Register Now For Spring “Maker Workshops” at The Farmers’ Museum Beginning April 1

Cooperstown, New York — Join the knowledgeable staff at The Farmers’ Museum and experience one (or more) of their spring Maker Workshops starting Saturday, April 1.  Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill or just have a desire to create something unique and handmade, these workshops will get you motivated. The museum’s resident experts will guide you every step of the way. The workshops focus on activities including blacksmithing, gardening, baking, printing, and broom making, and take place on Saturdays through April. Register now and enjoy a productive day on the Farm this spring.

All workshops require advance registration. For workshop descriptions, pricing, and to register, visit FarmersMuseum.org or Eventbrite.com. Please email d.anderson@farmersmuseum.org with any questions. Workshops are held at The Farmers’ Museum located at 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown, New York.

Spring Workshop Schedule:

Introduction to Blacksmithing  SOLD OUT • Saturday, April 1, 10am-4pm

This is an introductory class geared toward people who are interested in beginning to learn about the art of blacksmithing. Participants will learn how to build and maintain a fire in the forge, heat metal, and practice hammer control while using the traditional tools and methods of a blacksmith. Each participant will build and take home their choice of a uniquely hand-crafted item.

Class Fee:  Members, $110 including lunch and all materials.  Non-members, $120 including lunch and all materials. Requires advance registration, limited to 2 participants that must be 14 years and older. Please wear natural-fiber only clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty (wool, cotton, leather, but NO SYNTHETICS) with full-length sleeves and legs. No open-toed shoes.

Baking in the Lippitt Farmhouse • Saturday, April 8, 10am-4pm

Spend your day in the kitchen of the Lippitt Farm House learning how to bake traditional breads, cakes, and treats! Fire and bake in the brick bake oven, as well as a bake kettle, or Dutch oven. Share your delicious goods at the end of the session or take them home to impress your family!

Class Fee: Members $95, lunch included. Non-members $105. Lunch is provided. All ingredients included and each participant will take home a cookbook with historical recipes. Requires advance registration, limited to 6 participants. Please bring an apron or comfortable clothes that you wouldn’t mind getting dirty. Closed-toe shoes are required.

Crafting a Broom • Saturday, April 15, 10am-4pm

How does a broom become a broom? Learn this and more as you transform a wooden handle, broom corn straw, and wind into a beautiful and functional handmade broom. Take home your own creation to clean house or give away as a gift.

Class Fee: Members $85. Non-members $95. All materials included. Requires advance registration, limited to 8 participants. Please bring an apron or comfortable clothes that you won’t mind getting dirty.

Printing Greeting Cards • Saturday, April 22, 10am-4pm

Delight your family and friends by sending them a unique handmade greeting card! Choose from our collection of type, ornaments, and illustrations to create your own text and design, learn how to set it by hand and lock it in a chase before taking it to our 1862 Liberty Press to print.

Class Fee: Members $85, lunch included.  Non-members $95. Lunch will be provided. All materials (up to 25 cards) included. Requires advance registration, class limited to 6 participants.  Please bring an apron or comfortable clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

Hot Frame Gardening • Saturday, April 29, 10am-4pm

Jump-start your garden with this ancient technique that can beat the late winter cold. You will first construct your own 2ft x 3ft frame to take home, then learn how to set it up by working on the hot frame in one of our historic gardens. We will even send you home with a hand-picked variety of heirloom seeds and seedlings to get you started right away.

Class Fee:  Members $110, includes kit. Non-members $120, includes kit. Lunch will be provided. Requires advance registration, limited to 8 participants. Please wear comfortable and warm clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. Bringing gardening gloves is recommended.

About The Farmers’ Museum

As one of the oldest rural life museums in the country, The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York, provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience 19th-century rural and village life first-hand through authentic demonstrations and interpretative exhibits. The museum, founded in 1943, comprises a Colonial Revival stone barn listed on the National Register for Historic Places, a recreated historic village circa 1845, the Empire State Carousel, and a working farmstead. Through its 19th-century village and farm, the museum preserves important examples of upstate New York architecture, early agricultural tools and equipment, and heritage livestock. The Farmers’ Museum’s outstanding collection of more than 23,000 items encompasses significant historic objects ranging from butter molds to carriages, and hand planes to plows. The museum also presents a broad range of interactive educational programs for school groups, families, and adults that explore and preserve the rich agricultural history of the region. FarmersMuseum.org