Experience Level: Beginner (Ages 14+)

Lean the beautiful and traditional art of Ukrainian egg decorating at a Pysanky Workshop on Saturday, March 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

Instructor Johanna James-Heinz will share the history of Pysanky before walking students through the use of wax and dyes to create an egg they will take home.

$45/person (Ages 14+) Registration will close March 13 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Johanna James-Heinz is a landscape architect who enjoys dabbling in all kinds of arts and crafts. She started decorating eggs in 2012 and enjoys creating traditional Pysanky eggs as well as using the method to create more non-traditional designs.

Johanna has taught classes in Pysanky at Allerton, various libraries and at churches.

About The Farms

The Farms: An Allerton Folk School, offers classes, workshops, and gatherings focusing on art, outdoor education, science, storytelling, and wellness. All experiences value hands-on, experiential teaching and learning, and are facilitated by and for the members of the community.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn how to decorate cookies for Spring at Spring Cookie Decorating on Sunday, March 29 from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Mansion Dining Room.

Learn to decorate spring-themed cookies with royal icing, crusting butter cream and rolled buttercream! Instructor Jennifer Holhubner will demonstrate and explain wet-on-wet technique, outlining and flooding and make flowers. Each participant will receive directions to decorate five cookies.

$75/person*. Register here by March 23. All sales are final.

*Students should bring a take-home container.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Champaign-Urbana native Jennifer Holhubner taught herself how to decorate cakes when she was 16 years old and took up cookie decorating in 2019.

“Although they intimidated me, I forged on and got better with each order. I still have room to grow as we all do in whatever task we take on,” she said. “But I love to share the aspects of baking and decorating. I can actually now say, I am cookier!”

Jennifer also teaches decorating classes at Parkland College.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn a variety of hand embroidery stitches and create a unique craft item at Embroidery 101: Cherry Blossom & Dogwood Sampler on Tuesday, March 31 from 12 to 4 p.m. in The Studio.

Instructor Billie Theide will introduce students to the history of embroidery and samplers. Students will learn how to transfer designs to fabric, choose different threads and yarns, and create a variety of stitches, as well as how to finish and care for embroidered samplers.

$110/person. Registration will close March 24 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Billie Theide is a former chair of the Crafts Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she is Professor Emerita. Theide is a metalsmith, jeweler and ceramicist. Her work is in public art collections around the world including the Smithsonian, Museum of Arts & Design in New York City, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and the Racine Art Museum, among others.

She is the recipient of a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and five Artists Fellowship Grants from the Illinois Arts Council. Theide has been recognized for her excellence in teaching and is a Distinguished Member and Past-President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

Experience Level: Beginner

Create a functional and unique piece of spring décor at Basket Weaving: Touch of Spring on Friday, April 3 from 12 to 4 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium.

Instructor Bonnie Rideout will lead students as they start by inserting and securing spokes into a wood, slotted base. Students will then learn about twining, shaping and how to add a matchstick border. The baskets will be celery green and natural colors with pretty pip berries adorning the front.

$65/person. Registration will close March 20 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Bonnie Rideout wove her first basket in 1994 and quickly caught the “basket bug.” She created a business — Bonnie’s Baskets in Decatur — in 2006 to teach others to weave. She is also a traveling instructor and has taught weaving in 18 states.

Find out more about Bonnie on her website, Facebook, Instagram and Etsy pages.

About The Farms

The Farms: An Allerton Folk School, offers classes, workshops, and gatherings focusing on art, health & wellness, history, nature & outdoor education, or science. All experiences value hands-on, experiential teaching and learning, and are facilitated by and for the members of the community.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn to make a beautiful hand-pieced and hand-stitched quilt from scraps of fabric at Quilting: Meditative Slow Stitching By Hand on Tuesday, April 7 from 1 to 4 p.m. in The Studio.

Instructor Billie Theide will help students explore hand-piecing and hand-quilting a quilt in a unique way by stitching from the outside in. The class will also explore the rich cultural history of meditative slow stitching.

$120/person. Registration will close April 1 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Billie Theide is a former chair of the Crafts Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she is Professor Emerita. Theide is a metalsmith, jeweler and ceramicist. Her work is in public art collections around the world including the Smithsonian, Museum of Arts & Design in New York City, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and the Racine Art Museum, among others.

She is the recipient of a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and five Artists Fellowship Grants from the Illinois Arts Council. Theide has been recognized for her excellence in teaching and is a Distinguished Member and Past-President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn the basic mechanics of using a spinning wheel to make your own yarn at Learn to Spin Yarn on Wednesday, Feb. 11 and Thursday, April 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. in The Studio. 

After a brief introduction from instructor Stephanie Block, students will have time for hands-on spinning practice and the opportunity to spin alpaca fiber into yarn using Ashford scotch tension Traditional or Traveler wheels. Discussion of fiber production and preparation methods will also be included.

$130/person. Registration closes one week before each course begins, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Stephanie Block is the co-owner of Sundrop Alpacas near Bement. She has been producing popular yarn from her own alpacas for more than nine years. Stephanie’s spinning style is self-taught, and she is continuously learning so that she can share that knowledge with others.

Experience Level: Beginner 

Learn to use acrylic media to express yourself at Abstract Acrylic Painting on Thursday, April 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Greenhouse Auditorium. 

Instructor Erin Boggs will help students learn about mark-making, how to choose colors, laying and composition to create an abstract painting on paper. 

$60/person. Register here. Registration will close April 2 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final. 

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia at owarren@illinois.edu. 

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken. 

About the instructor 

Erin Boggs began taking art classes online during the covid lockdown and enjoyed it enough to continue on her own. She paints both small and large pieces on paper and canvas, and sells her work at both The Vault Art Gallery in Tuscola and Beyond Normal in Lexington. 

Experience Level: Beginner 

Create art on wood at Geometric Wood Art on Monday, April 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library. 

Join instructor Jenna Musgrave of Gravy Studios as you stain and paint a large-framed wood piece in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Students will choose from a variety of stains and paint colors to create a unique, 3-diminsional framed piece to take home. 

$75/person. Register here. Registration will close March 30 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final. 

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia at owarren@illinois.edu. 

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken. 

About the instructor 

Jenna Musgrave is the owner of Gravy Studios in Rantoul and an experienced workshop leader specializing in laser-cut wood décor and guided paint parties. Her events combine creativity with community and are designed to be fun, stress-free and beginner friendly.