this class you will revisit time honored skills that have fallen out of daily use and learn important lessons about how meats have been…

Learn to knit a pair of mittens and enjoy a life-long skill set for knitting warm mittens for yourself or to give as gifts for those fingertips you care about. Learn to read knitting patterns for mittens, practice circular knitting techniques on double pointed needles, thumb techniques, closing the tip…

Discover the designs, color, styles and technique of traditional bead embroidery as you work with Ojibwe cultural specialist and Grand Portage band member Marcie McIntire, sewing and decorating a pair of moccasins in this course co-sponsored by the Grand Portage National Monument. The course begins with an overview of the…

Explore nature-based green medicines in this intensive botanical class. You'll discover a bounty of foods and plants to use during the seasons and cycles of plant life to create your very own natural medicine kit, including over 30 botanical and herbal mixes and applications. The course tailors to individual needs…

Enjoy the “thrill of discovery” in the many colors which can be achieved, and the variation of color that can be found in nature's palette, by learning the complete subtleties of dyeing with natural materials. Dyeing with natural plants is more than a craft, it's a fascinating and inexpensive hobby.…