Do you love Pinterest?  Do you need to find some time and space to do some of your pinned crafts from Pinterest?

Join us in May for Pin It Crafts.  This month we are focusing on picture frame crafts from Pinterest.  We will meet at 1:30pm in the Lingo Story Room on Saturday, May 11th for a few hours of crafting and sharing ideas from Pinterest.

Need some Pinspiration?  Check out the TSCPL’s Pinterest boards here and look for the Pin It Crafts board here.  While there, you can get a head start in coming up with ideas for our June Pin It Crafts (June 15th – same time and location) which will feature 4th of July crafts.

Please remember to bring your ideas and your supplies with you.  If you are not familiar with Pinterest,  the library offers Pinterest for Beginners.  Contact us at 580-4540 for more information.

Questions about Pin It Crafts?  Contact Autumn at afriedli@tscpl.org

Happy Pinning!

Best in Show:

“The Dream Machine” by the Herreman Family

1st Runner-Up:

“The Great Penguin Rescue” by Nancy Overmyer

Best Play on Words:

“Go, Dog. Go!” by Madeline and Samuel Lempe

Most Likely to be Devoured:

“The Restoration of Christian Culture” by Mary Ann Tardiff

Congratulations to the winners! You can see all the 2013 edible book entries on our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/topekalibrary/sets/72157633175951586/

Thank you to all of our edible book artists, visitors, and voters. It’s audience participation that makes this event so much fun.

Also, a special thank you to Chef Mike Davis for his Thai Fruit Carving demonstration.

Want to participate next year? Mark your calendars for the 2014 Edible Book Festival on Friday, April 4, 2014.

Join us in April for Pin It Crafts.  This month we are focusing on recycled magazine crafts from Pinterest.  We will meet at 1:30pm in the Lingo Story Room on Saturday, April 20th for a few hours of crafting and sharing ideas from Pinterest.

Need some Pinspiration?  Check out the TSCPL’s Pinterest boards here and look for the Pin It Crafts board here.  While there, you can get a head start in coming up with ideas for our May Pin It Crafts (May 11th – same time and location) which will feature picture frame crafts.

Please remember to bring your ideas and your supplies with you.  If you are not familiar with Pinterest,  the library offers Pinterest for Beginners.  Contact us at 580-4540 for more information.

Questions about Pin It Crafts?  Contact Autumn at afriedli@tscpl.org

Happy Pinning!

Join us in March for Pin It Crafts.  This month we are focusing on spring and Easter crafts from Pinterest.  We will meet at 1:30pm in the Lingo Story Room on Saturday, March 16th for a few hours of crafting and sharing ideas from Pinterest.

Need some Pinspiration?  Check out the TSCPL’s Pinterest boards here and look for the Pin It Crafts board here.  While there, you can get a head start in coming up with ideas for our April Pin It Crafts (April 20th – same time and location) which will feature Recycled Magazine crafts.

Please remember to bring your ideas and your supplies with you.  If you are not familiar with Pinterest,  the library offers Pinterest for Beginners.  The next class will be held March 8th from 9:30 to 11:00 am.  You can register for Pinterest for Beginners by calling 580-4606.

Questions about Pin It Crafts?  Contact Autumn at afriedli@tscpl.org

Happy Pinning!

Great books with MORE crafting ideas:

Romare Bearden

Pink cupcakes and heart-shaped cookies and Valentine’s candies and Valentines……and then After-School Art Club!  Too good to be true?  No, seriously. Last Thursday just happened to be Valentine’s Day as well as Art Club.  Mr. Kerr’s third-graders had a fabulous after-party celebrating African American History Month.

We talked about the collage artworks of Romare Bearden.  Then each participant created their own radial-design, valentine art piece by cutting, tearing magazine strips, copies of sheet music and tissue paper, gluing and adding details with crayon.

3rd Grader’s Collage Inspired by Romare Bearden

Students were so involved and creative.  What a difference  these art experiences have made in these youngsters lives ….in less than a year.

If you teach a person art, they will art for life!  With these students, I see the evidence of increased confidence, creativity, problem-solving and being able to talk about decisions/choices in front of the group.

“You put down one color, it calls for another. You have to look at it like a melody.” Romare BeardenTo set the tone,  we also listened to jazz, Romare Bearden revealed by Branford Marsalis Quartet, from TSCPL CD collection.

Other books about Romare bearden in the stacks:

Join us February 16th at 1:30 in the Lingo Story Room for Pin It! T-Shirt Crafts.

Pin It! Crafts is a new, adult program we are starting at the library.  Each month we will pick a theme, post several inspiration pieces on our Pinterest board, and invite you to come and craft with us.  For February, we have chosen T-shirt Crafts!  Find a t-shirt craft on Pinterest (our boards or yours), bring your supplies to make the craft, and join us for an afternoon of crafting and fun.

Questions? Want to join us?  Call us at 580-4540 or email afriedli@tscpl.org.

Not sure about Pinterest yet?  The library offers ‘Pinterest for Beginners’ to help you learn to navigate Pinterest.  Two classes are offered before we meet on February 16th.  The first is offered on January 30th from 1:00-2:30pm.  The second is held on February 14th from 1:00-2:30pm.  Call 580-4606 or email class@tscpl.org to register for either of ‘Pinterest for Beginners’ classes.

Want to find even more T-shirt crafts?  Check out the books below at the library!

Detail of page from “Corticelli Yarn Book”, 1922

The Antique Pattern Library is a free online resource for crafts publications from the 1800s (and before) to the mid-1900s. The catalog can be searched by date or by technique, and includes crafts like crochet, knitting, cross-stitch and sewing. The books and pamphlets can be downloaded as PDF files so you can print them for easy reference.

When I found the pattern library I thought of our Big Read book for 2013, The Great Gatsby. The book is set in the 1920s, so I did a quick search through the pattern catalog. The search turned up a variety of books from that decade, but I found 2 that I thought were especially interesting.

“The Egyptian” bag from “Emma Post Barbour’s New Bead Book”, 1924

Emma Post Barbour’s New Bead Book from 1924 has full-color illustrations of beaded bags and purses, along with instructions on how to make them. My favorite is “The Egyptian”. All things Egypt were in vogue after King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922. You could show how up-to-date you were by carrying this stylish beaded bag.

I also liked the Corticelli Yarn Book from 1922. Since you’ll need something to wear with your beaded bag, you can knit or crochet a dress or sweater to complete your look.

Cover of “Corticelli Yarn Book No. 18″, 15 cents, 1922

Want a new hat to go with your new outfit? Check out these instructions for making a 1920s-style cloche in knit or crochet.

When your ensemble is complete, come to the Gallery for the new Art Deco exhibit held in conjunction with the Big Read. The exhibit runs from January 22 – March 10, 2013 and will feature art from the library’s permanent art collection.

“Pin It Crafts” is an exciting, new program that we will be kicking off on January 19th.  Starting at 1:30pm, in the Anton Room (second floor of  the library), we will meet and discuss this new Pinterest based program. This first get-together is to let everyone know how “Pin It Crafts” will work – we won’t be doing any actual crafting at this meeting.  We will also highlight the library’s Pinterest board and discuss our crafts for the February “Pin It Crafts” program.  Check out our “Pin It Crafts” board here.  Questions – call 580-4540 or email afriedli@tscpl.org.

Not familiar with Pinterest yet?  We can help you with that, too!  The Library offers “Pinterest for Beginners” classes – contact us for details.

745.5 GOL | PS—Check out our Crafts Neighborhood for more ideas

I was looking for the perfect book on which to end the year. There are so many to choose from, but this one seemed perfect.

Craft-A-Day by Sarah Goldschadt is adorable and fun. For the next 365 days, she lines up seasonal craft projects that are simple and practical. Each page has a date, like a calendar, to remind you of where you are in the year (and how far behind you have fallen in the book).

A lot of the projects are super-trendy—cupcake toppers, mustache-themed stuff for whisker week (May 7-13), ubiquitous birds on everything—and a lot are traditional (finger puppets, holiday ornaments). So, there’s something for everybody. Instructions are straightforward and the pictures are fantastic.

So, what are you gonna make?

Many people at the workshop were planning to make more stars with friends and family. One participant reported back later that she had left the workshop and taught her sisters and mother how to make these stars, and they went to work and taught their own classrooms of children.

More Arts and Crafts events will be offered at the library in the coming year. Check Library News for details of upcoming programs and explore the library collections for ideas, techniques and inspiration.

You can learn to create this impressive and beautiful paper star for yourself.

2 page handout Craft a Paper Star to save, print or share

Step 1

Gather basic supplies of paper, scissors, stapler, and tape.
Optional supplies include a ruler, a brad, a hole punch, and a pencil.
Regular white or colored copy paper works fine, or scrapbook paper.
The stiffness of the paper affects how many sheets you will need, between 6-8 sheets per star.

Step2

Fold your square in half diagonally. Fold it in half again diagonally.

Step 3

Cut several parallel lines through the paper, stopping about 1/2 inch from the folded edges.
Try cutting four lines for your first star, or more lines for a more advanced star with finer detail.
You can mark the lines evenly spaced with a ruler, or just estimate them.
Hints: BE SURE to cut from the thickest folded edge and parallel to the four open edges. The triangle should open away from you.

Step 4

Open up the paper after you have completed the cutting.

Step 5

Lift the first two points inside the diamond shape and overlap them, securing them with a tiny piece of tape.
Hint: Don’t worry about making your tape perfectly invisible. The finished paper star looks so amazing that the small pieces of tape are barely noticeable.

Step 6

Flip over your paper, so that the small tube you just taped is now face down on the table. Take the next two smallest points of the diamond shape and overlap them, securing with tape.

Step 7

Continue to flip over your paper, taping the next two diamond points together, until you have completed all of the points.

Step 8

You have created one point of your star. Notice how in this picture, the left side is bigger/thicker than the other. When you complete all six of your star points, you will line them up so that they all face the same way, with the bigger sides to the left.

Step 9

Once you finish your first star point, make five more just like it. Note again how the points all have the larger loop to the left.  In this example, all six star points are complete and awaiting assembly. For some paper thicknesses, you may need six, seven or eight star points to complete your star.

Step 10

Once your star points are lined up, use a stapler to connect them to each other. Take the outside loop from each star, line them up, and staple through the overlap where you taped. You should end up with one long line of star points.

Step 11

Gather together each of the bottom points of your line of star points. Depending on the supplies you have available, you can use a hole punch and a brad to connect all of the points in the center, or you can simply use a single staple through all of the point. To complete your star, staple the last two star point edges together.

Step 12

Hang your paper star and enjoy the beautiful decoration you made with basic supplies. Make more for friends or family, or even better, make more WITH friends and family.

Teach others how to make paper stars, and let them know you learned something amazing at the library. Explore more papercraft books at the library to discover new projects to try on your own.

Recommended books

Request these books from http://catalog.tscpl.org

• The Michaels book of paper crafts edited by Dawn Cusick & Megan Kirby
• Paper crafts for Christmas by Randel McGee
• Paper crafts with style: over 50 designs made with cut, folded, pasted, and stitched paper by Marie Clare Idées
• The jumbo book of paper crafts written by Amanda Lewis; illustrated by Jane Kurisu
• Decorative crafts sourcebook: recipes and projects for paper, fabric, and more
• Martha Stewart’s encyclopedia of crafts: an A-to-Z guide with detailed instructions and endless inspiration by the editors of Martha Stewart Living
• Creative paper cutting: basic techniques & fresh designs for stencils, mobiles, cards & more edited by Shufunotomo
• Papercutting: tips, tools, and techniques for learning the craft by Claudia Hopf
• Simply paper cutting: hand-cut paper projects for home decor, stationery and gifts Anna Bondoc