Blog Post
Make Your Own Cast Fossil
by Caser
Wednesday, October 17 -- 7-8pm -- Pittsfield -- Grades K-5
National Fossil Day is October 17! 'Rock' out with us and make your own cast fossil out of clay and plaster of paris while exploring a process that has created fossils in sedimentary rock for billions of years. We will also have fossils found in Michigan on display.
Fossils in the earth can be formed out of plants, or invertebrates like mollusks and arthropods, or vertebrates like dinosaurs and woolly mammoths. Fossils are found in different forms too. Sometimes they are turned to stone or preserved in amber, and other times they leave an imprint in the earth that is filled in by different minerals, forming a cast. We will replicate the process of creating cast fossils.
You're welcome to bring a small, hard item that can fit in the palm of your hand -- for example, a dinosaur toy or a sea shell -- or you can use the objects the library provides. Looking for more information on fossils? Check out these great books and videos from the AADL collection.
Blog Post
The Star Wars Craft Book
by manz
This Saturday, October 6 is Star Wars Reads Day! It's a national event and AADL is participating. To gear up for it, why not make some Star Wars crafts? If you're ready to rock your empire, The Star Wars Craft Book as you covered.
The book has projects for the home including magnets, a Jabba the Hutt body pillow, and an Ewok flower vase. There are also science and nature crafts, playtime crafts like a Yoda doll and a General Grievous finger puppet, and of course there are holiday crafts like a Hanukkah Droidel and a Star Wars snow globe. With full color illustrations and instructions, it's time to grab the glue gun and get crafting.
Blog Post
Screen Printing Workshop!
by manz
Monday, September 24 | 7-8pm | Pittsfield Branch | Grades 6-Adult
During this hands-on workshop you'll get a chance to screen print onto paper or cloth, using ready-made screens and designs. You’ll have a choice between printing an adorable animal design onto a tote or tea towel we supply (or on a cloth item that you bring in), OR you can print an AADL dinosaur design onto cardstock. That’s right, we’ll have two snazzy designs and two screen printing stations set up, ready for you to DIY.
To learn more about screen printing, check out these books as a resource. This DIY event is for Grades 6- Adult, and takes place at Pittsfield on Monday, September 24, from 7-8:00pm. See you there!
Blog Post
3D Printing with All Hands Active: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm Saturday September 22, 2012 -- Downtown Library
by OneillT
Our first 3D Printing Event in June was filled with eager printers of all ages, so we're giving people a chance to come that didn't get a chance the first time or want to learn more!
3D Printing has been featured on CNN, the Colbert Report, and in Time Magazine, and now this technology is coming to the AADL. Learn about how these machines turn computer sketches into objects, watch one work, and practice making and customizing designs.
Led by Ann Arbor's All Hands Active, this workshop will introduce participants to this quickly developing technology. We’ll see how a 3D Printer works to create objects before your eyes, and even experiment with designing some objects using the freely available Google Sketchup. Participants will be able to submit simple designs to be printed and picked up at a later date.
This event will be held in the Training Center on the third floor of the Downtown Library and is intended for all ages.
Blog Post
Teamwork and Timbers: It's Barn Raisin' Time!
by hillary dorwart
Saturday September 15, 2012: 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm -- Pittsfield Branch: Program Room
Reconstruct a quarter-scale replica barn! Held in partnership with the Michigan Barn Preservation Network, this event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience a traditional community barn raising.
Common in Michigan during the late-19th and early-20th centuries, barn raisings are similar to husking bees and quilting bees, where neighbors depended upon each other to accomplish what they could not do alone.
This event is for Grade 3 - Adult.
Blog Post
September is National Sewing Month!
by manz
A month to celebrate the age old art of sewing! Sewing is a wonderful art form that spans generations and brings them together. How many of us learned to sew from our mother or grandmother? How many have taught our own children to sew? It’s an amazing gift to pass down, and a great skill to learn. Even if you just plan on sewing on buttons that fall off! Because guess what? You’re sewing.
To participate in a month-long celebration of sewing, AADL has books to get you started on new projects, or get you motivated on ones that have been collecting dust in your craft corner. It’s time to bust out the machine and get to it. Here’s a list of all sorts of book on various sewing projects. Some of my favorites as of late are:
Bags, the modern classics : clutches, hobos, satchels & more
The sewing bible: a modern manual of practical and decorative sewing techniques
Sew U : the Built by Wendy guide to making your own wardrobe
Reinvention : sewing with rescued materials
The library has SEW MANY great craft books to get you inspired and sewing away. With a wide range of projects from purses to dresses, for many different skill levels, a plethora of books have you covered with great images and tutorials.
Blog Post
Block Printing Workshop
by manz
Tuesday, July 24 | Malletts Creek | 6:30-8:30pm |Grades 6-Adult
In this workshop you will create a design, carve the design into a soft linoleum block, and then print the image onto paper or note cards. This is your chance to create something to hang on your wall, or perhaps design a card to send out.
We will supply all the tools necessary, you supply the creativity! If you have something you’d like to print on, or have your own tools, feel free to bring them. Check out some of AADL’s books on block printing for a spark of ideas.
This DIY event is for Grades 6- Adult, and takes place at the Malletts Creek Branch on Tuesday, July 24, from 6:30-8:30pm. See you there!
Blog Post
Paper Clip Earings
by sherlonya
If you like to make your own jewelry, but don't like it to always scream out, "I made this myself!" Paper Clip Earrings might be the program for you. While it sounds like we'll be linking paperclips together and hanging them from our ears, the finished earrings look more like what you see to your left. If you like what you see, join us Tuesday, August 17 at the Traverwood Branch 6:00-7:30.
If you're looking for more jewelry, you might check out these books:
Fabric Jewelry: 25 Designs to Make Using Silk, Ribbon, Buttons, and Beads
Junk Jewelry: 25 Extraordinary Designs to Create From Ordinary Objects
Make Bracelets: 16 Projects for Creating Beautiful Bracelets
Make Your Own Great Earrings: Beads, Wire, Polymer Clay, Fabric, Found Objects
Blog Post
Scrapbooking From Scratch
by Bertha
Bring your collected items (photos, ticket stubs, etc.) from that memorable event or trip for your scrapbook. We'll be making the scrapbooks from cardboard and special papers.
Join us at the Traverwood Branch on Thursday, July 5, from 2 - 3:30 pm. Grades 6 - 12.
Click here to check out materials from the library to jump start any scrapbooking project. Of course, a code will be given out for points towards your summer reading game.
Blog Post
Make Your Own Tutu!
by evelyn
Would you like to make and own your very own tutu? Join us for a Tutu Making Workshop at 2pm on June 28th, in the Multipurpose Room at the Downtown Library! We’ll have all the materials you need to make your very own no-sew tutu out of tulle and ribbon of various colors.
Here are some books to get you started:
T is for Tutu: A Ballet Alphabet
Just Grace and her Terrible Tutu
Tallulah’s Tutu
Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet
And some DVDs of my favorite ballets!
Coppélia
Swan Lake, with an all male cast
Swan Lake, by the American Ballet Theater
Ballet for Boys
This event is for kids grades K through 12.