Muppet Movie Madness!

Last Wednesday, 19 teens spent the afternoon enjoying a double feature of The Muppet Movie (1979) followed by The Muppets (2011).  We stopped the movies every so often to ask trivia questions, and correct answers got Kermit-shaped cookies!  We also held a "Creature Shop" cupcake contest, with lots of icing and toppings to decorate Muppet-inspired cupcakes. (Check out the photos below.)  Grace and Abbey were the winners, and they each got a Muppet bag with a Kermit Pez dispenser and a Muppet-ish monster rubber duckie!

We also did an easy Muppet hand puppet papercraft during the movies, but you can try these more time-consuming ones at home:

• Muppet 3-D Car (for traveling by map)
• Muppet Pencil Toppers
• Kermit
• Grover

And, of course, no movie would be complete without coloring:

• Muppet Babies
• Vintage Muppets
• Beaker

It was a fun afternoon, and Paul (the new teen librarian) was there to help!  Lots of teens have already met him, and we have one last summer teen program together this week.  Come to Craft Closet Cleanout this Wednesday, August 15, if you want to see me and meet Paul!!

I forgot to photograph the cookies, so here's my mom's vintage Kermit cookie cutter!

Winning cupcake #1 by Grace

Winning cupcake #2 by Abbey

I Love the High School Book Group!

Last Friday was my last meeting with the High School Book Group (aka Book Grub) as the Young Adult Librarian!  Like all of my recent "lasts," it was bittersweet.  Book Grub is one of my favorite programs, and I will really miss all of my members past and present!  Our new Young Adult Librarian, Paul, was there to learn the ropes...he has never led a book group.  So, he got quite an induction from the biggest, craziest, most off-topic group of them all (and a bunch of members weren't even there due to vacations...)!

Anyway, my Teen Advisory Board (TAB) members, led by Amie and Kim, put together a really sweet card and gift for me.  It was such a great surprise at the end of the book group meeting!  A lot of the TAB members had already signed the card, and I got everyone at book group to sign it as well.  I used the gift card today to buy some clothes for the babies, including cute new outfits for them to wear home from the hospital!  Thanks so much to all of you for being so thoughtful.  I will definitely bring the boys in for a visit in the fall!

The serious picture (with Paul and me in the back left)

The silly picture

A present!!!  :)

Duct Tape!

On July 18, we had, not one, but two sessions of our summer duct tape craft and 27 teens attended.  The idea was so popular that I divided it into two groups because otherwise it would have been big and crazy!  I learned that Walmart is the place to buy quantities of duct tape because they sell it for $3.37 per roll, the best price around.  I also found  something there I hadn't seen anywhere else:  mustache duct tape!

Anyway, at the first class, I had a lot of experienced duct tapers, so I let them make their own projects in one area while I taught duct tape basics in another area.  Then, most of the people joined me to make this cute duct tape flower (which we made into a hair clip).  Those who didn't want to make a flower worked on wallets.  At the second class, I had mostly new duct tapers with one professional!  The pro did her own thing while I taught duct tape basics and had everyone make a wallet.

From this experience, I think that I would offer two classes in the future:  beginning duct tape and advanced duct tape!  However, everyone left with at least two finished products (of varying levels) so I'd call that a success for a 1 1/2 hour class.  The duct tape will be out at Craft Closet Cleanout on August 15, so show up for that!

Villain Night

Last Friday, 18 teens enjoyed Villain Night at the library!  The Teen Advisory Board planned this for the Own the Night summer theme, and went with villains since we just had Superhero Night last fall. Everyone either showed up in costume or got an evil name tag upon arrival.  I showed a bunch of evil movie clips, and also invited everyone to bring their own favorites. We watched serious clips from movies like The Empire Strikes Back, several Harry Potter movies, and The Dark Knight, but also enjoyed goofy villains in movies like the original 1960s Batman and the Mel Brooks classic Spaceballs. Only a few people were brave enough to enter our evil laugh contest, but Christelle was the most evil. I put together a villain-hero matching game (with help from my awesome friend Patrick, who runs a comic book shop), which Grace dominated with 17 correct answers! They both won packs of finger moustache temporary tattoos.

As usual, we had an optional costume competition.  It was a tough call because there were so many interesting entries.  I ultimately awarded the grand prize, a Darth Vader plushie backpack, to Brianna for having the most complete costume!  Four other people got second prizes, which were Star Wars villain Pez dispensers.

Back row:  Catwoman, a mad scientist, "The Girl Next Door," "A" the assassin, an evil hipster, Voldemort from A Very Potter Musical
Front row:  The "other mother" from Coraline, a member of Team Rocket from Pokemon, Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

We also did a team competition, in which people had to tell real Batman villains from made up ones.  (I used this deck of cards, with additional answers from Wikipedia.)  The winning team got to line up for snacks first.  Our snacks were "cat claws" representing Catwoman (Bugles), dark chocolate (for owning the night), and brownies (for no reason).

About halfway through the program I realized that this was my last Friday night program at the library...ever!  I guess I'll be having a lot more moments like that in the next few weeks, but this is the first time it hit me in the middle of an event.  So sad!  I'll really miss doing things like this.

Board Game Blast

On July 11, 24 people spent the whole afternoon in the air conditioning playing board games, card games, and bingo.  We had a great mix of people playing a lot of different games, including Life, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, Sorry, checkers, Connect Four, and Uno.  I had a great time being the bingo caller, which we played at the beginning and end of the afternoon.  Several people also brought their own games in for the program.  I really liked Sarah's game of Zombie Dice.  I might have to buy that one!  During the event, I gave away 23 full-size candy bars for winning long games, and 86 minis for winning short games. Plus, people who played bingo got to keep the M&Ms we used as markers. Everyone was all sugared up by the time they left! It was a great afternoon!

Zombies!

I have so many things to post from the past few weeks, but Zombie Day has to be the first!  Eighteen teens attended our summer theme kick-off event last Friday.  Although we were only able to Own the Afternoon (not the Night as the teen theme suggests), we had some amazingly creepy zombies in the library.  We had everything zombie, including a mad scientist, a bride, a surfer, and a Girl Scout!  Some people came in costume or as a character, others did not.  But everyone was transformed by the end because part of the program was a zombie makeup lesson!  Fake blood and plastic skin wounds were the most popular elements by far!  Thanks to Katie and Laurel for sharing zombie makeup tips.

This was a three-hour program, and we did a lot more than just makeup.  We danced along with Thriller on the Michael Jackson Experience video game, with thanks to Jasmine for leading us.  We decorated zombie cupcakes for a contest, in which Devon and Blya won prizes.  We drank bloody worm punch along with the cupcakes after the judging.  We had a creepy music mix for atmosphere, thanks to Kara, and we watched part of Night of the Living Dead.

We made signs that read, "Use Your Brrrains at the Library" and then shambled our way into the adult building (after we put on makeup) to show off our zombie skills!  We tried to go down to State Road and wave at traffic, but it ended up being unsafe.  Plus, it was so hot that some of the makeup was melting off!  So, we headed back upstairs to eat bloody hands and brain made of Jell-o, which was awesome.  I awarded prizes to Billy and Jasmine for having the most creative zombie look, and also awarded other random stuff to people who came in costume.

We haven't done a costumed event like this in long time.  I loved it, and I know a lot of other people did too!  Huge thanks to grown-up library teen Kara for her assistance in keeping everything running.  As usual, I couldn't have pulled this off without help from her and our Teen Advisory Board!

Thriller!

Some people arrived as zombies

Brains!

Kara chose Devon's "zombie rising from the grave" cupcake as a winner.

I choose Blya's "bleeding eye" for second place.

I also liked Jasmine's "hand rising from the grave" entry.

Our group picture, with me in the center!

We took our signs up to the balcony in the adult library.

Here are some zombies in front of the building with our signs.

A zombie Girl Scout and a goth zombie get ready to feast on some tasty bloody hands!

Three more zombies love brrrrrraaaaains!!

June Craft Closet Cleanout

On June 13, we had our end-of-the-school-year Craft Closet Cleanout!  We made crafts from this year, last summer, and who-knows-when in the past.  Some crafts had to be done at tables, but others could be completed on the floor.  As a bonus, we watched two summer-ish Disney movies while we worked, Finding Nemo and Lilo and Stitch.  Everyone went home with great crafts, including wreath magnets, chopstick hair holders, denim iPod pockets, and team spirit ponytail holders!  We'll do another CCC at the end of the summer, so join us then.

Book Grub Grads

On June 1, the high school book group had our last meeting of the school year and celebrated our seniors!  It's such an annual tradition that we don't even read a book for this month.  We just talk about the summer and the seniors' plans for the future, and revisit all of the books we read through the year.  We also gorged ourselves on awesome ice cream sundaes! 

This year, we graduated Emily, Jasmine, Tyria, Shannon, Anas, Katie, and Sarah from the group.  Some of those readers have been in our library book groups since elementary school, others joined just this year.  But however long they've been a part of the group, we're always sad to see them go!  Luckily, most of them will be around for the summer.  And, for those not moving away, we actually have a new book group for 18-20somethings that is full of high school book group grads.

The high school book group

Acting silly

Most of our seniors, minus two who were doing prom stuff (prom was the next day).

Why are they fanning him with the book group papers?

I have no idea what this was about...!

The freshmen wanted their own group picture!

Asian Culture Club--6/6/12

For our last meeting of ACC for the year, we made candy sushi and listened to K-pop and J-pop.  Several members had dedicated their Random-A-Thon funds for this group, and we hadn't used much of the money during the spring.  So we decided to blow it all on candy! Using basic junk food like Twinkies, gummy worms, Fruit Rollups, Nerds, and marshmallows, we created some pretty good-looking sushi.  Of course, we ate it with chopsticks!  

Paul, our new Young Adult Librarian, is planning the return of some kind of anime group in the fall, so look for that on the schedule!

TAB Graduation Party

Our Teen Advisory Board (TAB) had our final meeting of the school year on May 19.  We celebrated our four graduates and selected two new members for next school year!  We were also happy to have former TAB grads Nitha and Arwa as special guests.   Emily, Anas, and Jasmine will be graduating from Upper Darby and Katie will be graduating from home school.  All of them are college bound next year, and we will really miss them!  The TAB gave them each a present and a card, and we had cake.  I also make a photo album for each grad with pictures from library programs over the years.  It's so funny to see how people change!  Later, we looked at our spring applications for membership and selected Alex and Yasmine to be new members.  The TAB will be taking applications again in the fall, so look for those in August if you are interested.

Ice cream cake!

Most of the 2011-2012 TAB

Silliness

The memories live on...!!!