Eva Perry Day of the Dead Event 2012

Nine teens gathered at Eva Perry Library yesterday to learn about Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  After sharing our previous knowledge about the event, we participated in authentic activities by making tissue paper flowers and sugar skulls.

Eva Perry Culture Club: Day of the Dead Program

On Thursday, November 8, at 7 p.m., the Eva Perry Library is hosting a Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead event.  After discussing what the purpose of the holiday is, we will observe the holiday by making tissue paper flowers and sugar skulls.

The event is a time to remember deceased loved ones.  The people make altars usually near the actual tombs.  The pile items on the altars, including flowers, photos, and favorite foods of the loved one.  Sugar skulls are consumed.  The name of the deceased is written on the skull before it is eaten.  Many times, people share stories.  The stories can be serious or humorous.  It is not a time necessarily of sadness, but of remembrance.

One Wake County teen wrote this post in the past, just check out what she had to say.  Hope to see some of you on Thursday night.  Anyone in grades 6-12 is welcome.

Handmade Blog: Poppytalk

I’ve recently really been into DIY and handmade stuff (I just cut up an old oversized sweatshirt from a school I don’t even go to anymore and am hoping to turn it into a cute fleece sweater with a pig on the front), and so I’ve been on the search for a good blog with ideas and projects for me to try out.

I found…Poppytalk!

Really, you can find just about any type of DIY/handmade project for any level of DIYer. There’s also a whole bunch of links to other DIY blogs and so I can literally spend hours on this blog, getting distracted by other blogs that they mention. A lot of different bloggers contribute to this blog, so it’s an amalgram of so many creative ideas together. If I feel bored, all I need to do is read through a few entries and my next project comes to mind.

DIY: Mussel Shell Earrings

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t buy any more earrings…but that doesn’t mean I can’t make them. The other day we had mussels for dinner and my dad was about to throw away the shells when I grabbed the whole bowl of them and ran away. “There has to be some sort of use for them…” I thought to myself.

So I attempted to make them into mussel shell earrings. It was slightly more difficult because I didn’t have a super small drill to drill a hole into the top, but I tried to make do.

DIY Mussel Shell Earrings (No Drilling Required)

Materials

-a mussel shell: take the two parts apart and wash them thoroughly. If you wish to get rid of the fishy smell you are welcome to, but I really don’t suggest spraying perfume on them since it mixes rather badly with the fish smell.
-silver nail polish. I used Sinful Color Professional silver nail polish. It’s kind of sparkly with a silver sheen.
-earring hooks
-beads: in the end I chose this silver shiny bead:)
-earring wire: it has this sort of head at the top so you can put the bead on and it stays without falling off.
-thin silver wire
-jewelry wire pliers and wire cutters

50′s Unconventional

It’s that time of year again, ladies! Time to light those candles and set out those Christmas crackers, time to bus your children downtown to Macy’s to see old Saint Nick and, above all, time to tune in! So turn up that shiny new radio and settle down, because you won’t want to miss this!

With us on Women’s Time today we have Mrs. Barbara Wilson, here to tell us about her own unusual choice of a Christmas tree. Barbara, I hear that instead of the traditional cut evergreen, you decided to build your family’s tree out of books, am I right?

Yes, yes I did! You see, it’s our family tradition to gather ‘round the tree every evening and read together, and I thought why not celebrate what really matters to us?

Perfectly reasonable, Mrs. Wilson, perfectly reasonable! So, tell me, exactly which books went into the making of this tree?

Well, of course I started with the Ladies Home Journal Compilation. I think it’s really quite fitting, using that book as the base, since it certainly is responsible for most of the cooking and decorating I do to make the holiday… And my little ones contributed a few of their ‘comic books’, which I added to humor them. And of course I have the traditional Christmas collection – Nothing like Christmas books to make a Christmas tree! A Christmas Carol is my personal favorite. I also included  From Here to Eternity, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, Farenheit 451, On the Road, The Communist Dream -

Aaand there’s our time for today, folks! Well thank you very much for speaking with us, ladies, that was Mrs. Barbara Wilson hailing from Smelton County, Virginia. We’ll conclude today’s programming with an old Christmas classic, rewritten just for Mrs. Wilson’s tree.

O’ Christmas tree, O’ Christmas tree,

Thou structure most sturdy,

O’ Christmas tree, O’ Christmas tree,

Please let me read thee

 

The sight of thee at Christmas-tide,

Spreads the written word far and wide,

O’ Christmas tree, O’ Christmas tree,

Thy paper branches doth beckon me

Thank you for listening, that’s all for this evening, but be sure to tune in next week for our Christmas Day broadcast!

(Here’s my book Christmas tree. Post a pic of yours below!)

Mind Over Matter. Or the Other Way Around.

Have you ever had that itching feeling? The one where you’re on the edge of some momentous discovery or creation, an instant before a breakthrough, so close that a heavenly choir is preparing to sing in the background? If you’re anything like me, that instant-before moment is right about when you lose your train of thought.

The other night I was doodling my own book cover for Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Everything was going well, the  images were flowing freely from my mind to my pencil to the paper. My fingertips were throbbing, but it was that pleasant soreness of effort and accomplishment. The two-dimensional graphite on my paper grew a magical depth and form, reminding me of the real magic that came out of Clary Fray’s illustrations. Okay, maybe my surprisingly decent drawing of a finger sandwich couldn’t actually become a finger sandwich, like Clary’s could in Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones, but it could make my soul soar.

Thai String Dolls Craft

Halloween is almost here (my favorite holiday), and I thought I’d share a Halloween craft I discovered last year: Thai String Dolls.

DIY: T-Shirt into Blue Halter Dress (T-Shirt Surgery)

Do you have a bag of those oversized (or undersized) t-shirts that you never wear anymore…or don’t know how to wear? You can throw them away…or leave them to gather dust in your closet…or you could do T-SHIRT SURGERY.

T-shirt surgery is basically turning your t-shirt into something else. I’ve seen boring shirts turned into bags, scarves, tops, and even dresses. You can check out some wicked t-shirt surgery before and afters here.

I have (or had) a shirt that was given to me from volunteering. I wear XS, and the size is XXXL, so it’s basically new. One day, I looked at it and thought, DRESS POTENTIAL. So I got out my needle and thread (still eagerly anticipating my sewing machine for my birthday :/), chalk, and scissors and began to draft.

T-SHIRT INTO BLUE HALTER DRESS

Gum… You like to chew it, We like to make art with it!

This past month there was a gum art program for teens at Eva Perry. Each person received two sheets of white card stock, one of which was for “Gum Holding” and the other was our “Canvas”. Lindsey told us that we should chew the gum for 15 minutes before it was pliable enough to be spread on our canvases. Most of us chewed until we were ready for the next piece, everything went faster that way, and chewing multiple pieces of different colors made for some interesting flavors!

We also learned about the Italian artist Maurizio Savini. He makes gum art and some sell for over 55,000 dollars. Here is one of his sculptures-

Now I’m not saying that some of our gum pictures weren’t GREAT, but if any of us made anything this amazing I would be VERY surprised. Here is a gum picture of flowers that I thought was amazing:    

Valentines for Vets

Every year, for at least the last 10 years, the Wake County Public Libraries have hosted Valentines for Vets throughout the different branches. There have been program nights where you can obtain community service hours & passive programs where kids & teens alike can stop by to simply decorate a valentine that we’ll mail out.

Teen Gingerbread Houses

Many of the Wake County Libraries had a craft where teens could make gingerbread houses using a milk carton, graham crackers, icing, and candy.  I attended the one at Eva Perry Library, and it was really fun.  Too bad you missed it, but don’t worry, there will be another one next year! Here is my side of the story…

A Xmas Craft: Holiday Cards

Many people send out cards during the holidays, and I am among them. Cards can get expensive depending on how many you buy, and it’s much more personal when you make them yourself. It can get a bit complicated so I will show you an easy way to make lots of easy X-mas cards

Things you will need:

Hard-stock (Paper or even Index cards work too)

Water Paints

Different sized Brushes

Stamp Pads (You can decide what colors to use)