Hobbies & Home   

Learn about advanced brewing techniques which you can do in the comfort of your kitchen or back patio.
In this class, you will learn:

• Methods of extracting Wort from Malted Grain: Traditional Mash and Sparge, Recirculation Full Volume Mash, and Brew in a bag.
• Water: basic water chemistry
• Malts: Base Malts, crystal Malts, and other specialty malts.
• Hops: Bittering and Flavoring, and Calculating International Bitter units from their Alpha Acids.
• Yeast: Dry and Liquid, and how to make a yeast starter.
• ​​​​​​​Fermentation: Ales and Lagers, Pressure Fermentation, and types of fermenters.

 

Clear, healthy, & vital skin is not just for those wanting to look their best. It is also an indicator of overall health. Join us to explore different health practices you can use at home to support healthy beautiful skin at any age. In class we will walk through:

• The basics of dry skin brushing (including how to choose a brush, how often to dry brush, when to do it, and what to do after you are done).
• How to make a quick, rich (and customizable) moisturizer at home with essential oils that you will absolutely LOVE.
• And, a few other health practices to promote youthful beautiful skin. • Topics: Laundry, Living Rooms, Bedrooms, & More.

Clear, healthy, & vital skin is not just for those wanting to look their best. It is also an indicator of overall health. Join us to explore different health practices you can use at home to support healthy beautiful skin at any age. In class we will walk through:

• The basics of dry skin brushing (including how to choose a brush, how often to dry brush, when to do it, and what to do after you are done).
• How to make a quick, rich (and customizable) moisturizer at home with essential oils that you will absolutely LOVE.
• And, a few other health practices to promote youthful beautiful skin. • Topics: Laundry, Living Rooms, Bedrooms, & More.

Clear, healthy, & vital skin is not just for those wanting to look their best. It is also an indicator of overall health. Join us to explore different health practices you can use at home to support healthy beautiful skin at any age. In class we will walk through:

• The basics of dry skin brushing (including how to choose a brush, how often to dry brush, when to do it, and what to do after you are done).
• How to make a quick, rich (and customizable) moisturizer at home with essential oils that you will absolutely LOVE.
• And, a few other health practices to promote youthful beautiful skin. • Topics: Laundry, Living Rooms, Bedrooms, & More.

Discover basic steps to beginning your floral design creativity. You’ll learn how to process flowers to ensure a good vase life, how to select and prep a container/vase, best tools of the trade. 

Discover basic steps to beginning your floral design creativity. You’ll learn how to process flowers to ensure a good vase life, how to select and prep a container/vase, best tools of the trade. 

You will learn how to brew your own beer at home and learn basic home brewing with dry and liquid malt extracts. This class covers equipment needed, malt extracts, water, hops characteristics and types, sanitation, fermentation, and bottling your finished beer. We will discuss the terminology and abbreviations and how to calculate them such as ABV, IBU's, etc. We will also include tips on where to find your ingredients and how to convert all grain recipes to malt extract recipes.

Learn about the world of U.S. coin and currency collecting. Novice collectors will get tips on currency collecting and how to sell a coin collection you might have inherited. Discussions are led by a long-time collector and will include types of collecting, collecting on a budget, and disposing of coins. Bring a coin to class that you are interested in learning more about.

Learn about the world of U.S. coin and currency collecting. Novice collectors will get tips on currency collecting and how to sell a coin collection you might have inherited. Discussions are led by a long-time collector and will include types of collecting, collecting on a budget, and disposing of coins. Bring a coin to class that you are interested in learning more about.

Learn about the world of U.S. coin and currency collecting. Novice collectors will get tips on currency collecting and how to sell a coin collection you might have inherited. Discussions are led by a long-time collector and will include types of collecting, collecting on a budget, and disposing of coins. Bring a coin to class that you are interested in learning more about.

Personal fragrance and perfumes have a rich history dating back for thousands of years. Historically, they were created entirely from plants and natural oils, while perfumes and fragrances offered today are often overwhelming and contain questionable synthetic ingredients. Join us to learn the basic process of creating your own custom perfume blend using all natural ingredients. Each attendee will leave with their own personal fragrance blend to enjoy at home.

Personal fragrance and perfumes have a rich history dating back for thousands of years. Historically, they were created entirely from plants and natural oils, while perfumes and fragrances offered today are often overwhelming and contain questionable synthetic ingredients. Join us to learn the basic process of creating your own custom perfume blend using all natural ingredients. Each attendee will leave with their own personal fragrance blend to enjoy at home.

Personal fragrance and perfumes have a rich history dating back for thousands of years. Historically, they were created entirely from plants and natural oils, while perfumes and fragrances offered today are often overwhelming and contain questionable synthetic ingredients. Join us to learn the basic process of creating your own custom perfume blend using all natural ingredients. Each attendee will leave with their own personal fragrance blend to enjoy at home.

The project is to make a stunning evergreen wreath for your door. We’ll use mixed evergreens and other dried flower elements, ribbons, and pinecones.

Create a rustic garden container for your patio, deck, or garden. Hypertufa is a cast "rock-like" material that can be formed into almost any shape. It is a lighter weight alternative to a concrete container and is strong enough to withstand the freeze/thaw cycle of our winters. Samples will be shown for inspiration. You can also incorporate found treasures such as marbles, broken china, cut glass, or rocks into the surface of the pots during construction. Please bring a plastic dishwashing tub, rubber gloves, and anything you wish to embed in your cast. Wear old clothes and shoes. Depending on the type of construction, some containers will need to dry at ICC's Horticulture Lab and be picked up at a later date. Your cast trough can make an excellent fairy garden container.

For those with some experience designing with flowers or for those who have completed the beginner's class. We will expand on the beginner series and delve into the mechanics of creating larger arrangements such as wedding arbors/garlands and smaller, wearable arrangements like corsages and boutonnieres.

Enjoy the beautiful fall foliage while learning to recognize Central Illinois’ native trees. This workshop will begin at the ICC Horticulture Land Laboratory Classroom where we will learn tree botany, how to identify them using a key, and other interesting characteristics. We will discuss native and non native species as well as those that make excellent landscape specimens. After classroom discussion, participants will take a short walk through ICC’s arboretum to test skills in identification. Wear comfortable shoes, and consider bringing a bottle of water. The outdoor walk is optional and weather permitting.

Leaf sculptures can add beauty to any garden or indoor environment. Many completed samples will be shown for inspiration. There will be an opportunity to cast several leaves. You may bring your own leaves, but all materials will be provided. Wear old clothes and bring rubber gloves. Your leaf castings can be used as ornaments, birdbaths, feeders, etc. Information will be given about painting or embellishing your finished leaves at home after fully dried.

Rita started teaching beginner quilting class in the early 2000s. She returned to Central Illinois in 2020 and has continued to learn new skills and try new techniques. Through her part time work with a local publishing company, she was given an opportunity to write a monthly column about quilting. Her article appears in both the Peoria and Bloomington News and Views Magazine and is called “Through the Eye of My Needle.”

Rita started teaching beginner quilting class in the early 2000s. She returned to Central Illinois in 2020 and has continued to learn new skills and try new techniques. Through her part time work with a local publishing company, she was given an opportunity to write a monthly column about quilting. Her article appears in both the Peoria and Bloomington News and Views Magazine and is called “Through the Eye of My Needle.”

Rita started teaching beginner quilting class in the early 2000s. She returned to Central Illinois in 2020 and has continued to learn new skills and try new techniques. Through her part time work with a local publishing company, she was given an opportunity to write a monthly column about quilting. Her article appears in both the Peoria and Bloomington News and Views Magazine and is called “Through the Eye of My Needle.”