DIY Disco Ball "Vase"
Patrons created a disco ball "vase" using styrofoam balls and recycled CDs to hold their favorite faux florals and plants.
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Make a Fascinator
In the spirit of the Kentucky Derby and the Royal Coronation, Make a Fascinator is a craft program where attendees learn how to create a simple (yet fancy!) fascinator hat.
SuffRAGE Against the Machine: A Zine Workshop
This teen and adult program uses Library of Congress women’s suffrage primary sources, alongside your library’s own databases and physical holdings, to explore the non-conformist, creative and subversive ways that suffragists educated and agitated for the right to vote.
Scrapbooking: No Documents, No History
This teen or adult program uses Library of Congress women’s suffrage primary sources, such as letters, diaries, women’s self-published information sources and other ephemera, to examine how suffragists documented their activism and feelings on women’s rights and social issues of the time.
Program attendees use current magazines, newspapers, flyers, ephemera and personal effects to start their own scrapbook and create their own DIY personal history (that might become a future primary source!).
Dinovember Take & Make
This program was hosted in celebration of Dinovember, a month-long event where plastic dinosaurs come to life as children sleep. Children were given a take-and-make activity that included an egg-hatching challenge, one DIY dinosaur fossil craft, and a writing activity in which children filled out an official Dinosaur Adoption Certificate.
The writing activity helps younger kids practice or learn how to write their names, see how they look in print, etc., and let them get creative in naming their dinosaur.
Stuffed Animal Taxidermy
Stuffed Animal Taxidermy is a fun program for kids and teens. Using old, thrifted stuffed animals, kids can give their faux furry friends a new "life" by turning them into a DIY home decoration.Â
Thanks to community donations and Amazon purchases, our youth had a blast at this in-person program.Â
Zine Machine: A DIY Magazine Primer
Did you spend your young adult years with Sharpie marks all over your fingers, sneaking access to the library photocopier to produce handmade doctrines to hand out at concert venues?
If so, then you know what zines are all about. For the rest of us: zines are DIY magazines that have been enjoying a burst of popularity in recent years. They can be found in a variety of formats and explore every topic under the sun. If you have paper and something to say, you can make a zine.
9 DIYs for Summer Programs
Summer is just around the corner. While we might be looking forward to the warmth, fear not — we'll be clamoring for some air-conditioned activities soon enough. Keep your out-of-school teens (and everyone else) busy with these fun and easy DIY activities.
DIY Squishies
Our DIY Squishies program allowed our teens to be producers as well as consumers as they made/designed their own toys.
Constellation Cross-Stitch
Constellation Cross-Stitch is a beginner's class where patrons of all ages can learn basic techniques in cross-stitch and embroidery. Patrons utilize skills such as hand/eye coordination and hand dexterity, and they leave with a piece of handmade art for their home.
Escape This: Creating DIY Escape Rooms for Your Library
Escape/puzzle rooms are a popular way to incorporate gamification into your library. These interactive live adventure games appeal to all ages and abilities, and provide people with a chance to be a part of a story and their community as they problem solve.
You could hire a company to run your escape room, but the cost — plus the proprietary nature of their product — means that many libraries can only offer an escape room once, if at all. It's time to DIY!
Creating an Upcycled Jewelry Program
If you have even the tiniest interest in crafting or DIY, you've probably heard the word "upcycling." Unlike recycling, which breaks down materials to be remade into a new product, upcycling maintains the original item but refashions it for a different (and valuable) use.
Some examples of upcycled items include drinking glasses made from wine bottles or baskets woven from plastic shopping bags. Upcycling items is a great way to go green. It keeps materials out of the trash and doesn’t require the energy recycling does.
Library for All
Library for All is a monthly, systemwide, interactive program that welcomes adults with disabilities to make crafts, create art, play games and explore the library. Each program is tailored to the audience’s unique interests and ability levels. The programs encourage the DIY spirit, and each participant has the opportunity to make and take something.
Summer Fun with Adorable Tape and Dancing
How is your summer so far? We’re enjoying the hot weather here in California and celebrating summer with cool refreshments and creative crafts. This week, we’re focusing on washi tape crafts and illuminating projects to complement Wii dance parties for teens.
