Make & Bake Gifts 2015

Make & Bake Gifts is our annual gift making session where First Friday Art Club and Teen Cooking Club combine for an extended creation event, just in time for the holiday season.

Union Hall tree, all dressed up

This popular event was held in the USW Local 1000 Union Hall, just behind the SSC Library (<<<>>>ooh! check out our new website!!!).  You can read about last year's event here.

Thinking up gifts that people want to receive is often hard to do, especially considering what teens want to make, are interested in creating, and are willing to save to give as a gift rather than keep for themselves, all while calculating these crafts into a short 2 hour time frame and attempting to keep all attendees busy the entire time.  This is quite the challenge.

"Tie Dye" Tile Coasters

Thanks to the community collaborative power of Pinterest, ideas are aplenty, as long as you consider your audience and budget.  The tutorial for these "Tye Dye" Tile Coasters has been provided directly by Sharpie and was relatively inexpensive.  A box of ceramic tiles cost about $12 for 50 tiles, 2 packs of Sharpie markers, scraps of felt and a bottle of rubbing alcohol are the only necessary materials for this project.  Ok, you need some hot glue to stick the felt on the backs of each tile to protect furniture surfaces, but that is somewhat optional....

Felt protects the furniture.

Recognizing that a Tie Dye look doesn't appeal to everyone, and some designs are much more beautiful left alone, I suggested to use personal judgement whether to use the alcohol to create the Tie Dye effect or not.  Many chose to keep their artistic efforts unscathed...

Tile Samples

Another project, which I thought would cost a lot less, was Crayon Candles.  Having a plethora of crayons collected over the years, I thought this was the trick to eliminating the supply....INCORRECT!  Creating these candles required a candle wax to help them burn at a better rate.  Purchasing soy candle wax, prepared wicks, glass votive holders and prepping the station with two adult helpers proved this project could have been a solo event. The process took a lot longer to create each candle than originally thought.  This is a project I will revisit in the near future, but I am well aware that it is a time thief.

Crayon Candle station

Although these candles were very time consuming, they are quite pretty with multiple layers of color.

"What's that?  CHOCOLATE!?!"

On to the edible segment of our event, we created Dark Chocolate Super Bites using a wide variety of healthful elements for mindful snacking.  Some skilled choppers prepared the station and everyone took turns creating their own heavenly bites.

Do you see a reindeer?

Rather than melting the chocolate in the microwave, we used a small crock pot to maintain a melted temperature.
Using an electric skillet, we kept the white chocolate melted for these adorable Candy Cane Heart Pops...

Too cute to eat

Thanks to my high school volunteer, Kacey, who made these pops possible with her helping hands.  Keeping a close eye on the white chocolate supply was very important.  She rationed the project perfectly.

Another fantastic Make & Bake Gifts event is now in the books.  I know those chocolate bite hit bellies before they left the building, but I hope several gift packages like these are given this holiday season.

Check back in 2016 for more incredible teen projects and events.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 xoxo, erica

Get Away @ Your Library

Teen Read Week was October 18-24 this year.  We had two great programs for the "Get Away @ Your Library" theme.

Comics!!!

One Page Comic Books was scheduled during our teen Anime' group program.  This allowed for a very mixed age group.  Some kids had never read a comic book before!
Laura Charles lead the group with her comic credentials.  Just a day out of River Road Expo, Laura had the comic scene fresh in her mind.  Here are a few samples of the work created in comic style.

Altered Books was another chance to Get Away @ Your Library.  We had a collection of books that were saved from recycling.---Not all books go on shelves or to good homes, as these kids learned.

Rip 'em, cut 'em, glue 'em

Handing out scissors, utility knives, glues, beads, googly eyes, etc., we all got busy breaking down books into new creations.

"Cutting up books seems WRONG!!!"

This was an interesting process for the group, who L.O.V.E. books!!!  Who cuts books like this?! But soon enough everyone had a vision and method to their madness.

Amelia made a shadow box

This became a dragon emerging from a volcano---lots of work done at home.

These pages became flowers

Ethan built a battle scene

Even the adults in the class got fancy

The heart of the book

And Christopher Columbus got a makeover...

Blacklight reactive Chris

These programs were a fun break away from regular library programs. Altered Books struck some artistic nerves with several students, who will provide their creations for display in the next few weeks--we hope!

Check back again soon for more exciting adventures in the SSC Library and Teen Tones.

Theater Camp

Theater Camp was the last week in August>>> the final stages of Summer Vacation.  Through arrangement with Kim Canale and Centre Stage Community Theatre, we planned a week of theater games and activities, which culminated in a library themed play at the end of the program series.

"Run, walk, skip or hop"- the group practicing a special song

The first day of camp was covered by Kimberly Canale, a publicity agent and director (among other roles) with Centre Stage Community Theater.  I arrived the second day of the program and was treated to a special song, written just for the library theater camp.  This song is TOP SECRET (ok, you may have heard some of it or will in a video here or there, but THAT'S IT!)

Games were aplenty all week.  Having a room packed with teens and tweens requires lots of activities to keep the excitement going.  "Pretend" was the basis of the games, just like the one shown below.  "Pretend you are stiff as a board.  You are a block of wood.  You have no muscles, no heart beat, and you cannot move until I, the Magic Fairy, grant you life," was the role Kim gave these exuberant participants.

"You are a block of wood."

I collected unusual items throughout the library to use as props.  The kids were instructed to use the items in unconventional ways and act with them so that others could guess what the item is supposed to be.  This happened to be the all around favorite game--ALL WEEK. 

"That's not a squash, it's a golf club."

Kim suggested a game where participants paired up to act off of each other, like a mirror. This was quite the experience to view in person.  

Script reading was a big part of Theater Camp.  We needed to assign parts for our play and understand who really liked to read out loud and who like to be or hold props.  Luckily this was an easy task.  Each participant voiced their choice of roles and everyone was happy.

Script reading is serious stuff!

We read from Zany Fractured Tales and Plays, which is hilarious at any age!  Each person got to practice with these plays before they hit the big time by acting out the play written especially for this program.

Before I go any further, this tease is necessary.  You will receive no more details about this wonderful program unless you attend the Southeast Steuben County Library's 15th Birthday Party on Saturday, December 5, 2015 from 5-8 pm.  

At 6 pm that evening, the World Premier of our special library play will air for the first time ever.  The actors in the play do not know how they look while acting.  Parents of these actors have not seen the play.  The entire week is somewhat of a mystery to family and friends of these actors and we want to keep it that way!

Much gratitude and appreciation is owed to Kimberly Canale and Centre Stage Community Theatre.  Kim and her volunteers worked tirelessly each day of our camp to produce a fun and fulfilling program for teens and tweens.  The play that Kim wrote is specific to our library history and holds an important message to viewers of all ages.  Please spread the word and save the date to screen our Theater Workshop World Premier.  Bring the family!

.........Ok, just one little sneak preview of our fabulous actors.  

Give them a round of applause!

That's all for now.  Check back soon for more exciting adventures in Young Adult world at the Southeast Steuben County Library.

Thanks for stopping by,

erica

Sandblasting at Corning Museum of Glass

Corning Museum of Glass has a phenomenal education department.  We have teamed up many times to enrich the learning experiences of young adults in my programs.  This time, we got to try sandblasting for the first time in the new Education Lab!

Immaculate Studio

My dear friend, Lu Kania, gave us the short introduction to sandblasting.  It involves these machines:

The Sandblasting Beasts

AND LOTS AND LOTS OF STICKERS!!!! Now chill out a moment....these stickers may look cool, but Lu will tell you, the image will not remain on your glass once "The Beasts" get a taste of them!  The stickers sole purpose is to resist the sand.  That means, the cutesy little sparkles and fishy faces will not be seen by your grandma or Aunt Alice when you gift your amazing sandblasted glass for the holidays.  It means, you create your own design using the stickers as a means to produce a pattern or random chaos.  Here is a sample of our cool creations.

 Once our designs were final, we took turns with "The Beasts" to blast the glass to a frosted appearance.  

The Beasts are sloppy eaters.

I'll show you the process my tiny glass experienced.

Galss is taped and stickered

Glass entered The Beast to be blasted.

Glass has been blasted and is now frosty where there is no sticker.

Some goofball having too much fun with "The Beast".

The glass after being blasted, but before tape is removed.

The process is quick and the result is something we got to take home at the end of the program.  So fun!

A final product, ready for a cold lemonade.

Visit the Corning Museum of Glass to have your own Sandblasting experience.  It's a wonderful experience.

Nerf Party

As summer winds down in the Southern Tier, some very enthusiastic young adults are battling to the finish in our first ever "Nerf Party" hosted by the Southeast Steuben County Library in conjunction with Corning Parks and Recreation Department.

Preparing for the mission

I am apparently too old to appreciate these brightly colored guns and supposedly painless ammunition.  The kids gathered their equipment and selected teams before I even understood how they were going to play.

Grab your gear!

choose wisely

A Parks and Recreation representative set up the Nasser Civic Center Ice Rink (it's ice-free in the summer) and offered the supplies to my group.  Play to "Capture the Flag" immediately commenced. 

The playing field is set.

Players are in position.

The "flag" in set in place.

I remember "Capture the Flag" from middle school, when we learned to play football with the coach.  This is NOT THE GAME I LEARNED.  "Stay in the green lines or else you're out!," I hear them screaming to each other.  There is a determination that slightly frightens my old bones and has me sitting on the sidelines composing this blog.

This means serious business.

Yikes!

How much ammunition DO you need??

My curiosity was tickled by the kids' giggles and slips all over this dusty ice-rink floor.  Unfortunately, curiosity killed the cat....or gets you shot in the neck by a hyper teen.

One of these gun wielders are my assailant!

After a short sting and shock>>>I mean, I'm the lady who set up this program and my teens have shot me>>>I decide it's safest for the 30+ year olds to stick to the side lines.

Luckily, I found some company to keep while I watch from a safe vantage point.

Wisdom to know when to step aside.

Happy August Everyone!  I hope you have a few more fun filled days planned before the yellow school bus' wheels go 'round and 'round!