Crafternoon: Recycled Paper Jewelry

As you may know, I'm quite crafty. ("She's crafty! And she's just my type!") I enjoy taking random things and making them into something new, and better yet if it's something that was just going to be thrown away or recycled, anyway. Because, really, much as I hate getting rid of stuff, the sting is much less if you end up turning your trash into treasure. 

Enter the recycled book necklace! You simply destroy a book, add glue, eat lollipops, and then wear your creation afterwards. (Note: magazines work, too.) 

You will need

Shown: LOTS of paper strips

For this project, you will need:
- Old books or magazines that you don't mind destroying
- Lollipops (or other dowel-shaped objects)
- Glue
- String - hemp cord and elastic both work well
- Jewelry clasps (optional but very useful)

 

The Why

In my many years (eh, about 5) working in libraries, I have seen so many books - so many books - get weeded. Weeding is an essential part of library life, and yes, we do try to funnel old titles to the Friends booksales when we can, but sometimes things are just too far gone for that. Ripped pages, coffee stains, stuff you know that nobody will buy... why not upcycle?

The How

First, you find a book that you can't do anything with. 

This copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has seen better days. In fact, it's missing a cover, and the first few pages. I know that it's practically blasphemous to do anything at all to this series, but please note that I am not getting rid of Harry Potter. I have replaced it with a shiny new hardcover. Don't hate.

Lollipop for scale and flavor.

Anyway. Rip out a few pages of the book, and put it into your trusty paper cutter, and cut into long, triangular strips. I try to make them about 1/4" wide at the wide end, and maybe half that at the narrow end. You don't *have* to make them triangles, but this way they roll up into nice tapered shapes instead of cylinders.

This is when you bust out the lollipops. In my vast experience (and I have done this program several times), a lollipop stick is the perfect size on which to roll beads. A pencil is too fat, a kebab skewer is too pointy, a lollipop makes for a perfect bead size while also providing a delicious snack. I got Tootsie Pops because they're delicious and also gluten-free and peanut-free, for our friends with allergies. (And they're delicious.)

 
So: Place your paper strip under the lollipop stick, and hold it there (DO NOT GLUE IT ON). Roll with your fingers, kinda twirling the stick, so it wraps tightly into one adorable little bead.  










Keep wrapping, you're doing great!


When you get it to the end, secure with a bit of glue - glue sticks work well for book pages, while good old Elmer's works better for shiny picture book or magazine pages. You might need to hold it there for a few seconds.




OMG, it's beautiful. See how you can kinda see the fact that there are printed words on it? You can tell it's made out of a book, but not necessarily which book, so go ahead and use up all those copies of 50 Shades of Grey, nobody will even know. (Except, maybe not with the teens. And, um, I don't like touching copies of that one. So many not that particular title.)

Now, slide the bead off the end of the lollipop. Voila! Beads!
Repeat many, many times.

When you have a bunch of beads, it's time to string, which you can do just like any other beads. I like to use hemp cord if there's time to make a necklace, but I've found that it's often easier to assume you'll only have time to make a bracelet, for which elastic cording works much better. 

 

Variations

Harry Potter beads are awesome for many reasons, but if you want color variety, you might want to turn to old picture books or magazines. Again, it doesn't really matter what is on the pages, because you'll only be seeing the colors of the edges of the paper strip. 

So this strip at left (made from an old National Geographic Kids magazine)...


 




Turns into this bead. Neat!

Notes

This jewelry is not waterproof. Which is obvious, in hindsight, but seriously, make sure you tell your crafters this or someone's hard work will be destroyed when they go to wash their hands. You can make it waterproof by coating each bead with Mod Podge after creating it - either by painting it on with a brush, or by dipping the beads into the jar. Of course, this adds the additional time of letting everything dry, so I don't usually bother with this at the library, but I do let everyone know that it's an option.

Teen Trivia Night

I love trivia. I love pulling random facts out of nowhere, and I get a particular thrill when it's a tidbit that I know, that fits perfectly in with a conversation. Of course, this labels me as an oddball when we're eating cashews and I comment that they're not actually nuts but seeds, and they grow on the bottom of a very perishable fruit called the cashew apple, which itself can be quite irritating to the skin, which is why you never see cashews in their shells like you do with almonds and walnuts.

The point is, when my director suggested a Teen Trivia Night, I was all over it.

There are many ways to do a trivia night, and I think he had in mind a Jeopardy-sort of program with the questions on a projector, but I went a different route, and based mine on bar pizza place trivia nights that I've been to. In that kind of game, people can work singly or in teams (I don't usually have enough people that teams are necessary, but that can be fun sometimes). I ask 5 questions, then we go over answers, then go on to the next 5, etc.


Note: In most trivia nights I've been to, they allow you to assign points to each of your answers, depending on which you're most confident with. I don't bother with that - each question is 1 point, and then the bonus round usually has multiple answers (for example, name movies starring Will Ferrell) and you get 1 point per correct answer.

The goal is to make the questions easy enough that people won't get frustrated - it's no fun when you don't know ANY of them! - but not too easy, or it's boring. It's a fine line to walk, but when you hit it just right, it's awesome.

The first Teen Trivia I did was general knowledge. I only got two teens, but they had fun. The second one I did was, at their request, Disney-themed. I had nine teenagers! And they had fun! (We also added the pull of free pizza, and I was able to find Disney and pizza-themed graphics to use.)

Please note that I own ZERO of these graphics. I just put them together.

Here are the questions I used: 

General Stuff:

1)       In Beauty and the Beast, who is the only character to speak with a French accent? Lumiere

2)       In Monsters, Inc., what is the code for when a human artifact enters the monster world? 2319!

3)       In Lilo and Stitch, why is it so important for Lilo to bring a peanut butter sandwich to her fish friend? Because Pudge controls the weather.

4)       Which of the original Toy Story characters doesn’t appear in Toy Story 3? Slinky Dog, Bo Peep, Sid, or Mr. Potato Head? Bo Peep

5)       Who is the only title character who doesn’t talk? Dumbo

6)       According to The Incredibles, what is the only accessory a superhero does NOT need? NO CAPES!

7)       In what city does Ratatouille take place? Paris, France

8)       In The Lion King, where does the lion family live? Pride Rock/Pridelands

9)       What was the name of Jasmine’s pet tiger? Rajah

10)   What movie characters have a romantic spaghetti dinner at Tony’s Restaurant? Lady & The Tramp

11)   In Alice in Wonderland, what sport does the Queen of Hearts play? Croquet

12)   What is the name of Bernard and Bianca’s mouse-run U.N. organization in The Rescuers? Rescue Aid Society

13)   In Peter Pan, what did Peter try to fix with a bar of soap before Wendy sewed it back together for him? His shadow

14)   What movie has a family who lives at #14 Cherry Tree Lane? (Bonus point for the name of the family!) Mary Poppins; the Banks family

15)   What movie is the retelling of the story of how King Arthur became the king? Sword in the Stone

16)   What friend of Mickey was originally named “Rover”? Pluto

17)   What is Eeyore always losing? His tail

18)   Who were trying to find their way to P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney, Australia? Marlin and Dory

19)   Which princess has a pet chameleon named Pascal? Rapunzel

20)   What was the name of the hero in Wreck-It Ralph’s video game? Fix-It Felix

Finish this song lyric:

1)       Let’s get down to business, to defeat  The Huns

2)       Everybody wants to be a cat, because a cat’s the only cat who knows where it’s at

3)       Did you ever hear the wolf cry   to the blue corn moon

4)       Just a spoonful of a sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way.

5)       Oh, oobie-doo! I wanna be like you.

6)       What do they got? A lot of sand? We got a  hot crustacean band! 

7)       I’ve got no strings, to hold me down, to make me smile or make me frown. I had strings, but now I'm free

8)       Genuflect, show some respect, down on one knee

9)       The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things! Their tops are made out of rubber

10)   I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.

Bonus:

Name all seven dwarves.

Sleepy, Grumpy, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc

 

I always make a themed answer sheet, too. Here's the one for Disney:

Just as an FYI.

So How Did It Go?

Amazing. I love trivia night. They didn't know some of the older movies, which I expected for the most part, but the fact that they didn't know the lyrics to The Little Mermaid made me feel really old. Also, nobody knew the Tigger song.

Notes:

This program lasted almost 2 hours, mostly due to pizza, so give yourself ample time to enjoy it. They've requested that the next trivia night (tonight, actually!) be anime-themed; I'll post that information after the program. 

Fandom Friday - Pokemon

So, I was doing this cool new program series that we called

and it didn't work, like, at all. And I'll tell you why - because I'm new here, and I don't know the kids very well yet, and I'm having trouble promoting stuff outside the library. The teens that come to the library saw the posters, but unless it was their specific fandom, they weren't interested, and I haven't gotten to know enough of them that I can be like, "this one LOVES Supernatural, I need to make sure I plan it when she can come." And I totally get that! But this is still a cool series of programs, and I'm going to try again when I have a bigger core group. 

Pikachu, of course.

One of my  favorite ones we did was Pokemon-themed. (Yeah, I know, it's SO LAST SUMMER, but the teens around here do like Pokemon, and they've asked for Pokemon-themed stuff. Who am I to disagree? I still play Pokemon Go sometimes, too.)

Anyway.

What I Did 

I found a template online to make Poke-ball boxes on TooCraft.com, and printed those out on cardstock, and then we used scissors (and a box cutter for the slits) to put them together. 
 
Then, I put out a ton of random craft supplies - puffballs are the most important, but I also had sequins, pipe cleaners, construction paper, tissue paper, markers, feathers, and LOTS of glue. Here's what we ended up with:

Venonat! He lives on my desk now.

Jigglypuff. The eyes are paper, ears are felt, forehead is a pipe cleaner.

I really love this, because the Pokeball boxes can open, and your puffy-mon can live inside! The cardstock holds up really well to repeated openings and closings, and it's sturdy enough that it won't fall apart too quickly.

I totally came up with the idea to make Puffball Pokemon all on my own, having seen how much of a puffball Venonat is. That said, if you Google search "puffball Pokemon" or "PomPom Pokemon," you get a ton of hits, so it's not like I'm the only one who has ever come up with this concept. Still, though. Rather proud of myself.

I also had the DVD hooked up to play a few episodes while we worked, and snacks are always a must. (I don't think I actually did themed snacks this time, but I usually tie them into the theme somehow.)

Would I Do it Again?

Definitely. Just, when I'm better prepared to promote it. Fresh off the boat, as it were, without a core group of teens, after years of no teen programming at all, wasn't a good time to start a series like this. But its time will come.

Science Club - Lego Volcanoes

When I started at the library where I currently work, a few months ago, there was a weekly LEGO-building club. And, okay, I love LEGO, too - but every week? Since it wasn't novel and exciting anymore, and the kids knew they could come whenever they wanted and build, the group had dwindled down from over a dozen to 2 or 3 kids each time. I decided that it was time to shake things up! Now, every Thursday after school, I run Afternoon Explorers, and we rotate between Science, Art, Cooking, and - of course - LEGO. This week was Science, and I decided to appease my LEGO diehards with a fun experiment. Behold, the LEGO volcano! 


The concept is pretty simple - it's a baking soda volcano, but you have the kids build the volcano out of LEGO, around a styrofoam cup. Then, you can let it erupt all over the LEGO, cleaning them in the process. A drop of dish soap makes it more foamy, and a couple drops of food coloring make it even more exciting.

What I Did

I had set up little trays (we had them in the supply closet), each with one styrofoam cup and a couple handfuls of LEGO.  The directions were: Build up the LEGO around the cup, as much as you want, as long as it still fits inside the tray. (For some reason, this was really hard for some of them to understand, but they got it eventually.)

When each kid was done building, I came over and put three spoonfuls (which is WAY TOO MUCH, see below) of baking soda into the styrofoam. Then, the kid came back to my little side table and got a plastic cup, which we filled halfway with vinegar, and added a couple drops of dish soap and a couple drops of whatever color food coloring they wanted.They stirred it with a popsicle stick, poured it into the baking soda, and watched in amazement as their volcano erupted.

This whole project went fairly quickly - one got bored and wanted to see the eruption, and then once we saw one eruption, everyone had to do their own RIGHT THEN. I even had a few kids come in who were way too cool for Science Club, until they heard there were eruptions, and then they had to come do their own. A couple kids did two volcanoes each, which was fine because I had the supplies.

What I Did Wrong

TOO MUCH BAKING SODA. Holy crud. Instead of cleaning the LEGO, my pieces were all coated with a fine, gritty layer of baking soda paste.  Even rinsing them off quickly wasn't enough, so I had to put them all in the big staff room sink with what was left of the vinegar, and some water, and rinse them all off, and leave them to air-dry on a couple old towels. They're fine now, but that was work that didn't need to be done. 

Would I Do It Again?

Yes. With less baking soda.

Read Across America Day - Make a Wocket for Your Pocket

Dr. Seuss's birthday (March 2) is Read Across America Day, where schools and libraries all over the country celebrate early literacy. Some places have kids dress up as their favorite characters, and they eat Green Eggs and Ham for lunch, or wear crazy socks (like Fox in Socks). 

As for me, it's usually a storytime with a craft. Since most Dr. Seuss books are super long (seriously, try to get through Fox in Socks and still have your toddlers paying attention), it's hard to pick some that will work. For my kids, I did:

 
The Foot Book - not one of my personal favorites, but the kids loved it. The surprise hit of the day! They all told me how they had feet, and their dolls had feet, and their cats had feet, and Mom has feet, and we counted the feet of every stuffed animal, doll, and little brother in the room.
 
A Great Day for Up - illustrated by Quentin Blake, so we talked about how Dr. Seuss wrote the words and drew the pictures for most of his books, but this one was illustrated by someone different.

There's A Wocket in my Pocket - some of the kids loved this one, others didn't quite get it. ("There can't be a ZLOCK behind the CLOCK! There's no such thing as a zlock!") Even the resistant ones loved making their own wockets, though. We used clothespins from the dollar store, feathers, foam stickers, and googly eyes. I actually didn't have any pockets, but we decided it could be a zeater for my sweater. (One little one also didn't have pockets, and ended up making a goot for her boot, and a lirt for her skirt.)

 Here's what my wocket ended up looking like. You need:

• Clothespins
• Googly eyes
• Assorted decorating bits, like feathers, foam stickers, or sequins
• Glue
• Crayons or markers (optional)  

If you use the springy kind of clothes pins, you can make the face on either end, because it'll clip on either way. If you have peg clothespins, make sure the face is at the closed end, so you can tuck him in your pocket.


I also try to do themed songs and fingerplays with my stories, and this week, I lovingly ripped them off from a couple other librarian blogs.  This song is from Miss Meg's Storytime.

I Don’t Like Green Eggs and Ham
(to the tune of “London Bridge is Falling Down”)

 I don’t like Green Eggs and Ham
Eggs and Ham, Eggs and Ham
I don’t like Green Eggs and Ham
Sam I Am!

Would you like them here or there?
Here or there, here or there?
Would you like them anywhere?
Green eggs and ham?

I don’t want them here or there
Here or there, here or there
I don’t want them anywhere
Sam I am!

You should try green eggs and ham
Eggs and ham, eggs and ham
You should try green eggs and ham
You might like them!

And this fingerplay is from Mel's Desk:

One little cat on a sunny day
Put on his hat and went out to play
Two little cats when the sky turned dark
Put on their hats and went to the park
Three little cats when the sky turned blue
Put on their hats and went to the zoo
Four little cats by the kitchen door
Put on their hats and went to the store
Five little cats on a sunny dayPut on their hats and they all ran away.

Yes, I made my own little hats. Not as easy as it looks, but they worked! I put a hat on each finger as we said each line, and we counted that our little hats had the same one, two, three red stripes; and one, two white stripes, as the Cat in the Hat's hat.

Thoughts:

Overall, it went well. I do three different storytimes - a BabyTime, a StoryTime, and a Pajama Time (at night, for working parents - this one is only once a month). I use the same theme for all three, but usually different books. But, honestly, I have parents bringing older kids to BabyTime, and babies to StoryTime, so they end up being pretty similar. I can't do a "bounce your baby!" rhyme when half the group is 3 years old. But, everyone seems happy with it, so we'll keep going.

Also: this post took me forever to write. Maybe I'll get quicker at it? Hmm...