Rocking my Austens

Summertime is HERE people, and that means new tennis shoes!  And because I like to stand out, I made mine over, Jane Austen-style.

You can pick up fabric paint markers at your local art
supply purveyor. The fancypants laces are American Apparel.

Way back before camera phones, silhouette
portraits were the way to remember your sweetie.

So elegant, so pleasing, amirite?

Now that I've sparked your Austen fever, try one of these tribute books on for size.


Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund


And for Pride and Prejudice with a twist of Downton Abbey, look for Longbourn by Jo Baker, coming out this October.



Credit: Kate Beaton, Hark a Vagrant!

One way of killing time while waiting for The Hobbit

Oh man -- you know his kids were waiting the whole time to destroy it!

Sadly, these amazing pumpkins may be underwater

But you can revel in the artistic process!




Up until now I thought Martha Stewart was all that, but she does not tend towards the gory. That's okay, Martha, we all have our own skill set.

Another example of incredible pumpkin-talent here:

Are you still here, reading this? Get on over to the hardware store for woodcarving tools and LED light fixtures! Do you prefer to make your Jack-o-lantern scary or friendly? And do you try to roast the seeds (and end up setting the kitchen on fire) or do you just chuck the insides? Share, share in the comments!

The Old Man and the Sea

in 4 minutes...

DIY Craft on Wednesday

Origami Boxes!

Join us at 4pm in the Teen Room for origami box making.

Make One-of-a-Kind Gift Wrap today at 4:00

You can be thrifty and save that cash for presents!  Or you know, that special something you find for yourself when you're out shopping for Mom.

(C'mon, we've all done that.  Seriously.  It's just saving time and effort for whoever was getting you a hideous sweater anyway.)

So join your very own craftastic Teen Advisory Board this afternoon and turn that brown bag into bling.

Tomorrow - Puppet Craft!

Brought to you, by popular demand - PAPER BAG PUPPETS!

(queue applause)

We'll have the bags and the embelleshments. You bring the skills (we'll share some too), and we'll have a puppet ball.

Wednesday, 11/9 @ 4pm

Teen Room

(photo from http://www.jimmyjanesays.com/sketchblog/labels/Bags.html)

Halloween DIY Costumes

Because we can't all be like this guy.

Tomorrow at 4:00!

Spooky business continues with DIY today at 4:00

Credit: Inhabitots

Make like Dr. Frankenstein and stitch up your own adorbs & gruesome little pal!  I will walk y'all through basic needle skills -- don't be scared!

DIY FAIL

I regret to inform you that there will be no jolly craft times today.  We're shorthanded and will have to postpone till next week.

Join us then!

Early Warning: Wednesday's DIY is Going to Be Amazing

We're finally making these bracelets!

Wednesday @ 4pm!

Knitting on Wednesday

Whether you've never picked up a pair of knitting needles, or you need a little refresher, or you just need a Wednesday afternoon knitting buddy, I have what you need! This Wednesday, 9/14, from 4-5pm, join me in the Teen Room for some beginning knitting instruction. I recently picked up crocheting, so we can experiment together with that too. For a little inspiration, check out how Polish artist Olek (Agata Oleksiak) transformed New York City's Wall Street Bull using her fabulous crocheting skills (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/fashion/creating-graffiti-with-yarn.html).

Because you don't have homework yet, do you?

And that is why you will want to come to DIY in the Teen Room tomorrow at 4:00, when we will be making T-shirt jewelry for our kick off salute to Fashion Week (September 8-15).  Also, I need something fabulous for my trip to Paris.

We will have t-shirts and beads, but feel free to bring your custom bling bling for this thing thing.

Image credit: www.beadinggem.com

Hey! That's one fancy looking textbook.

So you say you want to cover your textbooks? There's always the ever-available paper grocery bag. And sure, it's sturdy and doodle-friendly. Now, I'm not trying to knock the old standby...just trying to inject some craftiness into your daily life.





These oh-so-fancy-fancy bookcovers are made from old tshirts. But no need to stop there! You could very well use a swatch of jeans, sweatshirt, or any other material that will make you smile everytime you pull out your math book. The directions call for a sewing machine, but they could definitely be stiched by hand. And if you're not the sewing type...I'm sure you put a quick cover together with staples or even fabric glue. Really, the possibilities are endless. Oh, and, it's not like you need to do this every year. These covers are totally reusable. I so so so hope to see some fancy textbooks in the Teen Room this fall. Have fun!



http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2011/08/easy-knit-book-covers-tutorial/#.Tlz-TpxOE5o.email



I am definitely putting some of these together to cover my own textbooks, and will gladly share tips if you run into me in the Teen Room.

DIY Jewelry

Why don't you........

Make really cool, original, one of a kind jewelry with ribbon, hemp, thread, stretch cord, beads, buttons and whatnot.

For inspiration one should peruse the jewelry collection at the MFA, watch "The September Issue" and read Diana Vreeland's Allure

TOMORROW! MARK YOUR BOOK!

Do you guys have any idea what kind of crazy things we find in returned library books? I once heard a story about an entire smooshed Cadbury Egg in a returned library book.



Do you guys need bookmarks? I kind of feel like you need bookmarks. Tomorrow in the Teen Room we'll have all the stuff you need to mark your page in style.



When: Wendesday @ 2pm

Where: Teen Room

What: Making bookmarks that are NOT made of Cadbury Eggs.

Tomorrow: unending fun

Starting at 2:00 with duct tape wallets and continuing at 3:00 with Wii gaming.  So much frivolity your head will explode!

image credit: Larcova

Brand New Bag

Credit: www.leethal.net/zine/?p=1344

Well, what is old is new again -- in this case

1 T-SHIRT = 1 No-Sew BAG!

How is this possible, you ask?  Come by the Teen Room tomorrow at 2:00 and find out.

A sticky situation...

+ 

+

 

= a place to keep your library card!

Image from: duckbrand.com

Come make your own tomorrow at 3:00!

Shamrockin'

Before y'all have your day off for Evacuation Day (*snort!*) stop by the Teen Room for a most excellent craft time. St. Patrick's-themed; no duct tape this time. Here's a clue:


What? I'm a nerd, okay? You want easy-to-understand clues that aren't from 80s science fiction? Please. By the way, if you do know this one, you are automatically inducted into the brotherhood of epically nifty people.
What I'm trying to say is: come make lucky shamrocks!