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(Photo: Courtesy of Everett Collection; Illustration by Peter Arkle) |
Groom Your Own Dog
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- Unleashed Spa
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218 Ave. B, nr. 13th St.; 212-533-9300
Unleashed’s self-serve stations are the closest urbanites can get to a summer-afternoon-in-the-driveway doggie scrub-down. Your $19.99 buys access to pet shampoos, scrubbers, brushes, towels, a professional dryer, and a ramp-equipped stainless-steel tub. The setup accommodates even the most unwieldy of pets: The largest dog competing at Westminster this year, a 185-pound Newfoundland, came in for a preshow bath.
Make Your Own Wine
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- Brooklyn Winery
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213 N. 8th St., nr. Driggs Ave., Williamsburg; 347-763-1506
Under the guidance of winemaker Connor McCormack, you can try everything from crushing grapes to designing a label. The Brooklyn Winery reserves a limited number of barrels each season—twenty this spring—for individuals or groups of up to ten. You choose the grapes (this spring, they’re from Chile; in the fall, they’ll be from California and New York), de-stem them, add yeast, barrel the mix, then taste-test over eight to twelve months of aging ($5,700 for classes plus 288 bottles).
Publish Your Own Book
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- McNally Jackson
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52 Prince St., nr. Lafayette St.; 212-274-1160
Soho’s premier indie bookstore invested in an Espresso Book Machine earlier this year, a big printer that turns your PDF—whether from a flash drive, an e-mail, or a file-sharing program—into a book, at 120 pages a minute. After collating, binding, and trimming, it spits out a neat, perfect-bound paperback ($6 per book plus 2 cents a page; bulk deals available). If you’re the hopeful author, you can sell your book directly to the public in McNally’s new consignment section.
Mix Your Own Perfume
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- MCMC Fragrances
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By appointment; class@mcmcfragrances.com
Anne McClain of MCMC Fragrances has branched out, conducting private perfume tutorials from her Greenpoint studio. Over the three-hour session, the former Le Labo instructor teaches one or two participants how to mix and sniff 75 ingredients—including essential oils and absolutes—and helps them concoct their own fragrances. The $250 fee includes all materials and your 50-milliliter bottle of bespoke scent.
Print Your Own Wallpaper
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- Gowanus Print Lab
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54 Second Ave., nr. 7th St., Gowanus; 718-788-3930
Come out to Gowanus for this two-night class, and you can immediately swathe your walls in your very own designs. The first night offers an introduction to printing in repeat patterns and multiple colors; on the second, you get help putting your own designs on 30-foot rolls of wallpaper. The $250 fee includes all materials and twelve hours of additional open studio time, where you can perfect your technique—or do the rest of your apartment (March 17 and 24, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.).