Where's Waldo (at the Library) - Library Life

January is kind of a quiet time at the library, so I thought it would be a great time for a contest! I had the Where's Waldo idea for a while and I wasn't able to do it until now! The idea is basically a scavenger hunt around the Children's room with characters from the Waldo series. So far it has been getting a good reaction and it is a lot of fun to watch kids try to find all of the characters. One day Tim came for a visit. I told him about the Waldo's and he felt the need to participate as well!

Here is how I ran the contest. I rounded up all of the characters which included Waldo, Woof, Wilma, Odlaw and Wizard Whitebeard. I found some images of them and had them laminated. I sent the aids to go on recon and hide the characters all over the children's room. They did a really great job because I had trouble finding them the first time. Next to keep track of entries, I made forms for kids to write their info. I also put small images of the characters so the kids knew who to look for.

Its a fun contest and the kids enjoyed it. This won't be the last of scavenger hunt type contests be sure to look for more in the future!

Iron Challenge #2 - Orange Shoes!

I am glad to say that I have completed the second Iron Craft challenge: orange ya glad. This challenge let crafters either make something with the color orange or actually use oranges (the fruit) for something. I opted for the former.

My original goal was to get some kitschy accessories and spray paint them. However, I didn't have too much luck at the thrift store. Nothing really called out to me. While browsing I found an ugly pair of flats and figured I could try painting them. I already had some spray paint left over from my Halloween decorations. After I painted the shoes, they still looked a little blah. I thought some teal would work well on the tips. Here is how they came out!

My partner in craft, Michele was not sure exactly what to do. She said she just grabbed a punch of paint chips from Home Depot and hoped inspiration would strike. We sat in the craft dungeon paint chips before us thinking. She said the colors reminded her of Harry Potter. So here is what she came up with. Read more about her adventures here.

True Facts About Sloths (Meme for Monday)

Hello there! Its another Monday.....back to boring work day. Hopefully today's meme will make ya laugh and go 'aw' because it features Sloths (and true facts about them!) 

If you like this True Facts video check out Ze Frank's site where he has a whole bunch, including Tarsiers and even Moran Freeman.  

Sunday Snapshots (it was cold this week)

Hey guys! I hope you have had a good week! Here is what I have been up to! 

Newsflash, it was really flipping cold in the North East! It the worst because its the kind of cold that makes you hurt no matter what you do. But its winter, its supposed to be cold. 

I have really fallen in love with coffee recently (or is it an addiction?). However when I felt that I need a little something to nibble on while sipping my cup of joe. I thought about my grandma and the biscotti cookies she would make. My aunt gave the recipe to me so I tested it out and got delicious results! 

Its another Iron Craft challenge. This one is all about orange! I was sure what to do so I took a trip to Savers for some inspiration. I came across some ugly flats and thought I'd try painting them. Here they are in progress. 

I couldn't help but laugh when I noticed Tim stuck in a technology loop between the lap top, ipad and phone. He didn't realize how ridiculous this was until I snapped this picture. 

Sadly, Gypsy does not want to go in the basement. I think she is afraid of stairs (because she's afraid of EVERYTHING!) But when I go down into my craft dungeon she knows and hides out in our bedroom. I just love when she creeps her head out when I leave. She's a dope. 

Snowflake Sun-catcher (Library Life)

Here is a simple craft that is perfect for January, the Snowflake Sun-Catcher. Although it hasn't really snowed that much this year, January is when I usually break more winter themed crafts. I saw this technique in the Muppet's Craft Book. In the book they used crayon shavings where I used tissue paper and you still get the same kind of look. This craft is also perfect for the little guys. I did this with ages 2 - 3 and a few older siblings even joined in and made their own! This same technique can also be used to for different occasions such as hearts for Valentines day or even shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day.

Here is how we made the sun-catchers!

Materials & Tools

• Snowflake shapes 
• Tissue paper 
• Glue 
• Wax paper 
• Iron 
• Hole punch
• Yarn 

Instructions

• To prepare, I had cut out snowflakes using a die cut machine. I also cut up different colored tissue paper squares. I used the wax paper and cut out circles (big enough to fit the snowflake)

• Next, glue tissue paper squares to both sides of the snowflake.

• I set up an 'iron station'. Kids came up after they were done decorating both sides
• Sandwich the snowflake in between two pieces of wax paper and iron. 

• Punch a hole and string with yarn and hang them up! 

Sunday Snapshots vol. I lost count

Hello there! Hope you all have had a wonderful week. I myself have been working like a mad woman. Here is what I have been up to this week.

I completed my first Iron Craft challenge from Just Crafty Enough. Michele and I are all ready planning what to do for the next challenge, orange. We have a few ideas brewing.

Speaking of Michele, she freaked the hell out of me with a text of a weird baby Michael Jackson thing. I had very scary nightmares . Thanks Michele!

Last week I showed off my Star Trek fabric. So I am trying to use every possible piece of it! Which includes head bands made from scraps. I am still working out the measurements but they are coming out quite nicely.

Tim likes to reinvent popcorn. My favorite popcorn recipe of his is hot sauce popcorn. This week he introduced a new pop corn recipe that was so good I made a complete mess eating it. He made pepper corn parmiganno pop corn. SO GOOD!

The other night I had a girls night with Caitie. We watched the movie Batchlorette, which is pretty much a raucnh-er, darker Bridesmaids. Caitie's cat Pennypuss was also a part of girls night and this is her being adorable.

On Friday night Tim and I were able to check out a new cafe near us, Crazy Beans. Its makes very happy and excited that such a cool place is near my house. Its a cool funky place that, although serves alcohol, isn't a bear and it really isn't a restaurant (they do breakfast and lunch). There are board games all over the place and plenty of comfy seating. Tim and I got some delicious latte's (Tim got toasted marshmallow, while I went with Strawberry Fields) and we played some Scrabble. I was also excited to see Butter Beer was on the menu! I all ready have plans to go back soon.

Heres to another week!

Mail Organizer (Tutorial)

Its been a while since I posted one of these things! A while back I got fed up with the growing mail pile that just accumulated on my counter. To put an end to it, I decided enough was enough! I also just so happen to have a ton of this burlap bunting with antique keys printed on them. So I put two and two together and this is what I came up with:

It was a fairly easy project, good for beginner sewers. Here is how I accomplished fashionable organization.

Materials & Tools

• Fabric (I used burlap) 
• Staple gun 
• Canvas (I used one measuring 11 x 140)

Instructions:

• Iron all of your pieces
• Lay the canvas on top of your biggest piece to figure out your dimensions. Remember to give yourself enough seam allowance to staple the fabric to the canvas. Here is what I ended up with 
• Main Fabric: 15 X 18 
• Big pocket: 16 X 15
• Small pocket: 12 X 15
• Take the poket peices and fold them in half. Sew along the folded edge. That way your pocket will be nice crisp. Do this for both pocket pieces

• Lay the pokets on top of the main peice, then sew along 3 sides of the pocket.

• Lay the main fabric (with pockets attached) face down. Lay the canvas on top. Make sure to position it so it fits the pockets. 

• Fold the corners and staple, then proceed to staple all around the canvas until it is nice and sturdy. 

• Lastly hang it up, stick some mail in there and enjoy the your brilliant work! 

If you give this tutorial a try, let me know how it turns out! I love hearing from you! 

Gersberms - Meme for Monday

Hi guys its Monday again. Sorry the work week is here again. Also its winter so its really flippin' cold outside! However as promised, here is your dose of silly for your Meme for Monday.

This week's meme is kind of a tribute to a meme, I guess even meta meme? (woah just blew my mind) Its Hard n' Phirm with a tribute to one of my favorite memes; Ermahgerd! Its really catchy and it leaves me with gersberms.

Check out nerdist.com for more awesomeness like this.

Sunday Snapshots

This week has been sort of a slow one, here is what I have been up to!

I got some snazzy Star Trek Fabric from Joann's. I am looking forward to the kinds of wackiness I will make with this stuff. I already made an iPad case and I will also make some pot holders for my trekkie father in law. I also got Star Wars fabric but I didn't realize that it was fleece! I can make scarves with it I guess.

I started thinking up some design ideas for our stark dinning room. On a trip to Home Goods I was inspired by their graphic plates. So I started collecting a few which will eventually hang on the wall. I need to add some more to my collection first. We also got this giant peacock picture.

I had read really great reviews for Everyday by David Leviathan. So its been on my reading list. My interest was piqued when my friend Morgan said she read it in a day and cried. I have a few things I need to get off my reading lists first, then I am going to tackle this. Here is the gist of the story: A person goes through life everyday in another persons body then one day falls in love with a hosts girlfriend. It sounds like a romantic Quantum Leap and I look forward to reading it.

Wednesday my partner in craft, Michele, came over and we worked on some more Iron Craft stuff. However before we did that, we had to eat. So we got lunch which ended up being this epic pile of nachos at Moe's. They also had this amazing soda machine!

I began work on some new themes for my upcoming storytime. I found this site called, Storytime Caitie. She has really amazing ideas and book recommendations  Sometimes I get in a funk and I don't know what to do, this helps give me some inspiration. For next week I decided to go with a Fantasy/Fairy Tale theme. So I made some Knights for a flannel board. I think they came out pretty adorable.

T-shirt quilt

This is my friend Laura and she is super adorable. She recently got a sewing machine and wanted to make her mom a t-shirt quilt for her mom for Christmas. She turned to me for help.

I had always wanted to do a t-shirt but never got the chance to. I was going to make one for my friend Caitie out if her fiance's crazy collection of concert t-shirts. Matt however could not part with the shirts that I think are in a trash bag in his closet ( being put to good use). So I had a plan mapped out for the quilt to be constructed, but wasn't able to use it until Laura asked me for help.

Laura recently finished school and has a new found love of craft. I was very honored when she asked me for help making the quilt for her Mom. Laura's Mom is an adorable hippie lady with a fondness for the boss, Bruce Springstein. Laura explained that her mom has all of these shirts and hardly wears all of them. So Laura decided they would be put to better use being repurposed as a quilt!

I've done projects like this before, but on a smaller scale. Here is what we did to make it work. First we took an inventory of all of the shirts we had to work with. Since both sides of the shirts were visually interesting we wanted to use them. We made a pattern (a big rectangle) and we traced and cut all of the shirts from this pattern. There were a few shirts that were small tank tops that wouldn't work with the pattern, so luckily there was enough to make an entire row of a smaller of them. Laura placed it in the middle and it looks great. After all of the pieces were cut out, we ironed on some interfacing to make the shirts sturdy. We then figured out how it was going to be organized. Laura stitched all of the rows together then sewed all the rows together. Think of it like one big puzzle piece. Then I helped Laura bring it all together and sewed the quilt front with the queen size sheet. Some quilting batting was in between. And it came out looking fantastic! I am so proud of Laura!

The completed quilt!

Moonbeard in Space - Meme for Monday

Hey guys, sorry this is a late Meme for Monday! (I have been having internet problems all day!) but alas here is some funny for your Monday.

Today's dose of laughs comes from artist, James Squires. You can see more of his silly musings on moonbeard.com.

Sunday Snapshots 2013!

This past week of a New Year and new beginnings! Here are some pics from my week!

Monday was the last day of 2012. We usually do a low key New Years however this year we were such social butterflies and went to not one but two parties! I even got a really pretty dress perfect for the  occasion.

New Years day we finally got to see Les Mersables. Tim and I aren't really into big grand musicals. However the previews for this have made it look pretty epic. My little brother, who enjoys fart jokes, expressed interest in seeing it. It lived up to the previews and I loved it. I've listened to the soundtrack at least once a day this week. Not sure if I can really pick a favorite song, they are all so good and are always stuck in my head. That Javert, what a jerk.

Wednesday, I finally met up with my partner in craft, Michele. We haven't hung out in a while so it was good to see her and we got our craft on! She was interested in doing the Iron Craft challenge with me so we started working on the first challenge, Cotton. She had a bunch of tote bags (100% cotton) so we made some stencils and painted them up. I decided to go with a pac-man ghost.

Thursday was so much fun! Thursday was Comic-Con 101! I had a table and presented some nerdy themed crafts to share with my fellow librarians. It was fun and quite successful. Read more about it here

Later that night I met up with Laura and we went to a yoga class, namaste. Laura gave me a late Christmas present, she made me this lovely hat. Doesn't it look nifty?

Read Anything Good Lately? - The Familiars

So I have been trying to catch up on some reading lately, so I have
decided to introduce a new section to the blog, Read Anything Good Lately? I read quite a bit and I am especially fond of Fantasy and Sci/fi. I also read a lot of Children's and YA novels so if you were expecting reviews of the latest and greatest in more mature literature sorry to disappoint. For the very first installment I give you, the Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson.

Around Thanksgiving I was excited to have my family stay with me. This included my Dad's girlfriend Louisa and her daughter, Danielle and husband Brian. While talking Brian mentioned that his brother wrote a kids book so of course my hears perked up. So I was excited to see that we had it at my library!

The Familiars takes place in the magical world of Vastia. Young witches and wizards are taught magical abilities along with an animal companion known as a familiar. When Aldwyn a typical fish thieving back alley cat accidentally gets chosen as a young boys familiar he is thrusts on an adventure he is unprepared for. Aldwyn meets up with two other familiars, sparrow Skylar and a tree frog named Gilbert. Together they have to go on a quest to save their loyals (their human companions) that have been kidnapped by the corrupt queen of Vastia, Loranella.

The Familiars is a quick read but is jam packed with adventure. The book does a good job appealing to kids, its an easy read and the content, although suspenseful at times is not scary. Although the content is geared toward a younger set it, it doesn't skimp out on the fantasy and epic novel tropes we have come to expect, including humor, side quests and of course and open ending. The Familiars does take a new spin on the magically fantasy book, the main characters are the animal companions! The supporting characters end up becoming those given great power and tremendous responsibility.

The adventures of the Familiars continue in the Secret of the Crown and Circle of Heros. Production on an animated movie version of the Familiars has begun. The film's release is expected in 2014.

Comic Con 101

Today was an exciting day for me. I was lucky enough to showcase some of my crafts for some Suffolk County librarians. It was all a part of, Comic Con 101. An event for librarians to share ideas to create a Comic Con like experience at their own library for their teen patrons. I was glad to meet so many fellow librarians (and nerds). I was so honored that Barbara Moon asked me to participate. I even won a prize! I won this nifty Dave Roman picture!

Any way onto what I did. I focused my area on three different fandoms, Star Wars, Doctor Who and Zombies.

Last May 4th (May the 4th be With you) I held a very successful Star Wars program. It was so much fun and I was glad to see that the Yoda ears were a big hit among the librarians. Here is how you can make your own Yoda ears or Leia Buns.

Materials:
Green Card stock (Yoda Ears)
Brown card stock (Leia Buns)
White oak tag (head band)
Stapler
Markers
Gems (optional)

Instructions

• I free handed a template for some Yoda ears and made a bunch. Be sure to leave a flap (this gets folded and stapled to the head band, so your ears are all floppy) 
• The buns are just big circles 
• the head bands measured 1 1/2 inches x 21 inches 
• Trace and cut out all of your pieces! 
• The kids can decorate the ears/buns before assembling. You can use markers or gems to really glam up those Leia buns 
• Take the strap and measure it on your head then staple
• For the ears fold those flap (as mentioned earlier) and staple them to the headband
• You are ready to use the force! 

You can read about my complete Star Wars Day experience, here. Theres more info on light sabers, snacks and even some games! If your looking for more Star Wars stuff check it out! 

I was really excited to see that a lot of librarian's not only recognized the Doctor Who stuff but they loved it just as much as me! If you aren't familiar with the Doctor here are some quick facts:

• Doctor Who is a BBC series that has been on the air since 1963
• The Doctor is an alien, a Time Lord, from the planet Gallefrey. He is the last of the Time Lords and has two hearts
• He travels through time and space righting wrongs and fighting evil. This includes Daleks, Cyber men and the Angels
• He Traves via TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). It has a perception filter making it look like a blue police box and it is bigger on the inside. 
• The Doctor hardly travels alone and has companions
• The Doctor's weapons of choice include, books, his wits and Sonic Screwdriver

I made some shrink plastic key chains as a craft example. They are quite simple and come out looking so great! Here is how you can make your own:

Materials:

• Shrink Plastic (better known as Shrinky Dinks) are avaible in blank or printable sheets.
• Sharpie Marker
• Colored Pencils 
• Scissors 
• Brown grocery bag
• Toaster Oven 

Instructions

• Do some digging online for images you want to use. Here is what I found: 

• Be sure to make the images bigger than your desired finished size (because they do shrink) I resized and configured the images in Publisher. Also the instructions of the shrink plastic inclue a sizing ruling to help you determine how small and image will become.

• Trace and color your images on the shrink plastic. Trace the image with sharpie marker (on the glossy side). Flip the plastic over and color with colored pencil on the other side (you can also use paint and markers as long as they are NOT waterbased! 
• Cut out your images. Punch a hole if you are creating charms
• Pre heat the toaster oven to 325 degrees
• While the oven is pre heating, take the brown grocery bag and cut out a rectangle shape. 
• Place plastic, colored side up, on top of rectangle shape and place it in the oven
• Be sure to keep an eye on it so it won't melt. You will see the plastic shrivel then flatten out. Once it is flat you can take it out of the oven and let them cool down

Zombies 

In October I held a zombie program for tweens and helped the teen librarian do a similar program for the older teens. This involved zombie make-up, a zombie fashion show and trivia questions. I also made a zombie survival game in which I presented the kids with a zombie senario with options. Their survival depended on which choices they made. For the tweens everyone survived, for the teens they all got infected and learned that the zombie apocalypse was caused by bad mayo.

The teen librarian also made up some Zombie standees and the kids used nerf guns and did some target practice. The teen librarian even volunteered as a walking target! The zombie target practice was a big hit so I brought the standees and a nerf gun to demonstrate.

Hello 2013, nice to meet you!

Well guys, its  a new year which means new beginnings and all that jazz. I am usually that person that makes resolutions and then by the second week in January I say to myself 'resa-what?' and the dream of a fresh start is over. However this year I reorganized my craft room (for the billionth time) and I am hoping to stay on task this year! I don't have anything to distract me! 

Jennifer at Grits and Moxie had a post about the New Year. She summed up her goals in one word. I liked this idea so I starting thinking about my one word that would become my mantra for the year. So here is what I came up with: 

No more being lazy, no more procrastination, just shut up and DO! I guess the wise Yoda was in the back of my head, "There is do or do not. There is no try." 

You will be glad to hear that so far I have been DOING! I have been working on some new Tutorials! (sorry the page is temporarily disabled - work in progress) I am also hoping to inject more librarian stuff  this year. I spent the day organizing my task managers, what do you think?

I also going to be participating in IRON CRAFT 2013! This is something that Just Crafty Enough has done last year and it looked like a lot of fun. I was too intimated to try it last time but I think this is my year! Every Wednesday a challenge will be posted and participants have two weeks to complete the task until reveal day.

Now if you will excuse me I have some work to DO!