Hands On Activities for Your Itineraries
Customize your itinerary with these fun, easy and memorable add-on activities!
Amish Acres
Make-Bake-n-Take Shoofly Pie - Amish Acres, Nappanee. $7pp
-Conducted by Old Order Amish Bakery Manager, Frieda Miller, in Amish Acres 8,000 sq. ft. kitchen
-Recipe, tips, and baking secrets shared as everyone bakes and takes a mini shoofly pie
B&L Woodcrafts
Personalized Birdhouse - B&L Woodcrafts, Middlebury. $12pp
-At a woodworking shop on an Amish farmstead filled with crafts and furniture perfect for shopping
-Custom select colors, decorations and sayings for a souvenir birdhouse made by the Helmuth family
Das Dutchman Essenhaus
Stash Buster - $20 pp incl
This fun and easy project is a perfect way to use up those left over yards of quilting fabric or material you bought never used. Locker Hooking is the latest craze among quilters. The 12in square kit comes complete with your own hook, string, canvas, 2 yards of fabric and directions for future at-home projects. Roz at the Essenhaus Quilt Shop leads you thru this fun and easy way to use scraps and leftovers.
Deck the Halls - Das Dutchman Essenhaus, Middlebury. $35pp
-Create a holiday wreath using mixed leaves, floral pieces and ribbon to take home
-Hands-on, led by on-site Events Coordinator
Red Hatters Fun - Das Dutchman Essenhaus, Middlebury. $25pp
-Customize your own outrageous red hat
-Includes all supplies -- hats, bows, sequins, etc
Coloring for Adults - The Quilt Shop, Essenhaus Village Shops, Middlebury. $8pp
-An easy and fun no sew activity for all ages
-Color on fabric, making a quilt pattern bookmark or Christmas card
Locker Hooking Coasters - The Quilt Shop, Essenhaus Village Shops, Middlebury. $10pp
-The newest trend in no sew crafting, faster and easier than latch hooking
-Hook fabric into a canvas to create a holiday or seasonal coaster that’s easy to make, take and pack!
Quilting for Dummies - The Quilt Shop, Essenhaus Village Shops, Middlebury. $8.50pp
-Select and complete your own 6” X 6” quilt block, several themes or patterns are avaliable
-Quilt Magic makes it quick, easy and fun - without a needle in sight!
Tuck and Go Christmas Ornament - The Quilt Shop, Essenhaus Village Shops, Middlebury. $5pp
-Colorful themed scraps of fabric transform into a holiday tree ornament
-Festive and fun no sew crafts
The Craft of Needle Tatting - $20pp
-Includes materials, instruction booklet, needle and threads for making a beautiful, lace medallion
-Individualized instruction, basic stitches and how-to's
Michiana Master Gardeners Association
The members of Michiana Master Gardeners Association are eager to share their love of gardening by offering a variety of interesting and useful seminars to tour groups. Programs run 30-60 minutes and can be conducted at various sites throughout the destination such as restaurants, hotels or garden centers to best fit into your itinerary. Seminars are free of charge, but a donation to the Michiana Master Gardeners Association Scholarship Fund is appreciated. Programs include:
Make Your Backyard a Bird and Butterfly Magnet
Make your yard the center of attention for wild birds and butterflies. Learn from the experts the best choices for plants, shrubs, feeders and more. Plus get insider tips on how to discourage those unwanted visitors to your feeders.
Planting a Perfect Pot
It’s container gardening 101. Find out what makes the best planter and what’s needed to get started. Plus learn the secrets of using color and structure to add beauty to a patio or yard.
Grasses Galore!
Ornamental grasses are great for giving landscapes and gardens that special look.
Find out the how, where and whys of choosing and using a variety of these easy-to-care-for plants.
Gardening for the Time Starved
Love gardens but don’t have the time to care for them? No more excuses after this seminar. Learn from the best how to choose and plant a low maintenance, drought tolerant garden.
Lazy, Shady Gardens
Planting a flourishing shade garden can be easy – it’s all in the knowing. Discover winning secrets and tips to make to make a shady spot “shine”.
Make It Summer Indoors
Indoor plants get the winter blahs too. Help them thrive with expert advice on placement, care and feeding to keep it summery indoors when the days grow short and blustery.
Herb 101 - Prairie Trail Herb Farm, Goshen. $5pp
-A local Master Gardener teaches how to grow and harvest your own herb garden at home
-Make relaxing herbal bath salts
Bag some fun for your Group! Add the Brown Bag Tour to your Amish Country trip. Travel Amish Country’s backroads to visit select, locally owned shops. Along the way each traveler receives a special treat for their brown shopping bag. By the end of the tour, the little brown bag is full! $12pp + Tour Guide Fee
