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 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!

Sticky note collage photos!

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

Add a sticky note to our National Library Week collage in the teen area!

To celebrate National Library Week, we are creating a sticky note collage on the wall in the teen area. Just like this year's theme, Unlimited Possibilities @ Your Library, the possibilities for what you can post on the wall are endless!

Draw a sketch! Share a quote! Doodle a drawing! Get creative!

Members of TAG, Anime Club, and Maker Club got the collage started by working on sticky notes at various club meetings the last couple months. We still have lots of blank space to cover with colorful notes, so stop by the teen area, grab some sticky notes and markers, and stick up your creations!

Make a simple circuit light box during Teen Tech Week

We have a drop-in Teen Tech Week activity today at 4 p.m. at the Dundee Library and on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Randall Oaks Branch Library. Create little light boxes using a simple circuit (copper tape, LED, and a battery), cardstock, tissue/tracing paper, and markers.

Once you have a functioning circuit, use markers to create your decoration in the light box window.  Tracing paper or even tissue paper you put in gift bags or presents work really well. All I did to make the pictured designs was cut out a rectangular piece of tissue paper to fit the window and added the design with a black marker.

Perhaps you recognize this moment from the movie The Little Mermaid....

Go on and kiss the girl...

If you are interested in more activities like this one, mark your calendar for upcoming meetings of Maker Club:

Saturday, April 4 at 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 2 at 2 p.m.

Get creative with duct tape in Monday's Craft Lab

Cut, fold, and stick duct tape at Monday's Craft Lab, Duct Tape Projects. We have a rainbow of colors and patters for you to experiment with at the program! Here are some examples of projects you may want to tackle:

Clockwise from top left: spike bracelet, flower pens, phone case, carnation pen

The program will be held Monday, January 19 at 2 p.m. in the Craft Room on the lower level. Please register online, by calling 847-428-3661 (press 3), or in person.

Happy Halloween: Anime Club's zombie creations!

At the library's Anime Club Halloween meeting on Tuesday, we took old Barbies and transformed them into creepy zombies! We first dyed the doll clothes brown, and then painted the dolls' bodies and clothes after they dried. As you can tell, everyone got really creative (and a bit twisted!)...

Princess Jasmine... you've changed.

Très chic zombie

Zombies get haircuts, too.

Bad hair day zombie

These are fun homemade decorations for Halloween or as a gift for fans of the TV show The Walking Dead. Happy Halloween!