Get Self-Reliant: Free Classes to Boost Your DIY Skills

One of the primary objectives of the homesteading life is being as self reliant as possible. From clothing to carpentry we want to do it ourselves.

The thing is most of us don't have the training to do everything. I can sew a man's dress shirt (with French cuffs, thank you very much) or whip up laminated pastry dough with my eyes shut. I can milk a goat at light speed and even stencil walls but the first time I tried to make a small lean-to for our male goat? Yikes.

Who knew "toe nailing" referred to the way you nail a stud and has nothing at all to do with a pedicure?

Check with the Home Improvement Store

Every weekend our local home improvement store gives classes all throughout the day. The classes are always free and cover things like:

- Laying tile

- Building a fence

- Installing counter tops

- Laying flooring

- Faucet repair

They also have some pretty cool classes for kids on things like building birdhouses or bird feeders. Usually the classes are free but double check to see if there is a cost for the materials involved. This depends a lot on the individual store. Most of the classes will run for about 45 minutes and they will do a scheduled class as long as one person (you!) shows up.

No Classes? Just Ask!

If you are interested in learning a skill and you don't see the class being offered just ask the manager about it. The customer is king, especially in this economy, and they may schedule a class around your interest.

You are probably not going to be able to learn how to build an entire log cabin but you may acquire some valuable skill that will help you with a variety of projects and repairs around the house.