Make Your Own: Pinata

Pinatas are the best. There are a lot of ways to make them and everyone has a favorite; this is mine. All the pictures come from the making of the Minotaur pinata from our Percy Jackson party way back when the Mark of Athena came out. 

You will need:

                    1) Ballons              2) Ripped Up Tissue Paper     3) Watered Down Glue

1) We're using full size ballons but making mini, personal pinatas out of water ballons is fun too.

2) Newspaper will also work (if you really saturate it) but if you're going for asethics then tissue paper is where it's at.

3) Did you know that mod podge is just weak glue? Save yourself some money and just water down craft glue for this project.

4) Pipe cleaners or string is also helpful.

Let's Begin:

1) Using your paint brush, spread a layer of watery glue on your balloon. The latex will make the glue pool and slip off, but the important part is that some of it sticks.

2) Begin to layer the tissue paper on the balloon. Use more glue to hold it down. Cover the entire balloon and then cover it again.

Here's a ballon that's not quite covered with one layer yet.

 And after the second and third layers.

3) After the balloon is covered in tissue paper, it needs to dry. String a piece of yarn or a pipe cleaner through the tiny tail above the balloon knot and hang it up somewhere. I used the book shelves behind my desk. Leave it overnight or until the balloon is completely dry.

 4) When balloon is dry, hold the tail and gently pop the balloon. The deflated balloon should slip out of the opening at the top. Trim the opening to about the size of your fist, giving it smooth edges will be nice for when you're filling it. This is what the inside will look like. Isn't it pretty and shiny? Also, this is an extra pinata base that I cut open to make into a bowl. DO NOT cut your pinata open this much. Unless you want a bowl. In that case go for it.

5) Now comes the time to add the superficial elements. Decide what you want your pinata to be. If you just want a semi-round orb skip down to step 7. I needed a bull (it ended up kind of pig looking but whatever) so I crumpled up newsprint paper and taped it to the outside to give a rough shape for my snout, eyes and the heavy brow.

6) Then use more weak glue and tissue paper to cover up the newsprint

7) Fill the tiny opening with candy, confetti or whatever else is going inside. Use masking tape to completely cover the small hole, lay the strips of tape in all directions.

8) And finally, cover the tape with tissue paper and glue to give it a uniform appearance.

9) The horns on this sucker where just twisted up pieces of newsprint that I then covered in yellow tissue paper and jammed in the sides of the head. Likewise for the hook, which is just a piece of pipe cleaner poked through and taped into place.


10) Let everything dry very, very well and voila! You're very own pinata.

11) And the after. Poor guy got beat. Hard.

Make Your Own: Valentine Silhouettes

I learned my lesson from my Thanksgiving craft post, and I'm writing about our Valentine's Day plans extra early this year so y'all can craft along.

This year, we're upcycling old books to make beautiful Valentine silhouettes.

Let's start with the nitty gritty.

Decide on Your Stencil:

Since we're making valentines, I knew I wanted to use hearts and cupids and flowers and other cheesey lovey stuff. I did a quick Google search and found lots of silhouettes for all of these and I got the idea for even more. Like the love birds. I really love those love birds. I knew I'd be able to draw some of them free hand but for the ones that were more complicated (specifically the rose and the cupid) I blew up the image to the size I wanted and printed them off. The more simple the shape, the better. This is not a time to try loopy crazy designs with zigs and zags all over the place. 

Draw Your Stencil:

Once you know what you want draw what you can on index cards or quartered computer paper. For the more tricky ones, place your card or paper over the print out and put it against a window. The light coming in will make it easy to trace the image. Color everything in black (or whatever color your marker is). All white spaces should be connected. In a better world the love birds would have 2 legs and cupid would have differentiated arms but both of these had white spaces that were surrounded by black on all sides, so I had to simplify. And then there are some, like the heart with wings and the lips, that just didn't work at all. Oh well.

Reenforce Your Stencil:

If you're just doing this at home with one child, or only want to do one or two you can skip this step. However if these stencils are going to be used over and over again it's best to take a few seconds to reenforce them. I don't have a laminator so I simply covered both sides of the paper in clear packing tape and trimmed it down to size.

Cut Out Your Stencil:

Using an exacto knife or sharp scissors, carefully cut out everything that's black (this is another good reason for coloring in your stencil. It can get confusing when you don't know which side of the line to cut out). I did these with sharp craft scissors because I was impatient and wanted to get them done and I think they turned out just fine.

Decide What Book You Want to Destroy!:

Our friends group has a biannual book sale for which they receive book donations all year long. The books are kept in our programming room and while lots of them are great books that some lucky person will walk away with during the sale, a lot of them are junk. I'm talking trade paperbacks that are falling apart at the seams. I asked the friends to donate 1 or 2 books for this project and with their blessing searched through stacks upon stacks of books. I tried to find books without any quivering or thrusting (most of the junk books are bodice ripping romances) and ended up appropriating an old copy of Red Badge of Courage. 

There's something thrilling and dangerous about ripping up a book even when it's seen better days and you're planning on making it into something even better. So I did all the ripping beforehand; no sense in tempting anyone who might not be able to control their impulses later.

Make Your Valentines:

Place a stencil over a book page and color it in. You can do solid colors or mix it up. Just make sure you hold the stencil in the same spot the entire time you're coloring. Or get an adult to help hold it down. Adults are great at holding things.

After the stenciling is done, you can glue the book page to construction paper backing or a nice paper doily and continue to customize. Go crazy. Be creative. Have fun. And Happy Valentine's Day!

Make Your Own: Button Bracelets

I can't take credit for this program idea. Our awesome teen person planned this one and then accidentally scheduled it for her off day. So, obviously, I stepped in; I love craft programs. I couldn't get any actual teens to participate-- our group today consisted of a bunch of surly 16 year old boys who were unswayed by my "make something pretty for your girl or your mom" speech, but I managed to recruit a bunch of kids from upstairs and we had a great time making bracelets and talking about best friends and farts. Seriously, these kids love farts. 

You probably know the drill, there are tutorials all over the internet for these bracelets, but they're fun and easy and the sheer variety of buttons that you can find means that you can make these for days and they're always new and exciting.

 The actual how-to is pretty simple. Cut a length of elastic cord and tie a knot in one end. Then string the buttons. The key to making the buttons sit on top of each other like they do in the examples is in the way you thread the buttons.

Thread the first button by bringing the elastic from the bottom of the button up through the top and then back down again. The second button will be the exact opposite: bring the elastic through the hole from the top and then thread it back up again.

By alternating up-down-up-down with the buttons you'll achieve the much desired super concentrated look. Make sure you cinch the buttons close together and continue on until you've reached the desired length.

And voila! Lots and lots of beautiful fashion statements.

After making bracelets for a while we got creative and started making necklaces and headbands and every other type of button accessories imaginable. I think I even saw a very uncomfortable looking button ring at one point.

I think this program worked best with our group of 8 to 12 year olds, rather than the intended teens. When we do our other big fashion program later this summer, we'll definitely target the teens more. The button bracelets also attracted more boys than I expected: three boys joined us to make bracelets. One made a second for his mom- blue and silver to match her ring- but they all made their first bracelets for themselves. Just goes to show you that you should never make assumptions about your audiences. The mom loved her bracelet, by the way, she showed up at the end and fawned over both her son and the craft. It's so cool to see parents engaged in their kids' lives.

Make Your Own: 3 Dimensional Sign

A few weeks ago I decided to make a bulletin board to advertise our upcoming programs. We have fliers, which are all well and good, but very few kids actually look at them. And then everyone is surprised when they walk in after school and we have something set up for them to do. In order to draw attention to my beautifully constructed bulletin board, I created a 3-D sign to go with it. And now you can too, in 10 simple steps.

Step 1) Glitter the bejesus out of some poster board letters. I like to get the right side up all glue-sticky and then rub it around face down in a plate of glitter. The glue stick spreads evenly and doesn't let the glitter clump like regular Elmer's does.

Step 2) Mod-Podge over the glittered letters. Don't worry, it'll dry clear and the mod-podge seals the whole thing so you won't constantly be vacuuming up falling glitter.

 

Step 3) Cut out your sign. I went with the comic book Ka-Pow shape and I chose to use contrasting colors. I also made the piece that's going in the back slightly larger than the top one for more flair.

 

Step 4) In which we create the dimension. Using poster board, card stock or a manilla folder cut out at least 3 fat strips. Score, evenly, both sides of each strip.

The space between the blue lines (and the cuts) is how tall the 3-D sign will be/ how much it will stick out.

Step 5) Bend the scored poster board in alternating directions. By the time you're done, it should be able to stand up by itself.

 

Repeat until all your strips have been scored and folded.

 

Step 6) Using strong glue ( used tacky, but hot glue would probably work best if you can move fast enough), glue the strips to the bottom/back piece of the sign. The scoring should allow for the pieces to bend and form a more or less complete circle around the board. Take care that the circle isn't bigger than the smaller top piece.

 

Step 7) Let it dry. Completely.

Step 8) After putting glue on the tops of the folds, carefully lay the top piece down and use your fingers to squish the poster board and the folds together.

Step 9) Let it dry. Completely.

Step 10) Affix your letters to the top of the board. I used a glue stick for this, but stronger glue would have been better.

Here it is in action, hanging next to the coming soon board on the wall as you come up the stairs into the children's room.

And here's a shot of the actual board. I ended up going with a plain background that I attached tightly pulled ribbon to. Using paper clips I'm able to easily put up and take down upcoming event advertisements without having to make a new board every week. These two, almost completely different, boards were done within 1 week of each other. As soon as something is over I can take it off and make room for the next event.

Up and Coming: Dream Journal

We're supplementing the outside summer reader performers this year by having librarians present a program of their own design at several different branches during the summer. I already had this program planned for my branch and I enjoy seeing what other branches are doing, so I volunteered to be one of the traveling librarians this summer.   

Using basic print making techniques and simple book binding, kids 7 and up will have a chance to create their very own notebook at four libraries around the city this summer. We're calling them Dream Journals since that fits the theme, but really these notebooks can be used for anything! 

I adapted a tutorial on printmaking that I found on Pinterest for the print portion, and my friend Joseph taught me how to do several different types of book binding my last semester of college; I was looking for a new way to recycle all the thesis drafts that I had lying around my apartment. I'll probably write another post on these notebooks once I've presented at a few branches, but for now here's a quick how-to for making your own dream journals.

Supplies:

-flat styrofoam (the bottoms of plates or the tops of old take-out containers work well)

-pencil

-sponge

-paint (I use tempera)

-manilla folder

-hole punch

-yarn

- blank paper, folded in half 

Sizing Your Notebook:

 Take one piece of the paper that you'll be using as the inside and fold it in half. Trace the half sheet of paper on the manilla folder, on the fold.  Cut out your traced rectangle making sure you don't cut the fold. Now you should have what appears to be a much smaller manilla folder, but is in actuality the cover for your new notebook.

Using Prints to Design the Cover:

Cut the Styrofoam into manageable sizes. My squares are about one square inch, but you can very easily go larger if you want more detail.

Using a pencil, press down and draw on the Styrofoam. If you're including words remember to write backwards since we're going to get a relief/mirror print. I made generic night time pictographs for my samples, but I'll take extra Styrofoam with me to the branches so the kids can add whatever they want.

Saturate the side of a sponge in paint. In a perfect world you would use printer's ink or acrylic paint, something that gets sticky and a roller. This is not a perfect world so I'm using tempera paint.

And dab the paint onto the print-block evenly

Place the print-block paint side down on the journal cover and press for a few seconds. Carefully peel it off the reveal the print underneath. Repeat as desired.

Putting the Notebook Together:

Take your stack of inside-the-notebook paper and fold it in half. Hole punch 5 evenly spaced holes down the side, on the fold. Using one sheet as a template, trace the 5 holes onto the cover of the notebook and punch those out as well. Now when you lay the cover and the paper flat on top of each other all 5 holes should line up perfectly.

And here's where I get way less talky and let the pictures speak for themselves. On the left you'll see the yarn being threaded to make the sample notebook and on the right you'll see the diagram of where the yarn is going in the picture. Be sure to leave a tail in the middle of the notebook and to pull your yarn tight each time it threads through a new hole.

And you've done it! You've made your very own notebook! Congratulations. Now go forth and fill it with your thoughts, hopes and DREAMS.