August's Craft Closet Cleanout!

On the 15th we had 21 people show up for the end of the summer Craft Closet Cleanout, where several tables were set up with a variety of crafts to work on. The domino decoupage magnets, while always messy, was a popular table, as was the duct tape crafts table! I was very impressed with everyone's ability to make cool and useful things from duct tape. I'm pretty sure the best I could hope for would be like, a wadded up ball of duct tape...

decoupage domino magnets

the domino decoupage table was constantly busy

the duct tape table

a duct tape iPod holder, complete with headphone pouch!

a photo holder, made from a rock and wire

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!

New York City Movies & Fun!

This afternoon, 21 teens hung out in the A/C for our marathon New York City program! Since it's known as "city that never sleeps," it was a fun interpretation of the Own the Night summer theme. We watched some movie clips, as well as one whole movie featuring the city. There were so many to choose from that I ordered way more things than we ever could have watched! We started with the song "NYC" from Annie, and ended with King Kong climbing the Empire State Building.  In between, we covered all kinds of views of famous landmarks and locations in the city. We also did NYC crafts, like scratch art, color-your-own bags, and taxi picture frames that I got on clearance from Oriental Trading! In the middle of the afternoon, we did a trivia contest. Grace won a pint of Ben & Jerry's New York Superfudge Chunk ice cream for having the best score, while Kathy, Isabella, and Ryan won candy for being close seconds. Of course, we snacked the whole time on mini soft pretzels and cookies. It was a great way to spend a summer afternoon!

We have one more movie marathon day on August 8, featuring the Muppets. And, if you're sad that you missed the crafts, leftovers will be available at Craft Closet Cleanout on August 15.

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!!