Courses

Spend a wonderful evening in the kitchen as you learn new cooking skills and share great culinary fun with other students who love to cook. In this hands-on cooking class, you’ll prepare and enjoy a delicious summer evening meal, including wine pairings and craft brews. Take home a recipe packet featuring…

Discover the secrets of the old Saami school of ski construction by crafting a custom pair of birch skis to meet your needs. In this course you'll learn about the origin of ski design, function and construction. We'll also cover topics such as wood grain, bending wood, types of bindings,…

Popularized today by many historical reenactors of the fur trade era, the throwing axe is a weapon deeply embedded in North American history. Akin to the hatchet, it offers the ability to split and chop wood but is also designed to be used as a hand-to-hand or throwing weapon. The…

Great fabric lurks in closets, trunks, attics, and thrift shops: learn how to turn garments you don’t wear into a garment you will wear with the help of a pair of scissors, a sewing machine and some creative inclinations. Dig out your mother's wool skirt or the kilt you found…

Cruck building is a Medieval English timber framing method using pairs of large, curved timbers (cruck blades) that are joined at their apex to function as both post and principal rafter. The resulting Gothic arch creates a dramatic open hall space that is both structurally stable and visually appealing. Working…

Calling all carpenters, metal workers, and latte slingers — come to North House and make the leather shop apron you’ve always wanted! Students will make a durable hand sewn apron with custom pockets for their favorite tools and a strap system that distributes weight comfortably and keep stress off the…

Combining blacksmithing and jewelry-making, this course offers an opportunity for beginning and advanced students to develop their skills as they forge and craft a Damascus ring with a silver liner. Students will begin by forging a piece of Damascus steel, a particularly beautiful and ornamental steel filled with folds and…

Highly prized for centuries for its uncanny strength, ability to hold an edge, and distinctively beautiful swirling and flowing patterns, Damascus steel is art—forge welding at its finest—as you combine different types of steel, forge them through fire, and hammer into one solid billet. Like a baker uses kneading and…

Decorative and functional ironwork has a long history throughout the North Country. Hinges, gates, fireplace tools, or even the humble candlestick: the most ordinary of objects becomes a striking work of art. In this class, students will create their own unique candle holder or sconce. The course will cover topics…

If you have ever dreamed of building your own small home, shop, sauna, studio, or cabin, this course is for you. Designing a space according to your own values and needs is a creative and satisfying endeavor. Instructor Mark Hansen has been designing and building small shelters for a variety…

This class is for weavers who wish to go beyond repetitive pattern drafts and explore personal imagery and design. Doubleweave is a technique in which the weaver simultaneously weaves two layers of cloth. Reversible patterns and imagery are woven into the cloth, dark-on-light on one side, and light-on-dark on the…

Berry or custard, savory or sweet, in a tin or on a cookie sheet, pies offer endless possibilities. Discover why this versatile dish has been around since the ancient Egyptians (and other fun pie trivia). We’ll learn how to turn butter, lard, flour, and water into a flakey crust and…

A simple pair of hide and canvas mukluks is a joy to wear. A fancy pair trimmed with colorful braid, rick-rack, tassels, pompoms, or strips of fur is something to behold! This course provides an opportunity to create your own pair of hide footwear with enough time for the addition…

Remember the last time your feet were too cold to enjoy wonderful wintry weather? Do away with rigid, non-breathing footwear and discover the traditional footwear of the north: mukluks. The flexibility of the natural materials used in construction allows the foot to generate heat, and a breathable layering system allows…

The North House Blacksmith Shop excites the curiosity of adults and kids alike, as hammers pound, sparks fly, and red-hot metal becomes a fire poker, hook, or other tool right before their eyes. Try your hand at the forge in this family class, as kids and adults work together to…