♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] The villages of Van Buren County are a collection of 11 quaint towns, which still bear the remnants of Iowa's earliest settlers.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Travelers come from far and wide to see the vintage setting and to experience the warm hospitality of local merchants and artisans.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] We pulled off in Bentonsport at Iron and Lace, where for more than 30 years husband and wife Bill and Betty Printy have been teaching workshops in pottery and blacksmithing.

Let's try it out.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Betty, thanks for having us to Iron and Lace, your store.

Tell us a little bit about it.

[Betty Printy] Oh, the name is Iron and Lace because the blacksmith does iron work and then I do Queen Anne's lace pottery.

So, we thought Iron and Lace was a good name and so that is what we started out in 1990 when we built the building.

[Kohlsdorf] Yeah, tell us about the building.

It looks old.

[Betty Printy] It was actually built from old materials.

We tore down four barns and cleaned them up and put up this structure.

We've been very happy here.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Betty is well known for her signature line of Queen Anne's lace pottery, which she has been crafting for nearly four decades.

I'm joining her at the throwing wheel for a demonstration of how she does it and to get my hands dirty as well.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Right in the center?

[Betty Printy] Mm-hmm.

I'm going to help.

No, over here.

[Kohlsdorf] Pull it out.

Okay.

[Betty Printy] Yep, there you go.

Wonderful.

Wonderful job.

Push in and this is supporting the inside.

See -- [Kohlsdorf] Oh, now it's coming up, I see it.

Okay.

[Betty Printy] Slowly bring it up, supporting with the inside.

Wonderful.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Just now let go of the sponge.

Okay.

[Betty Printy] Yeah, very good.

[Kohlsdorf] Wow, I did this!

[Betty Printy] You did this!

♪♪ [Betty Printy] Brooke, this is a leather hard pot.

I made this last night so that it would be dry enough that we can put the flowers on it.

This pot is very wet, so we really want to lay a towel on your lap to help cushion the pot because we're going to put the Queen Anne's lace on this.

So, then we pattern where we want the flower and I usually put one here and then one kind of there.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay, so like this.

Okay.

[Betty Printy] And then you take the back of your fingernail and you put down every one of those little blossoms into the pot.

[Kohlsdorf] And then this stays on the whole time, right?

[Betty Printy] Yes, this will dry on there and then be fired.

[Kohlsdorf] And then it burns off?

[Betty Printy] Mm-hmm.

So, all of the stuff that is sticking up here all gets pushed down into the pot.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay, so it's an imprint.

[Betty Printy] It imprints into there.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay, so what happens when this part is done?

[Betty Printy] This pot will have the blue applied around the flower and then it will dry two weeks and then it is put into the kiln at about 1,900 degrees and that burns the flower away, it sets the paint and then it is taken out and glazed and refired to 2,200 degrees.

And then you have a pot that looks like this.

[Kohlsdorf] And it's beautiful.

[Betty Printy] Thank you.

You've been a great student.

[Kohlsdorf] Thank you.

You're a great teacher.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Next, I'm headed to the blacksmith shop where Betty's husband Bill plies his trade.

♪♪ [Bill Printy] I started out as a hobby and started doing art and craft shows.

And I was set up one day, a friend of mine approached me and said, have you ever heard of Bentonsport?

And I said, no, can't say I have.

He said, well there's an old man.

He said, he's restored a blacksmith shop up there and he's looking for somebody to come and work it.

[Kohlsdorf] Bill made the trip and in the late 1980s he took over the blacksmithing enterprise in Bentonsport.

There, he met his wife Betty and that was the beginning of Iron and Lace.

[Kohlsdorf] So, for a lot of people who stop by, you show them how to use some of your tools, right?

Can you show me how to handle them?

[Bill Printy] I sure can.

♪♪ [Bill Printy] Because this is small, it doesn't take big heavy blows.

♪♪ [Bill Printy] It's starting to cool off.

♪♪ (hammer striking metal) [Kohlsdorf] Am I doing it right?

[Bill Printy] Down towards the tip.

We're trying to forge a square there.

[Kohlsdorf] Ah, I see.

[Bill Printy] Okay, we've lost our heat.

♪♪ (hammer striking metal) [Bill Printy] You're doing good.

♪♪ [Bill Printy] Blacksmiths always mess around with their fires a lot.

Out here over the horn, hammer it down and I'm dropping my arm down as I go and I'm going to roll it over like this -- starting to form that hook shape.

(hammer striking metal) [Bill Printy] That looks pretty good, doesn't it?

[Kohlsdorf] Yeah, it does.

[Bill Printy] Do you like that?

[Kohlsdorf] Yeah, that's nice.

[Bill Printy] Yeah, but I'm not done with it.

♪♪ [Bill Printy] At this point, I want that tip fairly hot.

♪♪ [Bill Printy] And I'm going to turn it up like this.

♪♪ (hammer striking metal) [Kohlsdorf] Am I doing this right?

[Bill Printy] Yeah.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay.

♪♪ [Bill Printy] Oh, not too bad.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay.

[Bill Printy] That's not too bad at all.

[Kohlsdorf] Okay.

How many of these do you think you've made over the years?

[Bill Printy] Are you kidding me?

(laughs) ♪♪