Let your creative and fun side shine forth by creating your own animal face toast!  This simple and delicious activity can be a fun way to jazz up breakfast or snack, especially if you have children.  By using your favorite bread, spreads, fruit, and other toppings, turn your toast into a variety of cute animals, including cats, owls, and even the ultra-rare Northern Unicorn.  Join Andrea Levandowski, our Library Consultant for Small Business and Technology, and her daughter Penny as they demonstrate how to make food fun!

Directions and inspiration for this activity can be found at https://weelicious.com/animal-face-toast-recipe/.

Whether you are looking for a relaxing, solitary art project or something fun for the whole family, painting your own fireworks is a great way to unleash your inner creative genius.  Perfect for adding personal touches to celebrations, such as July 4th, creating your own fireworks painting is simple, yet expressive.  Follow along with Luisa Martucci, Hispanic Outreach Coordinator at the Talking Book and Braille Center, as she turns a simple paper cup into a wonderful, creative tool!

This activity was planned base on the following tutorial https://onelittleproject.com/fireworks-painting/ to celebrate TBBC patrons during the Fall Festival 2022.

Supplies

• A background, such as canvas or poster board (black preferred)
• Paper Cups
• Plates, preferably paper
• Scissors
• Acrylic Paint
• Paint Brushes
• Ruler or other straight-edge object (optional)

Directions

1. Make vertical cuts all the way around the paper cup, you should space them apart. Make sure you have at least two different shapes.
2. Bend the cut pieces of the paper cup so they are facing outwards making a sun shape.
3. Dip the ends of the paper cup into your first color.
4. Stamp the paper cup on your canvas creating fireworks.
5. Using a fresh paper cup repeat the previous steps with a new color.
6. Stamp your second one in the meddle of your canvas. And let it dry!
7. Use the smaller cut cup and try to follow the same directions to stamp inside of the large one and create two tone fireworks.
8. Be Creative! Add any color shapes or personal touches to your paint

Even found yourself needing an envelope?  Why run to the store or wait for Amazon to deliver something that you can so easily make from a piece of paper?  Watch as Regina Fitzpatrick, Genealogy Librarian, shows how you can turn a simple sheet of paper into an envelop.  Try it on our own and bring some fun and flare using prints or patterns.  Maybe this will inspire you to create your own greeting cards!

Supplies

• 8.5 x 11in. paper (copy paper or construction paper work best)
• Adhesive (glue or tape)
• Scissors (optional)

Directions

1. Fold your paper on one end to make the sheet into a square or diamond.  Cut off the smaller portion that was folded.
2. Fold the paper in half by folding one corner across to the opposite corner, creating a triangle.  Make sure to create a nice crease.
3. Unfold the paper and fold those same to corners into the middle of the paper, creating 2 smaller triangles that overlap slightly over the center crease.
4. Fold one of the other corners upwards so that the corner is about 1 – 1.5 inches above the other two folded corners.
5. Fold the excess of the corner over the other corners.  Glue the two original overlapping corners together.
6. Glue the third flap to the overlapped corners, folding the excess corner behind to form the pocket.  Glue the tab behind the overlapping corners.
7. Fold the 4th corner down to create the outermost flap.  You now have a useable envelope!

Rec Room is a massive multiplayer online game based in virtual reality.  Available on a variety of VR enabled headsets as well as traditional gaming consoles and all mobile devices, Rec Room enables players to create their own virtual “rooms” while also allowing players users to experience other’s creations.  Please watch as Marc Ludwig, Principal Library Assistant in our Law Library gives you a sneak peak at the State Library inspired Escape Room he is designing as well as some of the other features you can create and experience in Rec Room.

Please check out the Rec Room Discord, https://discord.com/invite/recroom, for a very friendly and helpful community.  You can also check out Rec Room’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@RecRoom, for wonderful videos to get you started.

Upcycling is a fantastic, fun, and environmentally friendly way to turn seemingly useless things into new products.  You can upcycle glass, plastic, carboard, metal, and fabric, among others, and transform them into a multitude of easy to make objects.  Linda DiCicco, Library Associate at the NJ State Library’s Department of Environmental Protection Branch, guides you on a journey of transforming plastic containers, like old cocoa or gelato containers, into beautiful flower pots.

Supplies

• Plastic container with lid (cocoa or gelato work nicely)
• Piece of tissue paper the size of the lid
• Fabric (enough to wrap around the container and cover lid)
• Glue
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Flexible measuring tape
• Optional – ribbon, flowers or other trimmings

Directions

1. Thoroughly clean the container and lid (hand wash – they are NOT dishwasher safe).
2. Measure around the container, adding ¼” to this, and measure the height without the lid.  Cut out a piece of fabric using these measurements.
3. Lay container on flat surface.  Draw a straight line of glue vertically from the top edge of the container to the bottom edge.  This will be where the two edges of the fabric meet and form a seam, so make sure this will face the back of the container.
4. Put one vertical edge of fabric over glue.  Stretch fabric around and fold the extra ¼” under.  Make sure that the fabric is smooth and that the top and bottom are straight.  Glue folded side so it overlaps the non-folded side.
5. Trace the lid with tissue paper.  Note – some lids have an indent design.  You can trace just the indented area.  Cut out the tracing and use this as a pattern for a piece of fabric.  Cut out the fabric and glue on top of the lid.
6. Your upcycled container is ready for use!  You can also decorate using ribbons, pearls, or anything else.  Be creative and upcycle.