We made necklaces by removing the faces of off-brand Barbie dolls, gluing them onto a pendant bezel and adding gems for embellishment. Patrons loved disassembling the dolls and were surprised at how wearable the finished piece of costume jewelry was.
Advanced Planning
This program was just for fun. My goal with crafts is always to bring patrons together with a fun task, and be available for the library-related questions and book discussions that ultimately result.
We plan our programs for the newsletter about four months in advance, but that just means I have a title, a general idea and a date set. I started shopping for materials and practicing the craft about two weeks in advance. I like to have a general idea of how long a craft will take, and how easy it will be for patrons to do. In this case, I asked a few coworkers of varying skill levels to hang out with me for an hour and let me teach them to make the necklaces. We had a lot of fun doing it, so our PR team came by and took photos of us. This was also a good time for me to take photos for my handout. I always make a step-by-step set of numbered instructions and include photographs.
With this craft, the biggest challenge was finding the right size bezel to fit the right size doll face (I originally solicited donated dolls from staff, but the name-brand dolls donated had really large faces, and I couldn't find the larger pendant bezels in bulk). I didn't have any instructions to follow, so I was just experimenting. The size that worked best for the Dollar Tree dolls ended up being 40x30mm.
Marketing
Our programs are listed online and in a newsletter mailed every four months. We also have a PR team that advertises on our socials during the weeks leading up to each program. On this one, we got our wires crossed a bit, as it was advertised as an adult program, but a couple of teens/preteens did register.
Budgeting
I spent $141.13 at Dollar Tree, JoAnn's and Amazon. I got the Barbie-shaped dolls from Dollar Tree, as well as exact-o knives and a lot of super glue, necklaces to tear apart for their jewels from JoAnn's, and the pendant bezels, rhinestone chains, necklace cords and assorted gems from Amazon.
When we do this program again, I expect to spend less than $100. I bought too many pendant bezels originally, trying to figure out the right size for a Barbie, before figuring out that the cheaper pendants fit Dollar Tree dolls perfectly. Also, our patrons were too impatient to use super glue, so looking back, we didn't need to buy that at all. You could also probably go without the assorted gems and just stick with the rhinestone chains, especially if your patrons have a hard time handling small objects.
Day-of-event Activity
We had two staff members at the event, and that ended up being a very good thing because we had a teen and three pre-teens register, so we needed one person helping them with the knives and hot glue guns at all times.
Program Execution
13 people attended - nine adults, one teen and three preteens. This is on the low end for my craft programs and it might be because people were not entirely sure what the program was about. In the future, we will be sure to include a photo of the end result in more social media posts.
Everyone was happy with their results, and I've had patrons come in wearing their "library necklace." The unexpected benefit was that patrons in different age groups socialized and had fun, being silly together. The older patrons were thrilled to have younger patrons attend, and the preteens were happy to have experienced crafters to learn from.
Advice
Either come up with a better title than I did, or be sure to advertise with photos. I've had a lot of interest in a repeat event, so I conclude that seeing the end result really reels them in.
Supporting Materials
Slideshow Images
More Programs
Geode Skulls
Audiences:
Make a Mini Suncatcher
Audiences:
