Her work in marketing for various areas of the ALA has enabled her to utilize her creative talents and develop a working knowledge of the library world. That most projects can be done primarily with reused and recycled materials is not only a boon for the environment and for librarians who have more time than money for programming, but also an attractive draw for many teens as they become more aware of their place in the world. world around them.
This can be a good compromise, allowing patrons to scavenge some useful items from their houses while increasing your inventory. Books and graphic novels that are damaged or need to be retired can be used in a variety of ways.
Creative Marbles
After your group makes a bunch of marbles, have them draw from the central pile to make up a story together, using the words and pictures on the marbles as prompts. Marbles can be made into great gifts such as brooches or pins, paperweights or (of course) magnets.
Prep Work
Directions
Cutting Your Pictures
Decoupaging
Finishing
Spin-offs
Notes
Melted Crayon
Place crayons and ornaments in the middle of the table for the group to share. You may want to have pre-cut sheets of parchment paper or waxed paper on hand just to keep things moving along once the project begins.
Preparing the Crayons
Applying the Colors
Ironing
Gluing
Embellishing
Tasseling
Tuck the tails under the wrapped strands and twist them to tie a knot, gathering the wrapped strands together. Patrons with developmental disabilities will need more help and may need someone to iron their projects for them.
Pressed Flower
You can use this project as a three-week program by having the teenagers pick and dry the flowers and leaves in the first week. The best way to store the flowers is to leave them in the phone books, so you will need space to browse.
Rummaging and Planning
In the second week, incorporate a guest speaker (topics can range from ecology to poetry), or have the teens draw flowers and leaves from reference books or find quotes and sayings they want to use on their note cards. This project can get pretty messy, so you'll want plenty of space to keep supplies and materials organized.
Sticking
This technique works best if you cover the entire face of the card (and the flower, of course) with the vellum. Next, glue side down, place the cover over the flower and over the card face.
Embellishing
It should be exactly the same size as the front of the card or slightly smaller. Use the glue stick to apply a small amount of glue only to the area where you want the flower to go.
Blank Books
Place small trash cans at each end and side of the workbench and keep the large trash can in the center. On the workbench, place a styrofoam tray in each workspace (allow plenty of space for each participant to work on cutting and gluing).
Planning and Selecting Materials
Designing the Covers
Binding
If you use this binding method, you can skip the step of decorating the inside of the covers. Glue one half to the top inside and the other half to the inside cover. Now use the same hammer and nail technique of the sewn and glued bindings to add holes to the back edge of the covers only.
Layered
It may be helpful to show your teens some pictures of the finished examples (available in color online at www.arystocrafts.com). Once you have the images in hand (either drawn or ready-made), each participant must have at least five copies of their image to build up the layers of the collage. Each participant should be part of the group but still have enough space to work comfortably.
Choosing Your Picture
The main table must be equipped with white glue, brushes, scissors and carbon paper for each participant.
Collecting Materials
Building the Background
Building Up
Coasters and Trivets
Place the assortment of brushes, sponges, glass paint, masking tape, markers and decoupage in the center of the table. Place small trash cans at each end and on each side of the table, but make sure the large trash can is centered so that participants can easily clean up the large mess.
Planning the Design
You don't need all the materials mentioned, so you can choose from what you have on hand. Of course, you can combine any or all of these techniques to create unique pieces. Because paint and decoupage dry quickly, participants are suggested to plan designs for each of their pieces at this point.
Choosing Materials
Prepping the Tiles
Choosing Techniques
Remember, while one piece is drying, you can work on the other pieces you have planned. Once you've painted, decoupaged, and/or stenciled your base layers, you can add embellishments for your finishing touches. You can make fabulous embellishments by using permanent markers to outline important features of your design or write words.
Gluing the Bottom
Paint the entire tile to give it a background color (you can use any number of colors for this). Glitter and sand can be very effective for highlighting parts of your design or adding a subtle sparkle. You can attach the glitter using the decoupage technique, but make sure the rest of the tile is completely dry before sprinkling the glitter so you can control where it goes.
Sealing
Let the first coat dry to at least a tacky finish, then give the tile at least one more coat to seal. Note: If you are pressed for time, you can have the teenagers finish with a coat of polyurethane. Once dry, you can add the second layer and have the tablecloths or coasters ready to be picked up at a subsequent meeting or at the reference desk.
Rubber Band Bracelets
You may want to put together a sample so the teens can see what the project should look like. You may want to have photocopies of the instructions available at the table as well. There are two variations on this project that require different steps, so you'll want to choose between them first.
Directions: Without Bead
Beginning the Chain
Extending the Chain
Closing the Chain
Directions: adding a Bead
Plain Beading
Horizontal Beading
Vertical Beading
Mosaic Tile Jewelry
You can even make the project more directly book-oriented by making the tiles look like book covers. In the first session, the teens choose the images and create the tiles. You will undoubtedly have teens working at different speeds, so plan enough time for each teen to make at least three pieces of jewelry.
Prep Work for Session 1
Directions for Session 1
Collecting Images
Sealing
Finishing
Prep Work for Session 2
Directions for Session 2
Woven Paper Baskets
The project is simple and requires light enough control that it can be used as a quick side project or as a rainy day activity. It's easy to add variations to the project by changing the width of the paper strips. If the project is successful, encourage the teens to find other weaving techniques to try with ribbons.
Choosing Your Pages
Folding
Laminating with Packing Tape
Hold the tape horizontally by the edges and lay it as straight as possible on the strip. Now use the buffing tool to flatten out any air bubbles and seal the tape tightly. Laminate the paper strip by covering it with packing tape. Polish the tape to remove all air bubbles.
Weaving BottoM/BaSE
Attaching the woven strips with tape Bend the long strips from the bottom up to form the frame for the side of the basket. When you are done with the sides, the ends of the frame strips will still be sticking out of the tops. When all the sides are braided, the basket will have a fringe at the top.
Vinyl Totes
If possible, provide a sample of this project to show the teens ahead of time so they can think about the images and materials they would like to use. To save time during the work session, cut the vinyl and graphics to the required dimensions beforehand. Set up a side table with the photos (sort the photos by type and weight, such as calendars, photos, magazines and book covers, etc.).
Choosing Materials
Laying Out the Design
Forming Panels
Planning Your Handles
Cutting the Vinyl
Taping
Punching Holes
Lacing
Attaching Closures
T-shirt Reconstruction
If your group is large, you may want to limit the project to just a few different techniques. If you don't have a full-length mirror in the room, you may want to have them go in groups to a nearby washroom. Review the directions for each technique to get an idea of what you want to do.
Lacing (No Sew!)
Take a close look at your shirt and think about what you like and don't like about it. Draw guidelines on both sides and you should have a pattern on the shirt that looks like the picture in the upper left corner. Then measure down from this mark in 1 inch increments and mark the locations for all the rings in each row.
Snip-Tying (No Sew!)
Once the entire fringe is cut, go back and tie the two edges together with the fringe.
Razoring (No Sew!)
For our example, we repeated the process on the other arm of the Y and we were done. Start at the top of the design and work your way down, cutting lines in the design as you go. Cutting with scissors is easier and gives you more control, although the cut edges look less rough than the razor blades.
Franken-shirting
If you're just cutting and replacing selected pieces (sleeves, collar, pockets, etc.), you can remove them from each piece individually. For our example, we're stacking the shirts to make sure we cut pieces roughly the same size and shape. Once you're sure everything will go back together, remove enough pins so that you're dealing with three or four large pieces, each with two or three stitches to sew.
Book Pillows
Designing
Preparing the Fabric
Pressing
Sewing
Lay the front of the pillow out on the table and place the pocket on the right side about 1½ inches from the bottom and 5½ inches from the right side. Lay out the front of the pillow again and place the straps on the left side. Sew these pieces together at the top, the right side and the bottom of the pillow.
Supplies and Tools List
Project Materials List
Techniques
It is mainly used for inside seams that will not be seen once the fabric is turned inside out, so exact alignment is not critical. A whip stitch is a basic stitch that runs over the edge of the seam with the needle always coming through the fabric in the same direction.
Tools and Materials
Large craft stores have these, but you may have to scour the internet if you can't find them locally. Although you can use newspaper in a short time, it is not particularly practical as you can get dirty while working. You can use Styrofoam trays (recycled from a coffee shop or bought from a restaurant supply store); plastic cafeteria trays (can be found at schools, hospital sales, garage sales, or discount stores); or clean, recycled styrofoam food trays (you can save these from your own stash and/or ask for donations).
Books
Websites
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