Tween Program - Christmas Decorations from Paper Towel Tubes

We hold our Tween (grades 4-7) program on the last Monday of each month during the school year, and weekly during the summer. Participation is higher when school is out, but there is still a fairly steady handful who will come out on a school night.

Mr. Cliff runs this program, with the assistance of his lovely significant other, and this week they tried one of those Pinterest crafts that I know I would completely mess up. There are a million tutorials out there, but this one is from Chasing Fireflies, one of the blogs I loosely follow:

Yeah, I envisioned a gluey, misshapened mess when I first saw that, and I didn't even try. Fortunately, middle schoolers are more coordinated than I am.

Such focus!

Huge thanks to all the staff members who have been dropping bags of toilet paper/paper towel tubes on Cliff's desk (you can stop now!). The finished products look fantastic!

I may actually have to try this at home after all!

Teens and Tweens - French Food and Demolition

Tween Cafe happened to fall on Bastille Day last week, so Mr. Cliff decided to go with a French theme: a viewing of the movie "Ratatouille", and some French-type snacks. After much debating of possibilities and the associated costs and/or palatability, he decided to offer fresh fruit, drizzled in chocolate:

Reportedly there was not a speck left! Never underestimate the power of chocolate (or the capacity of a 12-year-old boy's stomach.)

Our projector system is so much more versatile than the old console TV. Worthy investment!

The teens had a crafty night, loosely titled "Take it Apart and Put it Together". We had old t-shirts, old books, and old appliances, with tons of crafting materials and a few ideas printed off Pinterest to inspire.

I was too lazy to drag everything out of the store room!

The most popular item was easily the old computer, donated by a local repair shop. They couldn't wait to start taking it apart...

...and in approximately 2.4 seconds...

...it looked...

...like this:

Ooh, the possibilities!

Jewelry,

or a...

picture frame?

Shield, that's it!

With a handle contributed by the computer. And a photobomb contributed by a friend.

The other items weren't completely neglected. 

We had a wizard's pouch,

a book bag (get it? book...bag)

and a much-improved tee.

The computer was definitely the biggest hit, and there were too many ideas to fit into one hour. We are already making plans to repeat this in the fall, with more computer parts and hopefully a longer time slot. So, if you're trying to unload that old bulky monitor or your broken keyboard, we just might be able to take it off your hands!

Tweens and Teens

As usual, the more we have going on, the less time I have to blog about it! With the re-carpeting project moving to the adult side, we were able to start our actual Summer Reading programs the week of June 23rd. From babies to teens, we have 10 programs a week to add to the usual giving-out-of-prizes, so it's safe to say things picked up a bit for us. Attendance has started out pretty low, which was to be expected with the changes in scheduling, but it's kind of nice to ease into things that way! A few pictures from our older groups, the tweens (run by Mr. Cliff with his lovely assistant Sherri), and teens (run by yours truly):

The tweens started off by killing a librarian, which I find only slightly disturbing.

Seventeen 4th-7th graders inspected clues,

discussed the evidence, 

and made their accusations.

 Turns out, it was me. Okay, not really, but like I'm going to tell you the answer!

The next week, they found out what it might be like to lose use of different parts of their bodies.

Now, there's a line-up for you!

I'm not entirely sure what they are doing here. But they are smiling.

Ditto.

Aha, this one I know! The 'cuff' making it impossible to bend one's arm, each person on a team had to eat a goldfish cracker. Not a single team figured out that the rules never said they couldn't feed each other, so much hilarity ensued with crackers being tossed every which way. (P.S. - the girls won).

The teens ( grades 8 and up) haven't had quite the turn-out - those darn jobs getting in the way of fun!

Our first week, they ate pizza and talked about books - no pictures there. Last week, we held a Minute to Win It tournament. Small tournament - just five girls - so it was fortunate that none of the games had to be done in teams!

For the first challenge, participants had to transfer pasta to a bowl using a pipe cleaner and no hands.

Not as easy as it looks at first!

Long hair is definitely not a plus, here.

Next up was blowing a plastic cup across the table with a straw. It had to start off touching one edge, and go off the other edge - off the side meant you had to start over. 

We did this two at a time, with the others counting how many times they got it back and forth in a minute.

Then, while we still had the straws handy, we tried sucking instead: there were bowls of chocolate candies, large and small, and they had to suck one up with a straw and deposit it into their own bowl. Bigger candies were worth more points. If I did this again, I would make them travel farther, but it was so much fun to watch I didn't get any pictures!

I also don't have pictures of the "In Your Face" game, which involves placing a cookie on your forehead and trying to get it into your mouth without using your hands. I do have several extremely hilarious videos, but I am not going to post them because...um...well, I never said you couldn't use your cleavage. 'Nuff said?

I do, however, have video of the final game, where you transfer cotton balls from a plate to a bowl with your nose. You are supposed to put Vaseline n your nose to make the cotton balls stick, but I couldn't find my Vaseline. All I could find was a jar of very old, rather musty-smelling peanut butter. We decided it was safe to apply topically, but we won't be eating any of it.

A fairly quiet game, but still fun to watch!

T-Shirt Redesign

***This is another post copied over from our old blog, Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian.

We don't usually blog about events before they happen, but we are hoping to snag a few more ideas from our brilliant readers:) Since Miss Ami is, as they used to say, in a delicate condition, and may or may not be around for the latter half of Summer Reading, we are trying to prepare as much as possible beforehand. This particular program is slated for the end of July - just don't ask us what's for supper tonight, 'kay?

The general plan is to provide ideas and supplies for teens to redecorate/redesign/repurpose old t-shirts. Because many of the regulars to Teen Cafe are also SRP Volunteers, and they have a whole stash of shirts from previous years, and because we also had a stash of SRP shirts that were never picked up last year, those are what you will see featured here. We are mostly looking for no-sew ideas, as the idea of supplying 30 or so sewing machines doesn't seem too feasible.

First, because Miss Ami was a child of the 80's, we have this one:

You can also fringe the sleeves.

Another very simple one - wear a different color tank under it. We may cut more slits around the collar. If you are better at cutting than we are (no opposable thumbs, remember!) you can try cutting shapes instead of just slits.

A necklace/scarf made by cutting horizontal stripes about 1" thick and then pulling them tight to make them roll up. We connected them with a strip cut from the bottom, but we're not sure how to describe the loop-and tuck method...you can just hot glue the ends if you like!

These two are made from the same shirt. For the necklace (or belt) we cut off the bottom hem, then cut around and around so we had one long continuous strand about 1" thick. We cut that into thirds and braided them, then added chunky wood beads that have been sitting around forever.

We didn't want to waste the top picture, so we used fabric glue to attach it to posterboard, then added jewels and glitter. This would be fun to do with a t-shirt that had a funny saying, or a favorite rock band on it. We are trying to find our scrap cork board to make a bulletin board this way.

This is the one that started the whole project. Miss Ami (when she is not fat) and Miss Lisa both like 'skinny shirts', but the SRP shirts always come in 'boy cuts'. Just cut an inch or so off each side, make some slits, and voila! You can lace it or tie it - yes, both look kind of weird together, and the pretty ribbons don't exactly match the shark motif, but you get the idea. Wouldn't those bright yellow shirts for this year's theme look awesome with yellow and red ribbons?

We had seen ideas for shopping bags that required sewing the bottom, but then Karl from Tulsa sent us this idea - just fringe and tie the bottom. That looks even sturdier than sewing. Use strips from the sleeves as added handles. We left the hem on, but you can cut that off and add pony beads to the bottom.

That gave us an idea for a pillow we wouldn't have to sew, either. We did 'cheat' and hot glue the neckline, but that would be pretty easy to hand sew. Again, we left the hems, but you could take those off and add beads.

Most of these only took a few minutes - the braiding took forever because we kept getting tangled! (Thumbs!!!) Thanks to everyone who sent ideas and web sites to check out - now, what else have you got for us???

Teen Cafe - Stuff for Your Space

The theme for this month's Teen Cafe was "Stuff for Your Space". We have a mix of kids coming regularly - public school students and home schooled, middle school, high school, and graduates (they are just so darn entertaining, I keep them around.) I tried to have a variety of projects to fit - things for your car, your locker, your room, whatever. It's also getting to be that time of the year when you need a gift for the old people who raised you, and some of these would also fit that bill.

I spread the materials out around the outside walls, with some basic directions. We had:

 

Air Fresheners

 

Good for cars, closets, lockers, drawers. Backpacks, maybe, if you are prone to leaving banana peels inside, or if you just want a whiff of sugar cookies whenever you pull out a textbook.

 

Just cut a piece of cardboard to the desired shape (cookie cutters available for tracing), Cover with material or felt, punch a hole to hang, and add a FEW drops of your choice of essential oil. I bought the oils with my own money, so I could take the leftovers home! Supplies that would be used for several projects, like the material, were grouped on our little stage.

 

Earring Holders

 

Cut a piece of batting to the same size as the board, cover with material, and stretch some rbbons across at varying intervals. Hang french hooks from the ribbons, poke stud earrings through.

 

Does anyone else have a million of these boards sitting around? They are shelf dividers for some of our picture book shelves, and we have more than we could ever possibly use. They have been moving from storage space to storage space, taking up room, for at least ten years. I think it's safe to get rid of a few.

 

Picture Frames, Door Hangers, Switch Plates, and Mirrors

 

My instructions simply said, "I'll bet you can figure it out."

 

This works:

 

 

And this:

 

 

I don't know why they keep turning sideways. I give up.

 

I'd show you another picture, but I think someone who reads the blog isn't supposed to see it:)

 

The cardboard box contains small mirrors of varying shapes, covered in dirt and cobwebs, that the custodian found in a back room. I have no idea where they came from, but they were by far the most popular craft item of the evening:

 

 

 

 

 

Bulletin Boards

 

I love that I can trust my teens with glue guns, knives, etc.

 

I had cardboard ready for French bulletin boards (cover with material, criss-cross with ribbons),

 

Love these colors together! Very pretty!

 

 but then I totally scored when the guys putting in our drop ceiling tossed some ceiling tile scraps. Those make PERFECT bulletin boards, just the right weight and thickness, and you can cover them with material:

 

 

or just go around the edges with duct tape:

 

Easiest craft ever! And we got to use the fun duct tape!

Collages

 

More of the shelf dividers, covered with magazine pictures, Ellison cut-outs, or letters. We had Mod Podge to seal it, or you can cover with contac paper and use as a (low-temp) hot plate.
 



 

Everyone chose their projects and supplies, and took them to their usual tables, so they could work alongside friends. Snacks, of course, were essential! Since I know I was pretty much sugared out from Halloween, I concentrated on fruit, cheese, and crunchy/salty.

 

Trust me, there were more than 4 cheeseballs available at some point.

 

Of course, my always-creative teens tend to find other uses for craft items, such the stick-on jewels:

Lovely. And this one is a fellow firefighter. Nothing goes with bunker gear like pearls.

and the silver duct tape:

 

AND he can deflect bullets!

Ah, teenagers. Always good for...er...something, I'm sure.