Program: Start the Year Off Write!

We've done Bullet Journal programs for adults, cute mail, textile arts, you name it, but to add on a bit to our National Novel Writing Month programs in November, I decided that my art program this month would be to cover and decorate a journal. Because of the historical lack of library services to tweens and the need for community-level art programs, I present an artistic or creative program at least once a month targeted for this age group and open to older teens also. This program attracted a lot of adult attention as well, so we had a good mix of tweens, teens, young adults, older adults and parents making a journal alongside their kids.

Supply Purchase:
Art programs tend to be supply-heavy but they are also a great way to use up extra resources from past programs. Most of the supplies we needed were already back in the supply closet. I did have to purchase journals, of course -- we used the least expensive ones I could find, composition notebooks of varying sizes. I also purchased a few extra fabrics, some fabric paint, stencils, and some stick-on rhinestones.

Setup:

Front table setup. I love my ELMO!

Expensive supplies like fake fur and supplies in high demand but short supply like the hot glue guns, glow-in-the-dark stars, acrylic paint and stencils, I kept up front. Four people could come up at a time and work with them. Other supplies we put at the tables or on a big open-access cart at the back of the room.

Participant table setup

Each participant had a pen, a small pair of scissors and a glue stick. The rest of the table was covered with other supplies -- pom poms, fake jewels, googley eyes, white glue, sewing/fabric scissors, and sequins. I made the mistake of just tossing a lot of the craft items out across the tables. It was great for inspiration, but it was a giant mess to clean up (and sort!) -- using small containers would have been a better choice. On the cart we had fabric and puff paints, glitter paints and glues, pipe cleaners, extra of the supplies on the table, and TONS of stickers and foam stickers.

We talked a little about what journals could be used for, and each participant got a (Writers') Block Buster sheet of writing ideas and prompts to keep with their journals. The front table held the fabrics and our ELMO. I use the ELMO in Origami Club, and it is very helpful here as well. I was able to demonstrate covering the journal so that everyone could follow along, and then I moved it down under the table to give participants space to come up and work.

The program was a huge success -- we had around 25 people come and make journals -- and lots and lots of creativity! My favorite was a boy's journal covered in black fur with googley eyes and a little monster face on the front.

Tweaks to consider: I did not cut fabric ahead of time because it seemed wasteful to me. I still think that would be the case but allowing everyone to pick fabric and then wait for it to get cut did eat up quite a bit of time and made people wait. I'm not sure what the best solution would be but it might be a good idea to cut at least a few and just save them for another similar program later. I've already mentioned keeping little supplies like rhinestones and pompoms in containers instead of loose. Other than that, the program was simple to put together and run and everyone had a great time!