craft programs

On Saturday, September 12th, Maura Madden (author of Crafternoon) and I will kick off our Handmade: Crafternoon series, and we hope that you can join us. This crafty gathering is free, and there’s no advance registration required. Here’s what’s in store for you that day:

Two special guests will join us and share their approaches to crafting with unusual and alternative materials. Jessica Vitkus (author of Alternacrafts) will show us how to make one-of-a-kind pierced and embroidered cards, and Hannah Rogge (author of Hardwear) will demonstrate how to turn stuff that you find in your toolbox and at the hardware store into unique jewelry.

We will have some materials on hand to share so that you can try your hand at these crafts. But if you would like to be sure to have what you need to make your own pair of hardware-inspired earrings, please bring with you:

• from the hardware store: 10 #8 flat washers
• from the craft store: 2 french earring wires

And if you happen to have embroidery floss and/or needle nose pliers to share with your fellow crafters, please bring them along!

We’ll have an inspiring spread of vintage books, magazines, and images from the Library’s collection to inspire you in your embroidery and jewelry making. And remember, the Library will be open from 11:00am until 6:00pm that day, so if you want to dig around in the collections you’ll have time to do so before and after the event! Here are the details on next week's Handmade: Crafternoon!

Date and time:
Saturday, September 12, 2009, from 2:00 to 4:00pm

Location:
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
42nd Street and Fifth Avenue
Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (Room #227, located in the northeast corner of the second floor)

Questions? Please leave it as a comment! See you on the 12th!

Calling all craft-loving, library-loving readers! Please join me and my co-host Maura Madden (author of the amazing guide to crafty gatherings, Crafternoon) for a new FREE monthly series called Handmade: Crafternoons! Each day we'll focus on a different handmaking theme, and I'll post details about them here on the blog in advance of the date.

What's in store for you at a Handmade: Crafternoon? Each event will include an inspiring spread of books and magazines (especially vintage books like the one pictured) from the Library's collections, a hands-on DIY project, and special crafty guests. It'll be a chance to get inspired at your Library, to hang with fellow crafty New Yorkers, and to make stuff together.

Interested? Then mark your calendars! Here are the dates:
Saturday, September 12, 2:00 to 4:00pm
Saturday, October 10, 2:00 to 4:00pm
Saturday, November 14, 2:00 to 4:00pm
Saturday, December 12, 2:00 to 4:00pm

These events will all take place at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42nd Street & Fifth Avenue. Yes, that's the big one with the lions out front. Maura and I hope to see you there!

The Summer Reading theme for 2009, Be Creative, isn't just kids' stuff. Adults need craft time too, so check out our Summer D.I.Y. Series at the Mulberry Street Branch. In the true spirit of D.I.Y., three of our staff members volunteered to learn and teach some crafts. In June we held a Book Art crafting session--participants brought in cardboard cereal boxes and 45 minutes later they held a handmade notebook. The July program saw old t-shirts transformed into useful tote bags, thanks to a simple craft recipe by Amy Sperber from the book Tease (Sarah Sockit, ed.).

Tempted to get your craft on? Please join us for craft number three on August 19 at 6:30, when the most talented crafter on the Mulberry Street staff will show you how to make wearable art from buttons. Gather up all those strays and create a holiday gift for your Aunt Josephine or sister Claire.

Also mark your calendar for the first ever Mulberry Street Book & Cookie Swap Social on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:30. You bring some books and a dozen of your favorite cookies (homemade or store-bought) for trading, and we'll provide the trading floor, the coffee, and raffle prizes! Not a bad way to bookend your summer.

At the Mulberry Street Library, we host a monthly craft program in the Children’s Room called Kids’ Crafts. Children ages 5 years and up are invited to come to the library to work on simple seasonal crafts, from paper plate turkeys in November to St. Patrick’s Day leprechaun puppets in March.

This summer we made all kinds of bug crafts in honor of the Summer Reading Program’s theme, “Catch the Reading Bug." In June, we made bouncy paper caterpillars with colorful construction paper. In July, we made clothespin butterflies with tissue paper and pompoms. And in August, we made bug buttons with our very own Children’s Room button maker!

This fall we've been working on crafts to celebrate the season. In September, we made paper bag backpacks to get ready to go back to school. In October, we did creepy fingerprint art for Halloween. And in November, we'll make leaf rubbings with the last of fall's leaves.

We’ve got the glue sticks, the scissors, the feathers, and the glitter... We hope you’ll join us on the first Wednesday of each month at 4 o’clock for some craft-making fun! Click here for more information about children's programs at the Mulberry Street Library.