Teen Tech Week: Create Pocket Green Screens

This week is Teen Tech Week, and the theme is Create it @ Your Library. This week we will create pocket green screens with mint tins, bright green cardstock, and magnets. We will insert small figures into the pocket green screen and take a picture after they are arranged. Using GIMP, we will remove the green background and insert a fun background. As you see above, I edited the background to make it look like the two boys above are on the moon! The two kids below are on the beach, on a shelf of books!

This program is for teens ages 12-18. Please register:
Monday, March 7, 6:30 p.m. (Dundee Library)
Thursday, March 10, 6 p.m. (Randall Oaks Library)

Make string art in Craft Lab!

All you need is cardstock, needle and embroidery thread, tape, paperclips, and a silhouette design to make your own frame-worthy string art.

We will be doing this project in Craft Lab at Dundee Library and the Randall Oaks Library on these dates (be sure to register!):

For ages 11-18.
Saturday, February 6, 3 p.m. (Dundee Library)
Monday, February 15, 3 p.m. (Randall Oaks Library)

Interested in learning how you can make these cool designs? Here are the steps:

1. Find and print a silhouette design. I chose Darth Vader, and this design turned out to be a little more complicated than the squirrel, fox, and Batman logo above. Working around the holes in his mouthpiece and eyes took a lot of time (between 3 and 4 hours). I'd recommend starting with a simple, solid design for your first string art project.

 2. Choose your color of cardstock and embroidery thread. I went with red cardstock and black thread.

3. Use paperclips to secure your design to the top of your cardstock.

4. Take your needle and poke holes to outline the entire design, plus any "interior" portions of the design, like eyes, nose, etc.

5. When you have outlined all parts of your design, remove the paperclips and top piece of paper.

6. You can choose how many strands of thread to use. For this project I used two strands. Thread your needle and then tape the thread to the back of your project.

7. Now you can get creative and make whatever patterns you wish for your design.

8. The back of the project should look like a bunch of dashes.

9. I recommend working section by section. Later you can go back and fill in sections as you like.

10. When you finish each strand, tape the end to the back of the cardstock. You may also have to do this if you run into a bad knot situation (you don't see it in this picture, but it happened several times as I worked on this project).

11. Notice how for this design I had to go around certain areas so that Darth Vader's mouthpiece, eyes, and helmet would stand out. This required a lot of patience!

12. Here's the finished project. I might still go back and fill in more string where there are some larger gaps.

Make your own scratch art in Craft Lab

In this month's Craft Lab, we'll use cray-pas oil pastels to make unique scratch art. Sign up for the session on Monday, January 18, 3 p.m. at Randall Oaks or on Saturday, January 30, 3 p.m. at Dundee. With a simple technique, we'll create fun designs and mini pieces of art. Read below to see a couple examples!

Steps to make scratch art:

Fill the piece of cardstock with lots of color:

Next, use a black cray pas to completely cover your design:

It should be completely black!

Now, it's time to get creative. Use toothpicks, paperclips, or coins to make your scratch art:

Here's another one I tried with a bull's eye design:

Covered in black:

Scratched up!:

Hope to see you at Craft Lab!

Make yummy creations in Craft Lab: No-Bake Holiday Treats

Do you like...
... chocolate?
... caramel?
... sprinkles?
... M&M's?
... making gifts for friends and family?

Then register for Craft Lab: No-Bake Holiday Treats! This Monday, December 21, from 3-4:30 p.m., make delicious goodies to give (and eat!) during the holiday season. We will make recipes that don't require an oven at all: Chocolate Turtles, Almond Bark, and Cookie Bark. It is totally fine if you know nothing about baking or cooking. These recipes are easy to follow!

Each person will leave the program with a plate filled with treats, along with the recipes themselves. Who you will share the treats with is up to you! This program is open to ages 11-18. Please register in advance so we can prepare adequate supplies for all participants.

Make a zombie in Craft Lab!

Looking for something creepy to add to your school locker or room at home to get you in the Halloween spirit? Come to Craft Lab this week, where we will transform old dolls into terrifying zombies! Make a Zombie is at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday at the Dundee Library. Open to ages 11-18; please register.

Make LED cuff bracelets in Craft Lab

Our next Craft Lab project is making LED cuff bracelets. We will use felt, conductive thread, snaps, LEDs, batteries (and battery holders) to make cuff bracelets that light up. Sign up for the program at Dundee (Saturday, October 3 at 3 p.m.) or Randall Oaks (Thursday, October 15 at 6 p.m.).

Here is how you make LED cuff bracelets:

Once each component is sewn onto the felt, snap on the bracelet and the LED should be illuminated!

You can also add more decoration with felt, buttons, sequins, and thread!

Hack Your Notebook at the library!

Our first Craft Lab project this fall is Hack Your Notebook (September 23 at the Dundee Library, and September 30 at the Randall Oaks Library). Draw, sketch, or doodle something and then light up your creation with copper tape, LED stickers, batteries, and binder clips. We will start by making a simple circuit and move on to assembling parallel circuits and simple switches. I made some quick drawings in my notebook to use as examples.

This is a simple circuit:

I know what you're wondering-- It's a funfetti cake with vanilla buttercream frosting... covered in sprinkles.

The copper tape runs from the positive side of the battery to the positive side of the LED sticker, and then another piece of copper tape runs from the negative side of the LED sticker to the negative side of the battery. When the corner of the page is pressed down on the battery with a binder clip, the circuit is closed and the candle in the birthday scene drawing lights up!

Here are two examples of parallel circuits:

Winter is coming, and Squirrel and Chipmunk have a bright idea of what to do with the acorns.

I knew I wanted the light from the LEDs to be lightbulbs over the heads of the squirrel and chipmunk, so I planned the circuit accordingly. I drew straight lines connecting the positive side of the battery to touch the tops of LEDs, and the other line connects the negative side of the battery to the points of the LED stickers. It's important to press down on the copper tape and stickers to ensure the connection is closed.

In the next drawing I used the LED stickers as the eyes of a fox enchanted by the promise of free, delicious pizza! Because the LEDs are closer together in this drawing, it was a little easier when planning this circuit.

Mr. Fox can't believe his luck.

The last example is of adding a simple switch to a drawing:

Lonely Bench

In the above drawing I wanted to put the switch under the hand of the person on the ladder. In this way, when I press down on that part of the drawing, the street light turns on.

The possibilities are endless for how you can hack your notebooks! 

Don't forget to register:
Wednesday, September 23, 6:30 p.m. - Dundee Library
Wednesday, September 30, 6 p.m. - Randall Oaks Library

Make something in Craft Lab this fall

We have some cool projects planned for our Craft Labs over the next couple months. If you are 11-18 years old and enjoy being creative and making things, check out the programs we will have at the Dundee Library and Randall Oaks Library. Please register by clicking on the links below, calling the library at 847-428-3661, or in person!

Hack Your Notebook
Create simple or parallel circuits to light up drawings, sketches, or words in your notebook pages. Notebooks and materials will be provided.
Wednesday, September 23, 6:30 p.m. @ Dundee Library
Wednesday, September 30, 6 p.m. @ Randall Oaks Library

LED Cuff Bracelets
Use conductive thread, LEDs, and felt to make light up cuff bracelets.
Saturday, October 3, 3 p.m. @ Dundee Library
Thursday, October 15, 6 p.m. @ Randall Oaks Library

Make a Zombie
Use paint and other recycled materials to transform old toys into creepy zombies.
Thursday, October 22, 6:30 p.m. @ Dundee Library

Duct Tape
Make flower pens, bracelets, phone cases, wallets and more out of colorful duct tape.
Saturday, November 14, 3 p.m. @ Dundee Library
Thursday, November 19, 6 p.m. @ Randall Oaks Library

Make cassette tape wallets and more in our Read to the Rhythm Craft Lab series this summer!

This summer our Read to the Rhythm Craft Lab series includes four projects that reuse, or remix, discarded CDs and audiocassette tapes.

Cassette Tape Wallets Convert cassette tapes into handy, vintage-looking wallets. Thursday, June 11 @ 2 p.m. (Dundee Library) Friday, June 12 @ 2 p.m. (Randall Oaks)

CD Art Paint and use etching techniques on CDs to create small works of art. Friday, June 19 @ 2 p.m. (Randall Oaks)

CD Weaving Modify old CDs into your own handheld looms. Reuse yarn scraps to produce beautiful designs! Thursday, June 25 @ 2 p.m. (Dundee Library) Thursday, July 9 @ 2 p.m. (Randall Oaks)

Mosaic CD Picture Frames  Transform plain picture frames by using cut up CD pieces. Thursday, July 16 @ 2 p.m. (Dundee Library) Thursday, July 23 @ 2 p.m. (Randall Oaks)

Sticky note collage photos!

Here are the notes, drawings, quotes, and encouraging words teens added to our National Library Week sticky note collage!