Past Workshops

From time to time we provide workshops which are open to the public. Below are the workshops we have hosted in past years. All handouts and/or code used in our workshops are provided here for easy reference. Other hackerspaces and organizations are welcome to borrow our workshops, we just ask that you drop us a line if you hold one (contact at bloominglabs.org).

Past Workshops

• AVR_Class
• Soldering_Workshop
• ArduinoRF_Class
• St. Nick's Holiday Mini-Workshops
• Intro to Computer Programming
• Machining Workshop I
• Machining Workshop II
• Laser Workshop
• Welding Workshop

2021 Workshops

May 2021

Rain Barrel Workshop

Saturday, May 15th, 2021 -- 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

• Format: In-Person, outside
• Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members
• Maximum Class Size: 3 students

During the summer months, lawns and gardens account for an average of 40% of household water usage. Water barrels can help to reduce water usage and bills by allowing you to tend to your lawn and garden using naturally harvested rain water. Come make one for yourself! All materials and tools will be provided.

Plant Tower Workshop

Saturday, May 15th, 2021 -- 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM

• Format: In-Person, outside
• Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members
• Maximum Class Size: 3 students

Plant towers are a vertical garden that can house 50+ plants in 4 sq ft of space. Plant towers also contain a composting tube to allow users to easily return their vegetative waste back to their plants.

Participants will build their own plant tower and compost tube from a recycled food grade barrel. 2 hour class. All materials provided.

April 2021

Lock Picking for Sport

Saturday, April 24th, 2021 -- 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Picking locks is a fun pastime and we’ll show you how it’s done in this virtual workshop. We’ll start with our code of ethics and then dive into the picking. Lockpicks will be available for sale and delivered ahead of the virtual workshop. Locks will also be provided.

• Format: Virtual, pick up kits
• Cost: $25 ($10 for members), plus a lock picking kit
• Kits:
  • PRO-10 (10-piece kit with snap case): $35
  • FOOLS Basic (6-piece basic kit with tube case): $25
  • Borrow-a-Kit Deposit: $10
• Maximum Class Size: 10 students (and up to 10 more at a future date)

Plant Tower Workshop

Sunday, April 11th, 2021 Workshop date has been changed.

Sunday, April 18th, 2021 -- 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM

• Format: In-Person, outside
• Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members
• Maximum Class Size: 3 students

Plant towers are a vertical garden that can house 50+ plants in 4 sq ft of space. Plant towers also contain a composting tube to allow users to easily return their vegetative waste back to their plants.

Participants will build their own plant tower and compost tube from a recycled food grade barrel. 2 hour class.

Rain Barrel Workshop

Sunday, April 11th, 2021 Workshop date has been changed.

Session 1: Sunday, April 18th, 2021 -- 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Session 2: Sunday, April 18th, 2021 -- 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM

• Format: In-Person, outside
• Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members
• Maximum Class Size: 3 students

During the summer months, lawns and gardens account for an average of 40% of household water usage. Water barrels can help to reduce water usage and bills by allowing you to tend to your lawn and garden using naturally harvested rain water.

Build an Outdoor Gym: Parkour Edition

Sunday, April 18th, 2021 -- 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

• Format: In-Person
• Cost is one of:
  • Parkour Vault: $75 ($65 for members)
  • Precision Jump Trainers: $30 ($25 for members)

Bored of the usual home fitness routine? Always wanted to learn how to make sturdy, interesting, wooden structures? Why not both! In this workshop, you’ll learn the principles of how to build your own sturdy, reliable, workout equipment so that you too can start integrating Parkour into your daily routine! By the end of the workshop, you’ll be going home with either: A set of convenient, portable, precision jump trainers that can be used anywhere OR Your very own vault box (will need to transport a box with footprint 3'x3' home)! All built with your own two hands!

A collaboration between Bloominglabs and Bloomington Parkour.

March 2021

Personal Mail Servers

• Date: Saturday, March 27th, 2021
• Time: 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
• Format: Virtual
• Cost: $15 for the public, or $10 for Bloominglabs members
• Maximum Class Size: 15 students

Running your own email server can still be done and we’ll show you how in this virtual workshop. Doing it yourself gives you more freedom and control over what you can do with email. There are many different recipes, we’ll cover using your own domain names, mx records, Linux MTA configuration, and various services you can use to offload parts of the process if desired.

Introduction to Police Scanners

• Date: Tuesday March 23, 2021
• Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Format: Virtual
• Cost: $15 for the public, or $10 for Bloominglabs members (all proceeds go to Bloominglabs)
• Maximum Class Size: 10 students

This two hour online workshop will orient the participants to the hobby of public safety radio scanning (listening to Police/Fire/EMS radio traffic), with a focus on listening in the Bloomington and Monroe County area.

We will present a brief history of public safety radio communications from one-way broadcasts up to multi-site digital trunking systems. Then we'll talk about and demonstrate the equipment required to receive these different systems, as well as show several online listening options for those without their own scanning equipment. Audience participation is strongly encouraged!

No special equipment is required, but participants will need a computer that can run video-conferencing software.

This is an introductory-level workshop, however later this year we will be hosting an advanced workshop where participants build a P25 digital police scanner from a Raspberry Pi computer and Software Defined Radios.

Plant Tower Workshop Sunday, March 21st, 2021 -- 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

In cases of weather postponement, workshop may be moved to March 28th.

• Format: In-Person, outside
• Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members

Plant towers are a vertical garden that can house 50+ plants in 4 sq ft of space. Plant towers also contain a composting tube to allow users to easily return their vegetative waste back to their plants.

Participants will build their own plant tower and compost tube from a recycled food grade barrel. 2 hour class.

January 2021

Workshop Workshop

Saturday, January 16th, 2021

2019 Workshops

Book Binding Workshop - Sunday 27th October 2019

Come learn how to create a hand-bound hard-cover journal, and take yours home! We will fold our pages, sew them, and make our own covers from just boards and decorative cover paper. Learn about the components of a book, how they hold together, and take away the skills to make many more on your own.

Cost: $50 for Non-Members, $45 for Members

All materials provided.

When: Sunday, 27th October 2019 1pm-4pm.

Location: Bloominglabs

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Plant Tower Workshop - 9/29

Plant towers are a vertical garden that can house 50+ plants in 4 sq ft of space. Plant towers also contain a composting tube to allow users to easily return their vegetative waste back to their plants.

Participants will build their own plant tower and compost tube from a recycled food grade barrel. 3 hour class.

Cost: $40 for members, $50 for non-members Time: 1pm - 4pm

2018 Events

Workshop flyer

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Hosting Workshops

If you wish to host a workshop please look at Hosting_workshops.